It is recommended that you get a house inspected before you commit to a purchase. Although a seller is abide by law to disclose everything he/she knows about the current conditions of the house to potential buyers, he/she may not know everything about the house. You need to know exactly what you are getting. A professional home inspection will reveal any hidden problems within the home so that they may be addressed before you close the deal, thus making your buying decision much easier and more confident.
When I inspect a home, I will look at the systems that make up the building such as (for a detailed list of inspection items, please check the Magnum Service area):
The inspection report will tell you what needs to be repaired and what routine
maintenance tasks you should perform to keep the house in top condition.
You should require an inspection at the time you make a formal offer. Make
sure the contract has an inspection contingency. Then, arrange for an inspector
of your choosing to come inspect the house and pay close attention to the
inspection report. If you aren’t comfortable with what we find, you should
demand that the seller correct the problems before closing – or negotiate
for a lower purchase price or better terms to compensate.
The professional home inspection will reduce the risk of costly surprises with what is likely to be the largest purchase you will ever make. It helps you to make a more informed, more comfortable decision.
If you are selling a home, you’ll get the highest price in the shortest time, if your home is in top condition. And you want to find out about any hidden problems before your house goes on the market. Almost all sales contracts include the condition that the contract is contingent upon completion of a satisfactory inspection. This is known as the "inspection contingency". Buyers will insist on a professional home inspection performed by an inspector they will hire. If the buyer’s inspector finds a problem, it can cause the buyer to get cold feet and the deal can often fall through. At best, surprise problems uncovered by the buyer’s inspector will cause delays in closing, and usually you will have to pay for repairs at the last minute, or take a lower price on your home.
It’s better to pay for your own inspection before putting your home on the market. Having a pre-listing inspection done will make the whole sale process easier. Find out about any hidden problems and get them corrected in advance, on your own terms. Or present the items "as is" and reflected in the purchase price. Otherwise, you can count on the buyer’s inspector finding them, at the worst possible time, causing delays, and costing you more money.
One of the key benefits of having the inspection done early, is that if there are any problems discovered that need to be repaired, you can have the repairs done on your own terms, on your own schedule. When a problem isn’t found until the buyer has an inspection performed, the deal you’ve worked so hard to get done may fall apart unless you act quickly to get the repairs done. Or you may have to take a lower price, in order to keep the deal moving. In either case, you’ll almost certainly have more headache, and spend more money, than if you’d known about the problem and had it repaired before negotiations began. You could save thousands by simply being able to shop around and get competitive bids from contractors, rather than being forced into paying for a "rush job" at the last minute. Another area where you can save money is in having flexibility to choose the materials used in repairs. Sales contracts usually specify repairs must be made using materials of "comparable quality". By identifying needed repairs early, you’ll have the option to save money by using less expensive materials for the repairs.
You can also benefit from simply offering certain items "as is". Often, you can negotiate with a buyer to accept items in the current condition by stipulating that they are reflected in the purchase price. But that same buyer may walk away from the deal if the conditions come as a surprise, after an offer has already been made. If the home is inspected before the house goes on the market you will be aware of the condition of the house before an offer is made. There won’t be any surprises and the deal is far less likely to fall apart. It takes a lot of effort to get a sales agreement signed in the first place. If the inspection turns up problems, the buyer will want to negotiate a new deal and that second sales agreement is usually even harder to get done than the first one.
By having a pre-listing inspection done, you can identify problems early. Then either correct them or present them "as is", assuring that the first offer you accept can move quickly and smoothly to closing without delays or costly surprises.
There are good reasons to have a professional inspection performed on the brand new home you are buying.
Buying a new house is likely one of, if not the largest purchase decision you'll ever make. The whole process is fraught with emotion and stress. A professional home inspection will substantially reduce the risk for your large investment in a new home. It just makes sense to learn as much as you can about the quality of your new home, before signing off on everything.
Building a new home is a tremendously complex endeavor. It involves many people, usually split up into sub-contractor groups, each working on different parts and systems of the house. Even for the best builders, it's nearly impossible to complete this process without missing something. Maybe it's a plumbing fixture that didn't get tested for leaks, maybe it's an electrical box that isn't working, or any one of dozens of minor problems that can easily be overlooked in such a major undertaking. We will find such problems while it is still early enough for you to bring them up with the builder and have them corrected before you sign-off and start moving in.
For the relatively small cost, a professional inspection of your new dream home can pay big dividends in peace of mind and getting any problems identified and corrected before they can become an unpleasant surprise.
Why would a one-year-old home need an inspection? The answer is simple: Many items in need of repair are often a direct result of mistakes or oversight made during the construction of the home.
Many common building and installation mistakes will not become evident to the home owners for several years. But if ignored, there will be consequences and will lead to costly repairs, and the life expectancy of many components of the house will shorten as a result.
Therefore, it's important to know that even though you may pay $250 now for me to conduct an inspection, the money you spend now will save you thousands of dollars if problems are not taken care of immediately.