Home Inspections

Typically a home inspection is thought of as a service that is performed shortly before one buys a home. This is the most common time in which a home inspection is scheduled, however there are several other times in which the services of a home inspector is very useful.

The use of the services of a home inspector prior to completion of a purchase of a home is often called a pre-purchase inspection. This inspection is conducted during the seven to ten day window of time after an offer to purchase a home has been accepted. The purpose of this inspection is to help inform the buyer of any issues with the home that the buyer may wish to address with the seller or the sellers real estate agent. With knowledge of the homes "weak" areas the buyers can often renegotiate the offer, get the concerning areas repaired, or is bad enough, walk away from the house.

Pre-listing home inspections are conducted before a home is officially placed on sale. This is done to help identify issues that will likely be a hindrance to selling the home. A bonus in having this done is that the sale of a home can actually be finalized two weeks faster. This is because the seven to ten day inspection window is often eliminated. Another good thing about have a home pre inspected is that the asking price is more justified. The price is better justified because the home inspection may have verified that the home is in good condition. Add to this any receipts you may have from repairs done as a result of the pre listing inspection and you have really made the home buyer feel confident that they are getting a home that is in good shape. This is more likely to be recommended for higher quality homes that have been kept in good condition and the sellers are wanted to take extra steps to justify the higher asking price.

Maintenance Inspections are another version of a inspection. With this version the home is not about to be listed or to be purchased. The owner wants to have a person with an experienced and eye look over the house. The inspector in the case is hired so as to catch issues early and before the issue can become a larger problem. It is common for this inspection to be limited to areas of the home in which the home owner does not have the ability to check out themselves such as the attic, crawl space or roof. This inspection can also be used by elderly people to get an unbiased report on the home. People fear being scammed and tricked into paying for repairs that did not need to be done. Home inspectors are neutral and most (like myself) do not do repairs and therefore have no motive to create an issue so as to get paid to repair things.