3 Things That Happen During a Home Inspection

So you’ve made an offer on a home and it has been accepted, congratulations! Now what? Well, now is your chance to find out everything you can about the home to make sure it is acceptable to you since you will be living there!

The Inspection Phase

Typically, the inspection period starts immediately once the offer has been accepted and last for 10 days. Your agent can help you select an home inspector unless you already have someone you’d like to use. An inspection is NOT REQUIRED, however most agents will recommend it because the inspector will look at all the things you can’t really see during a basic showing. An inspection typically costs between $400-$600, but it is well worth it for your peace of mind and you can also get seller to negotiate some repairs if need be.

The First Thing

The inspector looks at almost everything in the house. They are looking for areas of damage, rot, incorrect installation, incorrect repairs, and building code issues. They will go through the plumbing to make sure the pipes are in good order and root out any leaks. They will test the electrical systems to make sure they’re safe, wired correctly, and up to date. They will crawl around in the attic and the crawlspace – this is typically where you’ll find the most high dollar issues. They will climb on the roof and poke/prod the siding to ensure everything is in good order. What if it’s not?

The Second Thing

You will learn more about the house than you ever wanted to know. You will most likely not remember a thing the inspector said because there is so much information given. Not only that, but it will be hard to know what to do with the information. This is where your agent comes in to help you sort through all of it. Depending on your loan type, there could be minor issues that you wouldn’t think anything of that your agent will negotiate the seller to take care of. The inspector will issue you a report for you to refer back to and some treat it as a list of home repairs to work on once they’re in the home.

The Third Thing

While most inspections are long and mostly uneventful, you and your agent will be together for about 3 hours. After self-inspecting the property for an hour or less, and realizing there is nothing else to do for the rest of the time, you notice you have your agent’s undivided attention. Well, partially divided attention!

Either way, in my experience, this has always been a time for me to really learn about my clients on a personal level. I’m always seeking ways to improve the customer experience and learning about your favorite things is one of the ways I try to do this. There’s only so much you can learn during 15-30 min showings so I always look forward to inspections whether the client decides to move forward or not.