Home inspections are a thorough examination of a checklist of potential problems in your real estate. It’s basically a detailed analysis done by a professional, and there are a number of reasons you could use a home inspection. It is important to know that a home inspection isn’t done for the appraisal of your house. Instead, it’s done to give you in-depth tips on maintenance and upkeep.
It is a relatively important aspect of real estate, where standard home inspections are conducted before you purchase a house. If there are any problems found, a follow up specialised inspection is done.
We know a lot of factors go into deciding whether you should opt for a home inspection or not. We are going to go through these aspects step-by-step and give you the final verdict on whether you should go for it or not.
What Is A Home Inspector?
All the magic that goes into the analysis of your home inspection is done by a professional home inspector. This is a certified individual who examines the condition of a residential property. Essentially, this one person will verify the state of your house or any house you’re thinking of buying.
They are trained to inspect the entire structure, interior, exterior (roofing), and flooring of your house. A home inspector will also check main systems like electrical and plumbing to make sure they’re in sound condition. It is like paying someone to check out any potential problems that may cost you money later on.
Any damage done to your house, whether you knew about it or not, a home inspector is there to identify.
Benefits of Hiring a Home Inspector
There are multiple reasons for and benefits to hiring a home inspector before a big purchase or even hiring one just to understand the current condition of your home. Let’s take a walk through the different perks you’ll get out of hiring a home inspector.
- Find Hidden Issues
If you plan on buying a new house, you’ll want to know whether it’s worth it. This sort of assessment is not possible through a simple walk-through. That’s where a home inspector comes in. Using their expertise, they can take a more detailed look at the house and identify any red flags you may have missed. This will save you a lot of money if you realise the property isn’t worth buying.
This is also true for a home you’re already living in. It is possible you overlooked a few problems or simply were not able to find them. A professional can instead identify any health hazards or damage. Not only would you save yourself a larger check but might also avoid any potential health issues.
- Protects Your Investment
Buying a house is a major commitment and an even grander bank check. Any home buyer wants the assurance that their money is not going to waste. Hiring a home inspector is like taking a proactive measure to ensure your investment is safe.
A home inspector will give you the details you need to know before finalising a decision on whether you should buy the house or not. Moreover, you can minimise any future risks and damages by taking early action, and checking them off the list.
- Negotiation Tool
Everyone wants a reasonable deal out of their purchase, especially when it is such a major buy. You want to make sure you can drag the price down as much as possible. The home inspector is of valuable assistance in this case.
Their thorough checks will find any damages, required repairs, or significant issues, which you can use as leverage over the seller. You can either demand repairs on the problems, or you could get the price reduced. Either way, it is a win-win situation for you.
- Cost Estimate
In today’s real estate market, making sound and sensible decisions is of utmost importance. This means you should not be spending extra money where it’s not due, and you should be aware of the amount you do spend.
A home inspector will give you the estimate of costs you may have to incur while ensuring the proper upkeep of your house. This will be the determining factor to either buy the property or not go ahead with a more costly solution.
- General Peace of Mind
You want to know whether you’ve made a good long-term decision, both financially and for the well-being of you and your family. In order to get that final assurance, a home inspector can give you all the secrets about your house.
This way you can solve or avoid any health hazards, major structural damages, or even problems like plumbing etc. Knowing that your house is in a good state, you won’t have any anxiety about potential problems that could arise.
Risks of Not Hiring a Home Inspector
Buying a home without getting it checked is considered a rookie mistake. This oversight could result in a huge financial and safety risk. It’s essential to keep a somewhat questioning mind about the condition the previous homeowners left the house in. Here’s a few risks you could face without carrying a home inspection.
- You could be caught off-guard by undetected issues. These may include costly repairs and undetected safety hazards (asbestos, mold, lead paint) which are difficult to get rid of.
- There are some things that go unnoticed at first. For instance, you could be left with faulty wiring or foundational issues. These issues occur too often and it’s important to take precautions.
- If you’re unsure of the quality of your home, it’s not possible to ascertain its value for future prospective buying purposes.
Choosing A Home Inspector
When you reach the stage of deciding on a home inspector, you will want to find someone extremely reliable and among the top in the business in your local area. Moreover, it should be someone who fits you. For instance, if you like having control over the process and getting regularly updated, make sure to hire someone who is okay with you joining along in the process.
Aside from that, look at reviews previous customers left for them, and try to find someone with a good overall reputation. Of course you can’t forget the basics like checking their certifications and licence validity. These checkpoints are a must for a good home inspector you can trust.
Conclusion
We don’t see any reason you should not get a home inspector when making a new purchase or needing an update on your current house. They can reduce the risk to a great extent, and help you live a peaceful life at your home. In certain situations, hiring a home inspector is not a must.
If you are moving into a newly constructed house, it’s possible that an inspection was already done. Moreover, if past results are completely reliable, you don’t need to spend money on a home inspector. Other than that however, keeping your house in an appropriate condition is important to avoid hazardous incidents at a later time.
We recommend calling in a home inspector every few years later to assess whether you’re in need of some renovations or not. Make sure to make a wise decision, and live in your safe and happy home.
As an alternative, you could also invest in a buyers agent, who conducts the entire process of buying a property for you. Not only the home inspecting, but also find the property based on your requirements, negotiating the price, the paperwork and providing advice.
