I would like to start this post by saying that it might surprise you but even brand new homes should have a home inspection!!!! Did you know that sometimes new homes can have just as many issues in a home inspection as a 100 year old home? Shocking I know!
With that said, I cannot stress the importance enough of having a home inspection by a licensed home inspector prior to buying your property. Whether it be your primary home, vacation home, or investment property. Wouldn’t you rather go into a purchase with your eyes wide open? This was when you find out what issues the property may or may not have, you can decide whether you want to move forward and if so, what you and the seller might agree on for terms.
Very often the issues that come up in a home inspection are ones that can’t be seen visually by any of us who are just walking through during a showing. Not to mention many issues are ones that aren’t a current problem to the owner but ones that might be “ brewing” . These issues may rear their heads AFTER you buy and move into the home. That is NOT a nice house warming gift is it?
Some of the items below are examples of issues that might be revealed in a home inspection:
water issues in the basement
foundation issues/ movement of walls
electrical and safety issues ( some which may even be a fire hazard)
potential leaks in the roof or around the chimney
future sewer line back up problems
radon levels
heating system issues ( do all of the radiators or baseboards work???)
appliance performance
Hopefully that list didn’t scare you too much! I would rather have you a little scared so that you have that home inspection and know everything about the condition of the home before you move in! This is the whole point of this post right? lol
Your buyer’s agent should have resources for you to choose a well respected home inspector in your area. Ideally they would have a list of several that may range in price and specialty so that you can make an educated choice as to which one you feel would be the best fit .
Some questions to ask when you call the home inspector would be the following:
What their fee is for the home inspection
Do they offer other services such as radon tests, lead paint inspections, mold testing? ( If they do not offer these additional items it does not reflect negatively on them as they want to refer out for those services)
How long do they expect their home inspection to be?
Those are just some basic questions to ask on that call.
This is a shorter post as it is very straight forward. Calling the home inspector is one of the first calls that I have my clients make when they have an accepted offer on a property. Home inspectors can be VERY busy especially in our area as we have a small community. Typically you have 2-3 weeks only for a home inspection so you want to have your home inspection scheduled as early as possible in that timeline. This will give you sufficient time to navigate and negotiate any issues that might come up.
You will see additional posts relating to this topic such as how to negotiate inspection issues, what happens during a home inspection, etc.
Happy House Hunting everyone!
Tanya
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
– Benjamin Franklin