Shit, I did more due diligence than she was planning when I bought my $2300 motorcycle. And all I did was bring a knowledgeable friend.
If you are spending any amount that you couldn’t comfortably survive losing entirely, make sure you bring in your own expert. Now obviously their level of expertise can vary based on value (I’ll stake 2.5 thousand on my friends word, I wouldn’t stake 100+ thousand without a licensed professional). But unless you’re willing to call yourself knowledgeable enough, always have a second opinion.
And for bonus points, knowledgeable or not, that second opinion is uninvested emotionally. I fell in love with my bike as soon as I heard it fire up, same with my car. But in both cases, I brought someone knowledgeable who didn’t give a fuck if I bought that vehicle. They were able to confirm if I was getting a fair deal without emotion clouding their judgements.
And neither of those cases were risking 6 digits worth of money. Nowhere near the price or due diligence of a house.
Edit: spelling
Exactly. You’re unlikely to spend a significant percentage of the total cost on your third party inspection. But that third party inspection will give you information worth way more than they cost. Either the peace of mind that you’re paying a fair price (and doing so fully aware of the issues that you may need to resolve), or encouraging you to negotiate lower/walk away. In all 3 situations you end up leaving the deal more confident that you made the best choice, and usually the inspector earns that money.