Tips for the Home Inspection

We feel strongly that buyers should always be at the home inspection. Yes, you’ll get a written report after the inspection, but it doesn’t give you nearly as clear of a picture of the condition of the house as being there to see any problems for yourself and ask the inspector follow up questions. Plus, unless you’re extremely knowledgeable about home construction, it’s difficult to understand what in the inspection report is a big problem or defect and what is really a minor issue.

Inspections of condos take approximately 2 hours and single family home/multi-unit buildings generally take about 3 hours.
The inspector isn’t psychic. He can only see obvious defects and cannot see what is going on inside the walls with plumbing, electrical, etc. Therefore, having a clean inspection report doesn’t mean you won’t ever have a problem with a home. It just means what can be seen seems to be in good shape.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions of the inspector, especially if you don’t understand what he is explaining to you. It’s crucial you understand each issue and whether it’s a minor issue or an expensive repair.
Bring a tape measure with you to take any needed room measurements as we may not be able to get back into the home until the walk through the day before closing.

If you are planning on having any work done to the home immediately after closing, it may be an option to arrange for contractors, painters, floor refinishers, etc. to come by sometime during the inspection to give you estimates as we may not be able to get into the home again until the final walk through. Please let me know so I can obtain for permission from the sellers. If you need referrals for service providers, please let me know.

Inspection reports are generally sent to you 24 hrs after the inspection. As soon as you get the inspection report be sure to email it to me so we can look it over. We’ll then set up a time to discuss any items we want to ask the seller to fix. or give a closing cost credit to repair after closing.

Remember that the point of the inspection is to:
-Discover safety issues & see if there are any structural issues
-Discover any needed repairs to the working components. We want to make sure that all of the appliances are working, that the furnace and AC units are working, etc.
-Get acquainted with the home- now is the perfect time to learn where the water/gas shutoffs are, where the Furnace Filter is, and many other things about your home.

Please feel free to give us a call with any questions.