Why Get a Home Inspection

Pre-purchase Inspections

The purchase of a home is typically the largest investment you will make and as such you need to protect that investment.  Almost all sales contracts include the condition that the contract is contingent upon completion of a satisfactory inspection. This is known as the inspection contingency. All buyers should insist on a professional home inspection performed by an inspector of their choosing.  Whether you have owned a home before or not, you should be aware of what is in store for you once you have purchased the home. 

Every home will have some issues, even new construction.  Most of these issues are a matter of minor or routine maintenance and are a normal and natural part of owning a home.  The inspector will discuss these with you and the inspection report will reflect these items.  More importantly, the inspection is designed to look out for the larger, more significant problems which would require either the seller to remedy the situation prior to closing or else you can negotiate a fair compensation for you to make the repairs yourself following closing.

Pre-listing Inspections

If you are selling a home, you'll get the highest price in the shortest time if your home is in top condition.  If the buyer's inspector finds a problem it can cause the buyer to get cold feet and the deal can often fall through. At best, surprise problems uncovered by the buyer's inspector will cause delays in closing and usually you will have to pay for repairs at the last minute, or take a lower price on your home.

It is often better to pay for your own inspection before putting your home on the market. Having a pre-listing inspection done will make the entire sale process easier.  Then either correct them or present them 'as is', assuring that the first offer you accept can move quickly and smoothly to closing without delays or costly surprises.

Another of the key benefits of having the inspection done early is that if there are any problems discovered that need to be repaired you can have the repairs done on your own terms, on your own schedule. You'll almost certainly have more headaches and spend more money than if you'd known about the problem and had it repaired before negotiations began. You could save thousands by simply being able to shop around and get competitive bids from contractors, rather than being forced into paying for a rush job at the last minute. Another area where you can save money is in having flexibility to choose the materials used in repairs. Sales contracts usually specify repairs must be made using materials of comparable quality. By identifying needed repairs early, you'll have the option to save money by using less expensive materials for the repairs.

Often, you can negotiate with a buyer to accept items in the current condition by stipulating that they are reflected in the purchase price. But that same buyer may walk away from the deal if the conditions come as a surprise, after an offer has already been made. If the home is inspected before the house goes on the market you will be aware of the condition of the house before an offer is made. There won't be any surprises and the deal is far less likely to fall apart. It takes a lot of effort to get a sales agreement signed in the first place. If the inspection turns up problems, the buyer will want to negotiate a new deal and that second sales agreement is usually even harder to get done than the first one.