What to expect during your Home Inspection.
One of the things that you will do after you go into the contract has your home inspected. Everyone that I have talked to about buying a home told me that this is one of the most important parts of the process. It is your chance to make sure that there are no big problems lurking behind that fresh coat of paint.
Pick your poison: choosing the types of inspections that you would like to have done.
After house hunting with our buyer’s agent, I can tell you that there is more to a house than a roof, windows, floor, rooms, and scary basement. There are professionals that are trained to examine each part of your house to let you know its condition. That way, you can request that the seller fix it before you move in, or you can start house hunting again.
Here are some of the main types of inspections that you can get:
- Pre Sale Home Inspection
- Mold
- Pests
- Radon
- Sewer pipe
- Lead paint
As a first time home buyer, I secretly wanted to get every kind of inspection that exists in the world. Radon? That sounds scary. Lead paint? Ack! I have a baby, what if she gets lead poisoning? Then… I realize they all come with a price tag and I started to pick my battles. Our buyer’s agent explained each kind of inspection, what potential risks are, and what kinds of solutions are available so that we could make an informed decision. He strongly recommended that we get the sewage inspection, and we did. In the end, the only two inspections we got were the sewage & the pre-sale home inspection. *
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Our house had to pass several inspections that day: one from the PE home inspector, one from the sewer inspector, and one from my mother. I am proud to say, that it passed the two most important inspections with flying colors. Who needs a sewer anyway?
Our home inspectors examined all the major components of our house. They do everything from a walk on the roof to explore your attic, to run a load in the washer dryer and dishwasher. I got the feeling that they didn’t only know their stuff and have years of experience, they love it. These guys can literally make the building science of stucco and the material used to wire your house interesting. I received an entire BINDER full of information about the house at the end of the inspection.
We also have a home video of our sewer pipe. The sewer inspector had quite a few clever jokes about that, as you can imagine. But, he found a “wide joint” that needs to be replaced, which is approximately a few thousand dollars to repair. Thanks to our buyer’s agent, a leaking sewer will not be our house warming gift.
The bottom line, the inspections were a good investment.
The whole experience takes about 4 to 5 hours, at about $500. We left with our binder, our favorite home video, and confidence. We still love our house. We know what we are getting in to, and we just saved ourselves a few thousand bucks.
Ready to start house hunting with someone that can guide the way? Click here to find the right buyer’s agent for you.
