Working with a home inspector

Get a home inspection, the peace of mind knowing that the home was given a proper home inspection by a professional is worth the small fees you pay for the service. A few hundred dollars can save you tens of thousands dollars if home inspection finds a bad roof or heating system.

Real estate agents will have home inspectors that they prefer working with. Also get recommendations from friends and family who are fellow homeowners.

The home inspector will go through every room (2-3 hours on average), note every concern that they come across and recommend repairs. At the end they will send you a typed report accompanied by photos and you can use the report to get the seller to fix the issues before selling the house to you, or use the report to negotiate prices adjustments.

Every sales contract should include a home inspection contingency allowing the buyer get out of the contract agreement if something serious is turned up during the home inspection.

A quick home inspection checklist includes:

• Roof – averages $10,000 or more to replace if a new roof is needed due to sagging, missing tiles or shingles, and old age
• Floors – how are the floors holding up when you walk through the house? Are there any indications that the floors are loose and unstable?
• Smells – follow your nose to determine if there is a heavy use of air fresheners to hide smells that are difficult to eliminate from the house
• Look for water stains – stains on ceilings, around the windows indicate water damage. Determine if mold is forming around the areas
• Test out all the faucets – pay attention to water pressures, pipe noise, and discolorations
• Test out all the windows and doors – open and close all windows
• Test out all the appliances – run dishwasher, laundry washer and dryers through full cycles
• Test out all heater and AC units – see if heat and cool air is circulating
• Test out all electrical outlets – make sure outlets are grounded, and controlled by circuit breakers. Costly to upgrade from if the home is still using fuses
• Examine paint and walls – a fresh repainting will cost a few thousand dollars
• Walk the exterior – take time to examine the outside of the house, see if walls, garage, or driveways need repairing

Take your time to evaluate the inspection report to see if it an easy fix that you could live with, or if it would cost you too much out of pocket money and time to repair. A home inspection report is similar to grading reports on baseball cards in fundamentals. Ultimately it is up to you to decide if you still want to buy the baseball cards based on the graded conditions of mint, good, or fair.