Don’t consider an inspection of the home and property as a complete evaluation, but rather an evaluation of the property at this point in time, considering normal wear and tear of the home based on age and location. An inspection of the home can also include Radon gas testing, water testing, energy audits, pest inspections, pool inspections and other specific items that may be location-specific.
Home inspections are also used (less often) by a home seller prior to putting the property on the market to see if there are any hidden problems, and also by homeowners simply wishing to care for their homes, prevent surprises, and keep the home investment value as high as possible
The following are aspects that inspectors pay close attention to during a home inspection:
1. Major flaws, such as large differential cracks in the home’s foundation; structure out of level or plumb; decks not installed or supported correctly, and others. These items are expensive to fix, which are systems needing more than 1.9% of the buy price to repair.
2. Things that could lead to major flaws – a roof leak that could grow, damaged down spouts that could cause backup and water intrusion, or a support beam that was not tied in to the structure properly.
3. Safety hazards, such as bare wiring in kitchens and bathrooms, no safety railing on decks more than 30 inches off the ground, lack of Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI), etc.
Your property inspector will advise you on what you should do about these issues. He may recommend an evaluation on matters – by licensed or certified professionals who are specialists in the defect areas. For example, your inspector may recommend you call a licensed building engineer if they find sections of the property that are out of alignment, as this could indicate a serious structural problem.
Home inspections are performed by a buyer after he or she signs a contract, right?
This is false! As you will discover whenever you read on, a home inspection can be used for ad hoc inspections in new construction projects, as a maintenance tool by a current homeowner, a proactive technique by homeowners to produce their property more sellable, and by buyers wanting to ascertain the problem of the potential home.
Sellers, specifically, can take advantage of finding a home inspection before listing the home. Here are simply a several advantages for the homeowner:
· The homeowner knows the house! The home inspector will have a way to get answers to his/her questions on the annals of any problems they find.
· A home inspection can help the homeowner be much more objective in regards to setting a fair price on the home.
· The homeowner may take the report and make it into a marketing piece for the home.
· The homeowner will undoubtedly be alerted to any safety issues found in the house before they open it up for open house tours.
· The homeowner may make repairs leisurely instead of being in a hurry after the contract is signed.