Home Inspection Basics You Need to Know
Have you decided to have your property inspected, and get all the safety checks done? Here are some basics you need to know.
The Home Inspection Contingency
The first thing you should know is that almost all property buyers will want a home inspection contingency included in their contract. This basically allows them to back out from the purchase of thehouse (without any penalty)owing to serious flaws that are revealed in the inspection report.
The good thing about this, from a buyer’s perspective of course, is that it ensures that they make a worthy investment, and prevents losses and blunders in the process. Reports from a seller’s home inspection should give them complete insight about the status of the property, as well as the assurance they seek with regard to the property.
Home inspection certainly serves as a good thing to sellers, too. A thorough check on the entire property will let them know where their property stands in terms of quality and safety. This is something critical that Any home owner will want done. Abundant insight on your own property should help you make important decisions regarding it and help plan and proceed with the sale of the property accordingly.
What Matters
As much as a home inspection plays a crucial role in confirming things regarding your property, you need to keep one thing in mind: the value or worth of a house does not entirely depend on house inspection alone, nor is it the only thing that matters when it comes to buying a property.
As a buyer, you must know that you will almost never find a house free of flaws, and that it can be quite unreasonable to expect a completely flawless property, or to have every existing flaw fixed when handed over to you.
What is Inspected?
Ideally, a thorough inspection is done on the interiors and exterior parts of the house. In the case where a number of serious flaws are detected during initially, owners may decide to get another round of inspection done by professional experts.
Exteriors
Exterior parts of the property should include Foundations, exterior walls, grading, garages/carports, and roofs. You can also have your pool safety check completed during the inspection. The exterior check is not only focused on damage and safety factors, but also on pest control.
Interiors
Interior inspection includes plumbing, electric supplies, heating &air conditioning, fire safety and bathrooms. However, you must note that these inspections can be limited to specific factors. As for interiors, inner pipelines and sewer lines, inner walls, and inner chimneys are usually not inspected.
Making Decisions after Inspection
The inspection report should tell you how much renovation or repair needs to be done, and thereby help you decide whether you want to keep the property or back out from the purchase. (As mentioned, you need to make sure the contract includesa home inspection contingency in order to do this).
As a second options, you can speak to your seller and work things out so that the repairs are done based on an understanding between the two parties. It is also possible that you simply won’t mind spending on the repairs and doing them yourself. What you decide depends on the status of the property as well on your personal view.