If you’re in the market for a new house, one of the most important parts of the purchasing process is obtaining a home inspection. With a team of professionals by your side, including your inspector and realtor, you will be aware of any large issues with your potential home and have time to make a plan to fix them before you purchase it.
What Is a Home Inspection?
Home inspections protect you, A.K.A the buyer, from future issues with your new house. The idea is that an inspector will find out anything that’s wrong with the house during their inspection. This gives you and the seller time to figure out how you will deal with the repairs before you buy the house. At a minimum, an inspection gives you a good idea of if your house will be in working order or if it will need large repairs as time goes on. So all in all, even if you have to pay for the discovered issues, you’ll still have the knowledge about them, giving you the full picture of the house. Plus, no one likes unwelcomed surprises, so having a timely inspection done will help you avoid these surprises.
So, what are the steps to the home inspection process?
Home Inspection Steps
Select A Home Inspector
Home inspector recommendations could be from friends, different websites, your real estate agent, or professional organizations like the American Society of Home Inspectors.
Make sure you’re not just taking someone’s word during this hiring process. Get in contact with the inspector yourself and see what he or she is all about, and decide if their process is good for you. The cost of a home inspection will vary depending on where you are, but the average price range is usually $300-500.
Schedule and Attend Your Home Inspection
Your home inspection will take place shortly after the seller accepts your offer, and you’ll want to complete it as quickly as you can. Most people want it done within a 10-day period and a contingency in your offer regarding the results and outcomes of the inspection is typically included, meaning you don’t have to worry about making an offer before an inspection.
The homebuyer is responsible for setting up the inspection. Only the inspector needs to be there, but we recommend going with them so that you can ask questions while you’re there.
On inspection day, you and the inspector will walk through the house testing different components and making detailed observations. You want to make sure that everything is working, and if it isn’t, you can come up with a plan to get it fixed. The inspector will look for safety and code compliance like carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, structural components, mechanical components, plumbing and electrical systems, and infestations of animals or mold.
Review Your Inspection Report
When the inspection is finished, your inspector will give you a full inspection report for you to review. The report will outline any minor or major issues that were found so you can figure out how they will be fixed before closing on the home. Look it over with your real estate agent to find out what to do next.
Determine Your Next Steps After the Report
There are a few choices for you once you have the report. You can buy the home the way it is, ask the seller to fix the issues, or you can decide not to buy the home.
If you want the seller to fix the repairs, you can negotiate with them. In some states there are laws that say the seller has to fix them, so you may want to check your state laws first. For more significant issues like electrical or plumbing, you’re better off trying to negotiate for the seller to pay for those because of their high price. Smaller issues you could save for yourself.
If the inspection report isn’t looking that good, you may decide to not buy the house. As we mentioned earlier, there is usually an “out” for you within your contract, just make sure that it is written in a way that allows you to look elsewhere if you need.
No matter what results from your inspection, the inspection is important and hopefully not too stressful. With your home inspection report, you should hopefully have peace of mind because you know the important details about the home you are buying.
