Due diligence in a home purchase and health insurance coverage

If you were buying a property and found that it had a pre-existing condition during an inspection, would you go forward with the purchase prior to getting cost repair estimates?    In today's blog I am going to discuss the importance of due diligence in real estate transactions as well as in making legislative decisions.  I try not to be political in my writing but when an issue will impact each of our lives, as does the proposed new health care bill,  I feel it is my responsibility to comment.

As a real estate professional when I work with buyer clients, I always recommend they do their due diligence before committing to the Purchase and Sale "P&S" for a home or condo.  Know the rules and regulations of the home owners association if the property is a condo.  Get all the documentation and review it.  Once an offer is accepted call a home inspector, as well as any other specialists who can independently teach you about the property and evaluate its condition.

If anything of concern arises during the inspection process,  bring in professional contractors to further evaluate the situation and get cost estimates of needed repairs where applicable.   Once cost estimates are obtained the buyer can then intelligently negotiate with the seller to repair, replace or in a worst case scenario "repeal the offer".  Most often a reduction of their purchase price is negotiated.   

How can a health care bill be passed without full review by all members of the house and without cost details?  Did anyone look at the impact on the budget numbers?  This vote was rushed through yesterday without a CBO score.   Do we know the number of people who will lose their insurance or become part of a high risk pool.  Will the $8B  Upton Bill even go near the implicated cost?  

The bill allows states to exclude pre-existing conditions from their health insurance coverage offerings and removes the federal mandate of employer coverage.  Many employers will now be able to opt out of offering health care as an employee benefit to save money.   If you are reading this chances are, you or someone you love has at least one pre-existing condition ( do you wear glasses?).  Click here for a partial list .

As I have been reading the newspaper and listening to various interviews today with elected officials it is obvious that many voted just to appease their political party politics.  Click here to see who voted to pass the bill by a slight margin of 217-213.  vote    This is a short sighted win and hopefully will go under better scrutiny when it reaches the Senate floor.  There are items in the bill that will impact all of our lives.  Many who voted to support the bill today admit they did not read it in full.  This is irresponsible leadership.  

If I did not disclose something to my client or if I advised them to do something detrimental to their real estate transaction I would be held accountable and could possibly be sued.  It is my fiduciary duty to protect the interests of my buyers and sellers.  

Shouldn't our elected officials bear a greater responsibility to their constituents?  I ask all of my readers to become aware of how they are being represented by elected local representatives and officials.   If you learn they are making decisions that hurt your interests speak up and let them know they risk re-election.  I was in Washington DC this week and actually stopped by my State Representative Joe Kennedy III's office on Capital Hill to put a face to a name as I often call his office when I see a proposed bill I disagree with.  Advocacy starts at the local level.  

If you don't do your due diligence no one else will advocate for your health care rights.  Before the ACA was introduced many Americans were uninsured.  Many at risk patients were not getting the essential medical care needed and now may lose their coverage once again.  Many may become ineligible for coverage due to pre-existing conditions exclusion clauses.  See #IAmAPreexistingCondition.  

Please do your homework if you are considering a job change, interstate move or a new insurer before changing your existing healthcare coverage.   Check the new health care policy options that will be offered and make a change quickly to prevent any lapse in coverage as this can cause an increase in premiums.  Under the new bill proposal things you have coverage for may no longer exist.  A mistake in a real estate transaction can cause monetary damages.  A mistake in health care coverage can have much graver circumstances.  

  
Wendy recently joined Coldwell Banker Needham.  She has been a realtor for over 8 years and knowing the area quite well can share a hands on local perspective.  She has also recently earned the SRES  designation and looks forward to helping other baby boomers as they approach their next transitions.  Feel free to contact her directly or click here http://www.wendybcb.com if you would like to learn more.