It is easy to get excited about buying one's own building for their business. However, you have to do this the smart way, which includes walking through the building and having the building inspected by three different types of inspectors. This process should be repeated for each vacant building that catches your eye. The inspectors should be hired in advance to walking through a building with a real estate agent, and they should be doing their jobs while you walk through the building. Here are the three inspectors you will need and why:
Structural Inspector
Structural inspectors provide structural inspection services, which look at beams, floors, ceilings, foundations, walls, etc. They are checking the structural integrity of the building to make sure it does not fall or cave in on you and any employees, customers, or clients that walk through your doors. If there is any sort of structural problem, you may want to avoid purchasing that building, as it means tens of thousands of dollars in structural repairs to make the building structurally safe and sound.
Pest Control Expert
Pest control experts know what to look for and where to look for it. The last thing you want is to buy a vacant building only to find that you have dozens to thousands of unwanted pest tenants. Even if you decide to purchase the building anyway, the pest control expert would have to fumigate, spray, and/or trap for a few months before you could move everyone and everything into the building. If you expect to move in and get the business fully operational in less time than it takes to rid the building of its pest problem, you may want to look at other available properties.
City Building Inspector/Property Inspector
A city building inspector or a property inspector inspects the entire building, looking for building code violations, hazards, and dangers. This is very useful indeed, since you need to know what has to be brought up to code before you can open for business. This type of inspector inspects every nook and cranny, every hidden spot, all the electrical wiring, all the plumbing, all the heating and cooling appliances, all the ventilation, the foundation, and the roof for problems. They then makes a list of those problems and estimates when you will need to fix them or how soon after the purchase of the building that you will have to bring things up to code.
