When you're ready to complete a purchase and sale agreement on a home, your offer may be contingent on a professional inspection of the property-including its improvements/the structure of the home.
How many inspections?
A number of inspections are common in residential real estate transactions. They include structural inspections, checks for pests, surveys to determine boundaries, title reviews and appraisal to determine value for a lender.
Structural inspections are particularly important. During these examinations, an inspector comes to the property to determine if there are material physical defects and whether expensive repairs and replacements are likely to be required in the next few years. The home inspector looks beyond the cosmetics to make sure that the home's general systems operate properly. The inspector will also look for large repairs that are needed and report on the condition of the home.
Such inspections for a single-family home often require three to four hours, and buyers should attend. This is an opportunity to examine the property's mechanics and structure, ask questions and learn far more about the property than is possible with an informal walk-through.
The standard home inspector's report will review the conditions of the home's heating and cooling systems; interior plumbing and electrical systems; the roof, attic and visible insulation; walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors; foundation, basement and visible structure. The inspector will also look for cracks in cement walls, water stains that indicate leakage and any indication of wood rot. These inspections are visual inspections and do not include anything that can’t be seen or discovered without damaging the property.
A home inspection points out the positive aspects of a home, as well as the maintenance that will be necessary to keep it in good shape or to improve it.
Your Seattle Area Real Estate Team broker is familiar with home-inspection services and can provide you with a list of recommended names and companies from which to choose. Another good way to find a home inspector is to ask a friend, or perhaps a business acquaintance, who has had a home inspection and would recommend a home inspector they were satisfied with.
Remember, no home is perfect and even brand-new homes frequently have numerous elements that come up in an inspection. The goal of any home inspection is to provide a more detailed and clearer picture of the home they are interested in and as many of the elements about it you should be aware of as possible before purchasing it.