Why are home inspections so important? Find out today.
Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or you’ve bought dozens of homes, a home inspection provides you with a really great set of information about the house you’re looking to purchase.
The home inspector will look at the major systems in the house, including the heating and air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, roof, windows, doors, and so on to find out if there are any issues that need to be addressed.
In addition to issues that need to be handled immediately, the inspector’s report also gives you an idea of what’s going to happen with the house down the road. That way, you can plan and budget for future issues, repairs, upgrades, and replacements you’ll have to address in a few years after buying the home.
If any problems are found in the inspection, there are a couple of ways that you can resolve them:
- You can ask the seller to fix the problems before you buy the house.
- You can ask for compensation from the seller at closing so that you can pay for them to be fixed.
- You can ask for compensation in the form of a reduced price from the seller. However, you’ll still need to handle those issues at some point or other.
While home inspections can’t tell you everything that’s wrong with the property, you wouldn’t buy a car without checking it out first, would you? You’re spending a lot more money on a home than a car, so you really do want to have it checked out by an inspector. If they find something that looks odd to them but they’re not entirely sure how much of an issue it is, you can always have a specialist come back in before you decide to buy the house.
However, there are a couple of reasons that people hesitate to have an inspection done. The first concern people have is the cost. Depending on the size of the house and the complexity of the property, the average cost of an inspection ranges between $400 and $500. That may sound like a lot of money, but in the relative scale of the purchase you’re making, it’s well worth it.
Less often, some have said that because they’re in a competitive market, they don’t want to go through with the inspection for fear of losing the deal. I’d say that you’re better off losing that house and moving onto the next one than you are by purchasing a home you haven’t inspected—one that could potentially cost you thousands.
When an inspection is taking place, we highly recommend that you be present. That way, you can get a summary of their findings and look at some of the items they find firsthand. You can also take a look at some of the maintenance items that may not be a part of the deal but are something to keep in mind for later.
If you have any questions about home inspections or would like to learn about them in more detail, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you.
