Buying a House - The House Inspection
First off, you NEED to get a home inspection before you complete the sale of a house. Even if everything looks in good working order you need to get one. This will save you tons of headaches and keep you from getting into something that you are completely unprepared for.
Your agent should be able to recommend a home inspector, or you could get recommendations from family or freinds from one they really liked. In my limited experience most home instectors are professionals, but there are several things you will want to ask. You need to find out if they will have you along on the day of the insection. It may take a couple hours, but this is something you will defitely want to do. You will find out alot about the house you are going to buy during this process. They should be able to quote you a price depending on te size of the house, and how old it is as well. You’ll need to pay this up front (ie after the inspection), so have the money ready when it happens.
You’ll also want to make sure the inspector gets up on the roof, goes into the attic and takes a look at the garage (depending if the house has an attic or garage). The housing inspector should then provide you with a report with all the major and minor things that they have found. You will use this report to request rememdies from the seller before the house closes.
Things I’ve learned during the home inspection:
- A good home inspector is well worth his or her fee. They will find things you never knew to look for.
- They should be able to explain things if you do not understand. For instance, I don’t know much about breakers and wiring and the inspector took the time to explain exactly what he ment when he found something. This is another benefit of being there during the inspection.
- Make sure they differentiate what NEEDS to be fixed from what SHOULD be fixed.
- The inspector can’t report what they can’t see. If a garage is locked, or there is something behind a wall or ceiling panel it may get missed.
