What to Expect From a Home Inspection

If you have ever bought or sold a home, you probably have dealt with a home inspection. 

Home inspections are something that I recommend to all of my clients, as inspectors have a trained eye for some of the things those of us who get emotionally involved with our homes can miss. It is easy to overlook a few holes in the siding, cracks in the foundation, or improperly working windows when you have found the home of your dreams! 

However, a home inspector can point out these issues and help you get a little more clarity on the scope of the problems and what will be involved in fixing them. 

The home inspection generally takes several hours. A thorough inspector will check all of the appliances, roof, crawl spaces, windows, plumbing, and electrical and much more. You may be present during the entire inspection (although this can be long and tedious) or for just part of it. At the end of the inspection, the inspector will give you a summary report and discuss with you any problems that the property may have. 

Once the inspection is wrapped, this is the time for you to ask lots of questions!  Ask the inspector’s opinion on repairs versus replacement for items that will need to be attended to. 

Remember that home inspectors are not contractors, and they don’t like to offer too much advice on the cost of repairs. Often, they will give you an idea of what needs to be done to repair the problem in question, but they will usually recommend you get a licensed professional who can deal more specifically with the problem to come in and give you an estimate. 

A home inspection ranges in price and most inspectors will charge based on the square footage of the home. Ask your Realtor for a recommendation for an inspector that they have used in the past and that they trust.

If you are purchasing a home using FHA Financing, tell your inspector upfront. FHA requires all homes to have an appraisal before they will allow the financing to go through. The appraisers for FHA are required to flag any safety issues or hazardous items in the home. If the FHA appraiser finds anything that needs to be remedied before the financing will go through, they will give you a few days to fix it and charge you another $150.00 to come out and re-inspect. Some of these re-inspections can be avoided by asking your private home inspector to flag any items that he/she may see that FHA will not allow to pass so that you can get them fixed prior to your FHA appraisal. 

Lately, I have seen a trend where seller's will pay for a home inspection on their homes prior to putting it on the market. Some sellers find this to be a bit of a scary practice because they don't want to know if there are any major problems with the property that they have to disclose and repair, however, when an offer is received, the buyer will most likely have a home inspection done and find the problem anyway.

By getting an inspection done ahead of time, you can eliminate some later price negotiations due to problems found during the inspection. Also, this can be a great marketing tool for buyers, as they will see that you were diligent in the upkeep of your property, and that you took the initiative to make sure it was in the best condition possible before you even listed it. 

As always, if you have any questions, please call your REALTOR or feel free to give me a call anytime!

Stacy Zachman

952-334-2112

stacyzachman.com