Discovering that “perfect house” brings out a lot of emotion, especially if you’ve been searching for a long time. The saying goes “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” and that is especially true in real estate. You might think you can give the place a thorough look yourself, but even if you’re a handyman, you likely haven’t done a professional home inspection before.
Here are some reasons why it’s in your best interest as a buyer to have a home inspection done:
Locate Structural Issues
We can all get down on our knees or up on a ladder and have a close look at any cracks in the walls, door frames, or ceiling, but it takes a professional to know when a crack could mean serious structural issues. Sometimes a handful of spackling paste won’t make it go away.
These cracks can be quickly explained away by a seller and without a home inspection, they can lead to some seriously expensive remedies down the line.
Safety Issues
Can you honestly say with absolute certainty that your new home doesn’t have any mold? What about carbon monoxide or poorly installed appliances? Would you know for a fact if your new chimney was actually blocked? Many of these hidden defects can show up after the sale and put you and your family in danger. A home inspection will reveal any of these concerns, give you solutions, and outline the costs of these solutions.
Valuable Tool For Price Negotiations
Having a home inspection report will definitely allow you to negotiate from a point of strength. It will help you avoid negotiations centered around “personal expertise” which, let’s be honest, is usually not much expertise at all.
“You may have noticed the small cracks in the outside wall. I’ve had them looked at and they are a minor issue that you could actually fix yourself if you wanted to.”
“I did notice the cracks, and while it may appear that way at first glance, the home inspection report explains in detail, with images, that we’re looking at more than just the natural settling of the house. This number here would be my cost to fix it. Why don’t we talk about how to adjust the selling price accordingly?”
Keep in mind that you don’t want to use the inspection report with the hopes of making the seller fix every single issue in the house. That’s a good way to eliminate any hopes of negotiation.
Have A Way Out
We know, once you find the home of your dreams, it can be difficult to walk away. Your threshold for potential issues will be much higher for a home you’ve fallen in love with, but if the home inspection reveals too many, you should walk away. What if there are several systems nearing their expiration date? Are you willing to take on those extra costs to repair or replace within the first year of buying this home? The home inspection report can actually save you a lot of money.
Whether it’s by revealing unexpected costs you will incur in the near future as the new owner, or by allowing you to reduce the selling price in negotiations, you’ll be glad you decided to get a home inspection.