Purchasing a home is likely one of the biggest financial decisions you will ever make. It is comforting to move forward to the closing table with confidence that you are making a wise decision and buying a home that won’t need a lot of costly unanticipated repairs. A home inspection is one of the most important steps you will take toward giving you that peace of mind.
A home inspection is a visual inspection of the house and its systems, including the HVAC, roof, appliances, electrical and plumbing.The home inspector will also take a look at the structural foundation of the house, including the foundation and the attic spaces to make sure that there is adequate insulation and structural support for the roof. They will look at fireplaces, floors, walls, patios, sidewalks and most other visually observable components of the home. You should expect the inspector to go into the crawl space and attic and either go on the roof or visually inspect it with a drone.
The inspection is an important step in the process of contract to close, knocking out one of the biggest common contingencies of the contract. A buyer generally has a set number of days from the time you go under contract to have the inspection process performed. In most cases, if the buyer does not meet this contractual deadline, the opportunity to inspect it off, and the buyer has agreed to proceed with the purchase accepting the home in as is condition, without any repairs. In most cases, that is not the intention of the buyer. That is why both the buyer and the agent should mark the date for request of any repairs or replacements in bold letters on a calendar. It is definitely a date you don’t want to miss.
That brings us to who conducts the inspection. While many contracts do not preclude the buyer from making their own inspection, a home inspection contingency is intended to be carried out after a thorough evaluation of the home by a home inspector who is licensed in that state. A buyer might find that a seller is unwilling to make repairs requested by the buyer’s Uncle Joe, who is a handyman or a licensed home inspector in another state.
A home inspection generally starts at $350 and goes up from there. A base inspection includes the general survey of the home identified above, but it is possible to stack on options like a radon inspection, HVAC inspection, visual inspection between the walls and an environmental inspection to discover mold and mildew. If you are outside a municipality, you might also have a separate inspection for the septic system. These things add up. We generally recommend that you start with a basic inspection early in the inspection period and proceed with other inspections if there is reason for concern. There is some risk in not having everything inspected, but some of the other inspections, like a septic inspection, can cost $1000 if the inspector needs to also pump the septic holding tank to properly perform the inspection. If the home inspector finds no evidence of slow drains, it may be that the buyer decides to forgo the septic inspection.
There is never any guarantee that a home inspection will reveal all the defects in a home, so a buyer should understand that this is a process to help identify issues that really stand out. We have also discovered that different home inspectors are likely to report different issues as potential problems, so it is important that a buyer talk with a potential inspector to make sure that they choose the one that seems best suited for their particular situation.
There are a few things that we’d like to mention as you are preparing for your home inspection. The reports can be overwhelming, and it is best to be prepared with a realistic expectation of what the report may look like. You can even ask the home inspector for a sample report to review as you are waiting on your inspection.
The sheer length of the report can cause a buyer to start gasping for air, but understand that the report also contains photos and descriptions of things that are normal. You can expect the home inspection to gauge a general age for the roof, water heater, HVAC and other systems. Sometimes this comes from a sticker on that system, but it can also come from visual evidence of the home inspector’s best guess in regard to the age of the roof or other system.
The home inspection will also contain references to issues that are purely cosmetic, like a run in the carpet or chipped formica on the kitchen counters. Unless these things are significant enough to cause a safety hazard, like a ripple in the carpet that would cause someone to trip, they are generally considered cosmetic issues and not warranted for repair. The sales contract generally states this up front. Sometimes there is a grey area where a ripple in the carpet is significant enough to cause a possible tripping hazard, but it is in the back corner of the bonus room. This might not be considered a safety hazard, but the same ripple on the stairs would definitely warrant a request to have the carpet stretched.
Building codes will also be reported in the home inspection, and you will see many home inspection reports that suggest the buyer install GFCI plugs or an expansion tank on the water heater. These things are safety issues, but they also bring up another grey area as most contracts state the buyer should not ask the seller to bring things up to current building codes. The expansion tank and GFCI outlets may not have been part of the current building code when the house was built, making them a questionable thing to ask for as a result of a home inspection.
Requests like this can also point to bigger issues. If you are under contract on a charming 1940s bungalow that has the old knob and tube fuses, installing GFCI outlets by the kitchen sink is a major overhaul of the home’s electrical system, and likely isn’t one that the seller had in mind when they priced the home. If you see stains on the carpet when you tour the home, those are not really repairs. They are visible to you as a buyer, without the benefit of an inspection and you should anticipate replacing the carpet at your expense as you formulate the price you will offer for the home.
Having conversations with your agent before you go under contract can help you avoid paying for an inspection that will undoubtedly show things that you will be deal breakers. When you are touring the home, be sure to look for major items, like fuses instead of breakers. Also look at the Seller Disclosure BEFORE making an offer. If the seller indicates that a major component of the home is not working, such as the HVAC, you may have given up your opportunity to ask for that repair as you likely signed the contract stating that you received and reviewed a copy of the disclosure.
After the inspection, you will ask the seller to repair or replace the items that cause the most concern for you. If you ask for everything that shows up on the inspection, you are likely to see the deal fall through. Remember that a home inspection is designed to help you have an understanding of the condition of the home, but it isn’t designed to help you negotiate a total renovation of the home to be in like new condition.
Finally, if you have certain types of loans, including FHA or VA, you may find that the appraiser will require certain items to be repaired in order to fund the loan. This means that even if the seller didn’t agree to repair these items in the inspection contingency period, they will have to repair them as part of the financing contingency in order for you to get the loan. Don’t count on this and skip the home inspection!
We hope this helps you understand the role and importance of hiring a licensed home inspector to help you in the process of closing on your home. We are here if you have any questions about the process and can help you buy in Kentucky or Tennessee, as well as refer you to an agent we have personally vetted anywhere else in the United States!
