Benefits of a Home Inspection

(You Benefit By Knowing Your Future Home From Top to Bottom)

Every house being bought or sold needs to have a home inspection performed. Generally, the inspection benefits the buyer but there is also good reason for the seller to have an inspection before hanging out a for sale sign. The seller knows the buyer will have an inspection done so the seller benefits when he/she knows what will be revealed. 

The seller can choose to correct problems before the buyer finds them.  Or he/she can disclose them up front as a demonstration of integrity to the buyer. 

Still, the home inspection benefits primarily the buyer.

Know the Home Your Family Will Live In

What’s important is knowing how severe the problems are and how the buyer and seller are willing to deal with them. Some buyers will demand that every little item on the report be brought up to satisfactory standards. Other buyers are willing to accept major deficiencies such as a heating system expected to fail in five years or less. Naturally, sellers don’t want to invest any more money than necessary into a house they will no longer own. Sellers want to close the deal “as-is” or as close to as-is that is reasonably possible.

It can’t be over emphasized how important a home inspection is if you are looking at fixer-upper homes. This should be intuitive. Even if you are an experienced contractor, you don’t want your emotions overriding good judgement. Always get a second set of eyes to inspect the home your family will live in.

The seller might have multiple offers are on the table. But that doesn’t mean a buyer should accept a home inspection revealing serious defects. The buyer needs a plan for how any serious deficiencies will be quickly corrected and paid for before or after the deal is completed.

Know Your Lender’s Requirements 

Even when a buyer is pre-approved, home inspections can stop the lender from financing the deal. Some mortgage lenders require that certain safety issues, such as high radon levels, a decayed roof, or dangerous structural defects be addressed before they’ll give you a loan. If one or more of these is suspected, it may be necessary for the potential buyer to bring in an expert for further inspection and/or diagnoses.

Everything is upgradable, fixable, or replaceable. The buyer just needs to have a list of what those issues are. There are a few starkly frightening home inspection terms in everyone’s vocabulary: mold, radon, and asbestos. But these too can almost always be repaired. What’s important is that buyers understand the repair process, cost, and time needed.

Not Everything Has To Be Repaired

Just because a problem needs repairing doesn’t mean the seller has to make the repair. Sometimes it’s in the buyer’s best interest to get a price concession and arrange for the repairs themselves. The seller is still looking at the bottom line he or she will walk away with. The seller might have a minimum repair made rather than consider the long-term consequences. 

Local code violations such as missing handrails almost always have to be repaired. However, upgrades to revised codes that were grandfathered are negotiable. The home inspection is not a code compliance inspection. While the inspector might make recommendations based on code changes, the buyer needs to look at the big picture. Rarely are houses that met code when built required to be upgraded at a later date. If the buyer wants a house fully complying with new codes, he/she should probably be looking for a new home. 

You should approach the house inspection as a relationship with the seller rather than a need to be right about everything. This is what makes a “must fix” and “nice to have” priority list good from the beginning. Final negotiations aren’t complete until the house inspection has been accepted.

Tips for Negotiating After the House Inspection 

Buyers and sellers often think negotiations are complete once both parties have signed the purchase agreement. Reality is that another round of negotiations is frequently needed after the house is professionally inspected. The inspector’s job is never to decide if the agreed price is correct or what it should be. Nor should the inspector be involved in a second round of negotiations after the inspection. 

Following the inspection is a time when emotions run high when the seller and buyer believe a deal has been struck but both learn there are more issues to be resolved. A good place to start is for both the buyer and seller agents to go over the report separately with their clients. They should make clear that generally there are five options that could result from the report:

1. Ask for repairs.

2. Do nothing by completing the sales as already agreed to.

3. Negotiate a new price or money for repairs.

4. Negotiate a combination of repairs and a price revision.

5. Cancel the sale based on major problems revealed by the report.

After the inspection, go over the report with your Realtor.  Your Realtor will guide you through deciding how to proceed with your home purchase and help negotiate any changes that might be needed as a result of your professional home inspection. Remember, every home, even a brand new one, has at least a short “to do” list. You’ll move into your new home with complete peace of mind.

At Total Atlanta Group, we enjoy being part of your move into the next chapter of your life. If you need more information or have questions, please contact us. You can also reach us by calling at (678) 570-8123. We'll be glad to help you!