Home Inspections

Every day, thousands of people around the world are buying a home. In most countries the real estate transaction process is very well organized and offers protection to the buyers in form of pre-inspection, compliance clauses, as well as other legalities. These are all designed to protect the buyer from buying a "cat in a bag".

Home inspection is certainly one of these processes and can save the home buyers a lot of money and frustration. The primary benefits include discovery of malfunctions and structural problems, leveraging the discovered inconsistencies to negotiate better purchase price, and avoiding buying a property that is unsafe or may require significant investment to repair it.

The critical step in this process is hiring a professional. Ideally, a certified home inspector who has many inspections under his/her belt. The "pro" knows where to look, when to look, and can properly assess the significance of given malfunction. Realtors, lawyers, mortgage brokers - all have a network circle that can be leveraged to select the best home inspector for the particular transaction.

The home inspector will inspect the inside and outside of the property. Primarily: driveways, walkways, stairs, decks, windows and doors, roof and gutters, skylights, vents, fireplace and chimney, basement/foundation, heating and cooling systems (Furnace and AC), electrical panels and wiring, flooring, and kitchen/bath operations. Upon inspection the inspector will prepare a report advising the home buyers of any current inconsistencies and areas that may pose problems in the future. The inspector will also advise about any safety issues and "legal" problems that the buyers may expose themselves upon purchase.

One of the most important benefits that home inspection offers is the identification of structural or unsafe construction problems. The cost associated with home repair on a structural level are astronomical and the buyers need to identify the problems before buying the home to avoid incurring these expenses. Another side of this issue is safety; a professional with a trained eye can detect any safety issues associated with the home construction and advise the buyers on possible action steps.

If the property needs some repairs or may require repair in the future, home buyers can consult contractors, shop around for material prices if they plan to fix it themselves, and consult the realtor to prepare an accurate estimate of costs and extra effort this property will require from them. Then proceed to assign a monetary value that can be used to lower the price. It must be noted though, the home owner may object to the price change and undertake the work themselves, in this case the price decrease may not be that dramatic and a follow up inspection will need to take place to make sure that the problem areas have been fixed properly.

The typical home inspection is priced between $200 - $500 dollars but the benefits certainly outweigh the cost. The variety of benefits associated with the home inspection may differ case by case but the home safety, structural diagnosis, and repair cost prevention will always be the core advantages of the professional home inspection. However, the inspection and report will only be as good as the inspector so it is very important to hire a professional with experience and proven track record.