HOME BUYERS FAIR : Estimation Costs : A Close Look Can Give Buyer Bargaining Edge : Home Inspections: Professional foundation-to-roof examination can be boon for love-smitten shopper wearing rose-colored glasses.

When you fall in love with a house at first blush, deep inside you don’t want to hear there is something wrong with it.

Joseph V. Scaduto, university lecturer, author and professional building inspector, recalls one recent case in which he checked out a house for a couple who wanted to buy it:

“In the middle of the inspection, the wife came up to me and said: ‘Please stop telling my husband about the problems with this house. We love it.’

“Sometimes, they don’t want to hear the bad news,” says Scaduto of Lynnfield, Mass., founder of the Society for Professional Real Estate Inspectors.

Except for cursory checks for termites, independent inspection of homes during real estate transactions was virtually unheard of 15 years ago. Now, about 60% of the homes sold get top-to-bottom inspections paid for by the potential buyer.

“The broker really represents the seller. The only true friend the buyer has is the real estate inspector. You need an investigator who is not emotionally involved in the transaction,” Scaduto says.

A good inspection of an average three-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath home should take about two or three hours and cost between $150 and $300. It should include a typewritten report identifying all actual or potential problems, include suggestions, maintenance tips and a priority list of what the owner can do to prepare for or avoid problems in future years, Scaduto says.

“You’ll frequently get back the money you paid in the form of some compromise in repairs from the owner. Home inspection is probably the cheapest insurance policy you can get,” Scaduto says.

“With the high cost of homes today, people are more and more leery of spending a tremendous amount of money and ending up with a dump.

“A lot of times, buyers of property try to save a few dollars and skip an inspection. They’ll rationalize it by saying: ‘Well, it has a nice new kitchen and new bathrooms. What do we need an inspector for?’

“The kitchen and bathrooms are not as important as the foundation and the attic,” Scaduto says. “The foundation is the heart of the house and the attic is the soul, the place to look for leaks and vermin.”

If an inspection turns up major deficiencies, the potential buyer has two choices: either negotiate a better price or walk away, Scaduto advises.

“A lot of home buyers are naive. They feel that just because they signed a purchase agreement for a specific price, they’re set at that price,” Scaduto says.

“If we give them a list of several thousand dollars in deficiencies, this is a negotiable point. If the owner is adamant about not lowering the price, he should should correct the problems, or be stuck with the house.”

Scaduto, author of “What’s It Worth: A Home Inspection and Appraisal Manual,” (Tab Books), offers these tips on finding a qualified inspector:

--Don’t ask the broker for a recommendation. He has a vested interest in selling the property and may recommend a lenient inspector.

--Ask your lawyer, bank or a professional organization. Check the Yellow Pages for building inspection services.

--Make sure the inspector has errors and omissions insurance and general liability insurance. If he makes an error in his report or damages the home during the inspection, both policies protect the buyer and inspector.

--Ask about his qualifications, what he will look at, how long the inspection should take. Will he check all appliances, attics and crawl spaces? Does he activate all mechanical systems?

--What kind of report will you get? You want an easily understandable narrative report, not a checklist.

--The home buyer and perhaps the broker should be present during the inspection, but Scaduto said the homeowner should not. They tend to be overly defensive.

Scaduto said his book is intended primarily for buyers in areas that have few real estate inspectors. It gives guidelines about what the purchaser should look for in the condition of the house and the life expectancies of various systems: how soon a roof may need replacing, how much time a heating system has left, how to conduct a radon test.

Scaduto developed and coordinates a first-in-the-nation certificate program for building inspectors at Northeastern University in Boston. Most of the people taking the seven courses required for certification have backgrounds in building trades or general contracting, he said.