Why Buyers Should Get A Home Inspection
One thing you will hear about when you make an offer on a house is a home inspection. You may be wondering if it is necessary or not so we want to help you understand the purpose of getting one done.
When you make an offer on a property the contract grants the buyer the right for an inspection. During the inspection a complete analysis will be made of all the parts of the property. If the inspector finds anything that needs to be repaired the buyers agent will submit a "fix-it list" to the sellers agent. In most cases, the inspector makes note of even the smallest flaws, as well as current code violations. If every single item were asked to be upgraded/repaired it would be doubtful that any resale home would see the close of escrow. Many of the current codes were not in effect when the older homes were built and it is unrealistic to ask the seller to upgrade the home to these new standards. The exceptions are possible safety items. For example: spliced wiring should be in a junction box and is easy to remedy. On the other hand, a staircase that has spindles too far apart to meet today´s codes would be both destructive and too expensive to remedy. We have had buyers ask to have the cracks in the driveway repaired. This is a little unreasonable since they were there and obvious from the day the offer was accepted. However, an undiscovered plumbing leak is an item that we encourage the seller to repair - if not for the new buyer, then at least to prevent further damage to their property. You as the buyer can ask for anything to be fixed, the seller may refuse and the transaction can then be mutually cancelled. If you focus on items that are integral to the property (heating, plumbing, roof, soundness of structure and ignore the creaky window) usually both parties walk away feeling that both have reached a fair deal. In the event that repairs cannot be made in time, or you want the have things upgraded even further, a credit through escrow is often the way to accomplish this.
An inspection will generally cost a couple of hundred dollars but it is a great way for buyers to protect themselves as they embark on buying the place they will call home. If a major problem is overlooked it could mean huge problems down the road as well as present safety issues and make the house hard to sell in the future.
Please let us know if you have any other questions regarding home inspections at info@torellirealty.com or 714-540-7355.