Buying a home in Saint Louis Park? I have some helpful information for you about the home inspection. Our company is based in Saint Louis Park and we’ve inspected over 1,200 homes here in the last decade alone.
Point-of-Sale Inspections
Before a home is sold in Saint Louis Park (SLP), the city requires a point-of-sale inspection. This is an inspection done by the city. You can find all of the details on their website, but here’s the short version:
- The SLP point-of-sale (POS) inspection is basically a code-compliance inspection. When the city inspector finds stuff that’s not up to code, it has to be fixed.
- If work was done without permits, the city will probably require permits to be pulled for the work. In some cases, concealed work will need to be exposed. This might mean opening up finished walls or ceilings so the inspector can verify the work was done properly. This is nice for people buying homes in Saint Louis Park, but not good for people doing work without permits.
- If you purchase a home in Saint Louis Park, do not, I repeat, do not do work on the home without pulling permits. It’ll come back around to bite you. Also, the inspections department in Saint Louis Park is known for being very thorough.
- You can look up building permit history for any home in Saint Louis Park through the ePermits website. It goes back to about 1990.
Point-of-Sale Inspection vs. Home Inspection
Don’t confuse the POS inspection with a home inspection. The POS inspection takes about 45 to 60 minutes, and the inspector looks over pretty basic stuff. For a home inspection, we spend several hours at the house reviewing a huge list of things in great detail. We cover just about everything in a POS inspection and a whole lot more.
Here’s a very small list of stuff we commonly find during home inspections in Saint Louis Park that are not covered by POS inspections:
- Asbestos. It’s commonly found in floor tiles, attic insulation, furnace vents, and boiler pipes.
- Attic problems. Attic air leaks and insufficient insulation can lead to comfort issues, mold, water problems, ice dams, and roof leaks.
- Buried fuel-oil tanks. We’ve found a lot of these at homes in Saint Louis Park.
- Hazardous electric panels, such as Federal Pacific Electric. These are not a “code violation”, so the city has nothing to say about them, even though they’re a known hazard.
- Galvanized water distribution pipes and galvanized drain pipes. These materials are usually at or near the end of their service life and are expensive to replace. But because they’re not a code violation, again, the city has nothing to say about them.
- Sewer problems. The city doesn’t inspect the sewer line. This is an extremely important inspection to order for any home, but especially for older homes.
Summary
If you’re buying a house in Saint Louis Park, read the city’s POS report. If the seller doesn’t provide it, call the city for a copy (952-924-2588). Also, look up the permit history for the home so you understand what you’re buying. And finally, doesn’t confuse the city POS inspection with a home inspection.