What You Need To Know About Home Inspections Before Making A Purchase

If you’re searching for real estate, chances are you’ve heard that you need to have a home inspected. This is one of the most important aspects of buying any home, whether it’s 40 years old or brand new. A home inspection can save a buyer money in a number of different ways. However, you must understand the limitations.

Home Inspections Vary in Cost

Home inspectors may charge anywhere from $250 to $500 or even more, depending on your location. This is not the time to choose the cheapest contractor. You want someone that knows what they’re doing, is licensed, and has years of experience. In other words, choose someone based on their qualifications, rather than price. Skimping on the home inspection could come back to haunt you.

An Inspection Can Save You Money

Let’s say you find the home of your dreams. Everything looks amazing and you can’t believe how good the price is. A home inspection can reveal what you may not see. It might be an old furnace that isn’t functioning correctly or it could be holes in the roof. It could even be something so serious that it can’t be fixed. Knowing what’s wrong with the house can prevent you from making a huge mistake.

Inspections Don’t Find Everything

While an inspection can find a number of problems, it can’t find everything. A home inspector will examine what’s on the surface. In other words, he will not cut into a wall to see if there’s a leaky pipe or look for leaks in an underground gas line. This means that even if you have an inspection, there could still be problems with the home.

Not Everything Is Guaranteed

Most home inspectors are general contractors. This means that while they can inspect the home for problems, they cannot guarantee that electrical or plumping is in proper working order. In order to get these areas inspected with a guarantee, you need to hire professionals that are licensed in these fields to look at these areas.

Inspections Can Help You Negotiate

Last, but not least, just because something in the home needs repaired, doesn’t mean you have to walk away from the deal. Instead, have your realtor point out the problems and ask that the seller either fix the problem or reduce the selling price to cover the costs. If it’s something you can repair on your own, you’ll be able to reduce your buying price and fix the repair inexpensively.

A home inspection should never be skipped. It doesn’t matter the age of the home or how beautiful it looks; there can be issues that the average home buyer wouldn’t notice. If you’re still not sure what to do, try searching online or asking questions on a site like the lending expert blog before spending any money. Spend the money to get the home inspected so that you can walk away if need be.