5 Questions to Ask Your Home Inspector

Home inspections are critical to the life and longevity of your new home. Often, homes are bought from a previous owner. Therefore, that home had a whole other family living in within those walls, doing whatever they wanted. While the house buying process is usually universally accepted, the thought of buying a home from someone else can be scary. After all, there’s no telling what the people did in the home before they moved out, or what kind of problems can be lurking.

That’s why it’s so important to have a home inspection done before bringing your family or belongings into the home. After all, there’s no Carfax report for houses. So, without having someone who knows what they’re looking for, problems might only be discovered after it’s too late.

These five questions are designed to help keep new homeowners appraised of the process and help them make an educated decision.

1. Should I Come to the Inspection?

During the inspection, homeowners will see parts of their home that they otherwise might never think to check. Therefore, it’s important for a homeowner to be available to walk through the home with the inspector. This is a great opportunity to get acquainted with your new property, learn the functions, and have your questions answered.

2. What Parts of the House Should Be Inspected?

Buyers should ensure that the entire house is inspected. After all, buying a house is a major investment. If you don’t check all the nuts and bolts throughout the house, that investment can go south quick, after it’s too late. By having the whole home inspected, it mitigates the chances of an issue being overlooked.

3. What Should the Inspector Look for?

The inspector is hired by the buyer. This means that erring on the side of caution is better than being stuck with an underlying issue that could turn catastrophic. Urging the inspector to look for mold or radon is essential, as well as anything that can’t be easily seen. When buying a house, you can never be too careful.

4. Would You Buy this House?

Considering that you’ve hired the contractor, asking them if they think the house is worth it if they were in your position is helpful. You should trust the inspector you hired, so take their opinion to heart. They are professionals and therefore, they should be able to assess the situation and offer reasonable options.

5. How do I Fix the Problems in the House?

While a final, detailed report will be provided to the buyer at the end of the inspection, the severity of the financial burden isn’t disclosed. So, you should ask the inspector about the depth of the issues. Inspectors should be able to give an estimate of how much the repairs will cost. Plus, they can tell you what can be done to fix the problems in the home. This is vital information, as it can be used in bargaining the price of the home, or as a reason to stop the buying process altogether.

To close, it’s important to remember that even if the sale falls through, it’s better to have a house inspected, then to get stuck with it. Inspections are scary and can be difficult, but the prospect of buying a lemon of a house should be far scarier. So, make sure to ask these five questions to your inspector and consider what they have to say before making your final decision. Let’s not forget to also purchase homeowners insurance.