Home Inspection

An essential part of a real estate transaction is the home inspection. While this is often dreaded by sellers, home inspections will not be going anywhere anytime soon. Home inspections carry many topics and we will talk about specific parts of Home Inspections in future blog posts. 

PROTECT YOURSELF AS A BUYER.

Now that you’ve found your dream home and have an accepted offer, it’s time to detach yourself from the excitement and let an experienced, licensed inspector thoroughly assess your future investment.

Locating your inspector will be the first challenge. A great place to begin your search is the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). You can also ask your friends, family, or your real estate agent for a recommendation.

Here are some items to consider asking the home inspection company:

• Before telling them about your house, ask what they specialize in and make sure it aligns with your needs.
• Do they have referrals that you can contact? If so, be sure they are recent clients.
• Do they test for radon, well, septic?
• Can you see a sample of their report?

It’s always wise to call at least two companies to ask these questions.

While cost is practically a concern to all, we don’t suggest looking for the least expensive vendor, because remember: You get what you pay for. More importantly, you should understand what you’ll be getting before, during, and after your home inspection.

Once you’ve hired the inspector of your choice, the inspection is the chance for you to identify any visible, non-invasive issues that come with the house. It’s also a good opportunity for you to learn about your new house and its functions.

Note that it’s just as important for you to learn about the functions as it is to learn about the deficiencies. Learning how the house functions will let you create a specific maintenance schedule.

Maria from Reilly Inspections shares this one piece of advice to homeowners, “Always maintain your home; a $100 repair today can easily turn into a $500 repair tomorrow.”

This is such an important message to deliver, yet many homeowners shrug off minor and rather simple maintenance items. For example: cleaning and upkeeping your gutters—a relatively inexpensive task that can help prevent rainwater from entering your basement or crawl space.

Notice that we specifically mentioned “non-invasive” issues. This is because inspectors can’t see inside of walls and can’t predict how homes will respond during different seasons, so be realistic and accept that becoming a homeowner may deliver unforeseen challenges at times.

Even the best and most experienced home inspectors can’t promise that they’ll find every single defect in the house, but they certainly can provide you with enough information for you to make your next decision.

Three different outcomes can result from the inspection process:

• Accept the house the way it is at the price accepted in the offer.
• Negotiate the items on the inspection report that are of concern to you.
• Walk away from the deal all together.

Don’t be afraid to ask your inspector questions during or after your inspection. It’s not unreasonable to request a second opinion or written estimate from a licensed expert for an item of concern in your inspection report. Ask questions and clearly understand what you’re buying.

Setting your expectations is essential, you must know that buying a house carries a risk and hiring a home inspector is a great way to limit the risk, but it does not remove that risk. You, the buyer, are the investor, and with any investment, minimizing the risk will come a long way.

———————————————————————————————————————————————

Trietta | Real Estate, Contracting & Real Estate Investment CT

Homeownership involves more than the short time periods when you build, buy, sell, or renovate. Homeownership is a huge investment that involves a long-term commitment and long-term attention. Over the years, the community of real estate professionals at Trietta have helped clients secure the right home, preserve value, add value, and adapt the home to fit their preferences and lifestyle.

If you have question please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 203.246.2782 or email us.