What to Find Out About Your Fence Before Buying a Home

Your home is the biggest purchase you may ever make. When you buy a house, take the time to do a proper inspection before signing the papers. You may want to get a qualified inspector to help you out.

Together with the inspector, visually inspect the structure and components of the home to identify potential problems. The inspector provides a written report describing the problem areas including further recommendations. Most people, however, forget to inspect the state of the fence.

Why check the fence?

Depending on where you are buying a home, the privacy fence may or may not be a foregone conclusion. In most big towns, houses have fences. If your potential home has a fence, you want to make sure that the fence has been correctly installed. If your neighbors have fences, you’ll need to connect your fence with theirs to complete the fence circuit.

Whom does the fence belong to?

A home with a good fence or no fence won’t be a problem. Trouble is when the fence is damaged. When a fence is seriously damaged or worn out, it could have been that way for a long time. Sometimes no one unquestionably knows the actual owner of the fence.

The fence could belong to the seller or not. Some sellers may pretend it doesn’t belong to them, so, they don’t fix it. That’s not a good place to begin.

The problem of shared fences

If the seller fails to own up on the fence, you may have another issue. Someone else may complain if you try to bring it down and replace it with something else. That is the case with shared fences.

Talk to your new neighbors, if they share the fence, before buying the fence you love to install. There are reasons people can be grumpy about fences:

• They are using the fence as a framework for their climbing plants
• The fence secures their children and pets
• They believe they own the fence and you are intruding

It may be difficult to decide who owns a fence. Sometimes, adjacent neighbors have paid for a fence collectively. Consult before considering replacing your fence.

A property without a fence

If you love homes with fences, buy a house without a fence. Involve a surveyor when you decide to install a fence. The surveyor will ensure you put the fence in the correct place. Throwing up a fence on your own is a good idea. But you risk being asked to relocate it if it encroaches on a neighbor’s property or an easement.

What will it cost you?

A simple fence repair with friendly neighbors is affordable. A chain link fence and a wooden picket fence are in the same price range. Make sure you keep matters of regular maintenance in mind. You could do well with do-it-yourself repairs in future. When you call in a repair expert, observe and ask questions. That will help you take over the smaller repairs in future.