Purchasing a home is one of the largest investments most people will make. Most people can look around and find obvious flaws. Some flaws may just be cosmetic, while others may be an indication of a more serious (and expensive) defect. Give yourself one less thing to worry about! Having a professional inspection: .
1) Gives you an informed purchasing foundation as well as a possible negotiation tool
2) Allows you to accurately compare homes
3) Informs you of possible costly repairs before you close
4) Flipping properties? Find what its going to take to fix it up.
Buying a home can be stressful. A home inspection is supposed to give you peace of mind, but often has the opposite effect. You will be asked to absorb a lot of information in a short time. This often includes a written report, checklist, photographs, environmental reports and what the inspector himself says during the inspection. All this combined with the seller's disclosure and what you notice yourself makes the experience even more overwhelming. What should you do?
Relax. Most of your inspection will be maintenance recommendations, life expectancies and minor imperfections. These are nice to know about. However, the issues that really matter will fall into four categories:
- Major defects. An example of this would be a structural failure.
- Things that lead to major defects. A small roof-flashing leak, for example.
- Things that may hinder your ability to finance, legally occupy or insure the home.
- Safety hazards, such as an exposed, live buss bar at the electric panel.
Anything in these categories should be addressed. Often a serious problem can be corrected inexpensively to protect both life and property (especially in categories 2 and 4). Most sellers are honest and are often surprised to learn of defects uncovered during an inspection. Realize that sellers are under no obligation to repair everything mentioned in the report. No home is perfect. Keep things in perspective.Do not kill your deal over things that do not matter. It is inappropriate to demand that a seller address deferred maintenance, conditions already listed on the seller's disclosure or nit-picky items.
For those of you new to the area, I have added the following almanac for 43402 (06/2007-06/2008).
