Using Your Home Inspection Service

For some time, mortgage lenders have required home inspection as a process and have made lending “subject to”—and for very good reason.  It’s difficult to argue that a purchase as expensive to you as a home should not be fully checked out by a certified home inspector to be sure that your investment is fully functional and protected.

Years ago, it was called a “termite inspection.”  Prior to agreements being finalized, the “termite inspection” needed to be conducted.  No inspection, no loan proceeds.  After all, it’s nice for the lender to know the walls will be standing after the new owner takes occupancy, and all the wood has not been devoured by hungry insects living underground, out of sight and out of mind.

Any real estate agent can share horror stories of buyers moving into homes and having built-in appliances fail, heating systems break down and require costly repairs, or leaky roofs electing to show their ugly faces within the first week of a new homeowner moving in.

Sometimes, in spite of all inspection efforts—sometimes--things will simply “happen.”  Most often, not.  You can insure that the chances of any of that happening are lessened, however, by hiring a competent and well-qualified Home Inspection Service to certify all mechanical and physical attributes of your new home are in working order.  After all, no one wants to assume responsibility for a crumbling wall that is not their fault, right?

Here’s a suggestion:  Buy the most comprehensive home inspection service you can find—not the most reasonable.  Buy only the best.   And understand it’s not going to be completed in three hours.    Trust me; you’ll thank me for advising you to do that at some point in the first year you own your home, if not in the first week.

If you can, plan to be there while the inspection is being done, if the house is vacant.  Believe me, the inspector will be happy to have you follow him/her around and won’t mind in the least if you ask questions as they complete a multi-page checklist.  They are going to be turning on everything in the house to be sure it works, if the house has power, water, and gas.  They are going to be sure that every piece of major equipment works.  They will assure that there is no visible water leaking into the basement, no water damage to eaves or sub roofing from backed up leaves in the gutters.  They are going to check to see that the pool filter works (if you’re lucky enough to have a pool and it’s not wintertime) and, if it is winter, they are going to check to see that the pool is not leaking water.  In other words, they are going to go about doing their job competently and efficiently, and at the end of the day, you will know more about your future home than you ever realized.

It’s a service that is well worth its cost.  Take advantage of it.