There are very good reasons to hire a certified home inspector to inspect a home you are hoping to buy. Apart from ensuring that the home you are trying to buy is in good condition, the home inspector may be able to give you arguments for a better selling price on the home. Any deficiencies raised by the home inspection can become negotiating points. Home inspectors can assist you in protecting your purchase and may also help you get a better deal. There are things you can inspect for yourself initially, but you need to possess a keen eye and a proper checklist!
Having a prepared checklist with you during your walk-through of the home is essential. This will aide in making a thorough inspection. It is possible to have over a hundred items included on a good checklist. Without this list, you would inevitably forget certain aspects as you walk through the property.
A well constructed list will be separated by areas of the house. Start outside. As you walk around the property you should be looking for items like railings that are unsafe, exterior wall cracks, damaged or leaning chimney, and roof damage to name a few. Make sure you take notes. As an example, if you notice down spouts that are not draining far enough away from the property write it down as that information could become useful later on.
The inside of the house should also be separated into different areas. Things to covered on your list could be electrical, plumbing, basement floors and walls, heating and so on. It does not really matter that you are not an expert in various building trades. Just be observant to things that are obviously not what they should be. You can point these out when you come back to the property for a thorough and professional home inspection.
As part of the offer buyers can place in a condition on having a home inspection done. This is a great way to protect your investment and it also gives you a bargaining chip to re-negotiate the selling price if the home inspection discovers significant issues. If you do lower your offer make sure it is reasonable compared to the issues found. Most sellers will be willing to negotiate but do not presume to get too much as the selling price probably reflected the condition of the home in the first place.
In a multiple offer situation, you may want to consider a home inspection done before you present an offer. Some purchasers may have a hard time spending the money without any assurance of getting the house. However, on the up side, you will know right away if there are any problems with the home and will be able to adjust your offer accordingly. You can then finalize your deal more rapidly if you offer is the one that is accepted.
You do not need to be a professional contractor to notice that a railing is loose or that the roof is in need of attention. You can weed out a lot of homes from your list that may be too much work for you simply by doing your own initial inspection of a home. Walking through a home with a home inspection checklist will also allow you to look beyond the interior design and base your decision to make an offer or not on solid facts rather than first impressions. Be careful not to rely entirely on your own inspection but to bring in a professional home inspector who will compile a written report on the condition of the home.
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