Is a Building Inspection Really Worth it?

• Posted on HDNEditor
• in Home Maintenance
• on October 17, 2017
• No Comments.

When it comes to buying a house, it is extremely important for you to know that there is not anything major wrong with the home that you are interested in buying. The last thing you want is to find out after you have already signed at closing that there is something very wrong in your new home. This is because once you have signed the closing paperwork, it is absolutely too late.

However, if happen to discover that there are some issues with the home before you sign the final paperwork, you will be in a better position to get some sort of concessions from the seller in order to mitigate the amount of monetary loss from having to make repairs in order to fix some deficiencies.

What is a building inspection?

A building inspection is when a person who is trained and certified as an inspector goes through a building and looks through all of the major systems of the building, looking for signs of deficiencies. Along with looking for signs of deficiencies in the major systems of the home, they can also look for signs of past water damage, insect infestations and even fire damage that can dramatically affect the value of the property.

What are things included in a typical building inspection?

Not all building inspectors are the same and they each have established methods and processes that they use in order to do a home check. As they move through the home, they will take notes of all of the major systems, and when they find deficiencies, they will assign it a rating level: safety issue, minor defect or major defect, depending on whether or not the item in question needs to be replaced, repaired or replaced.

Below is a list of the major systems of the home that are usually part of a thorough home inspection:

Interior

• Electrical System
• Plumbing
• Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning, or HVAC for short
• Bathroom
• Kitchen Appliances
• Water Heater
• Fire System
• Laundry Room

Exterior

• Exterior Walls
• Foundation
• Carport
• Grading
• Roof

Advantages of having a home inspection

Having a home inspection report of the home that you are looking to purchase gives you an idea of the overall condition of the home, according to the expert that looked at. You will be able to use all of the information on the report to possibly renegotiate a lower price in order to address any of the deficiencies that were noted on the report. If the report uncovers any major concerns that could possibly cost too much to fix, it might make more sense to walk away from the deal.

Disadvantages of having a home inspection

Unfortunately, there is a major drawback to a home inspection and that is there is no way to look inside the walls. There is no way to inspect the inside of all of the water and sewer pipes or the ductwork that runs throughout the home. Then there is the cost of the inspection itself and this can be significant. The amount of money that you will be charged for the inspection will depend on a number of factors and it will come down to the results and you think it is worth it.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that you truly have to have a home inspection done before you can finalize the purchase of your new home. If you don’t do it and you later find out that the roof has a major leak, you will be forced to replace the roof without having the ability go back to the previous owner.