Home Inspections Save You Money
Home inspections are designed to protect the client's investment and to prevent housing nightmares. Make it your business to buy, sell, or own a home that is safe, that has properly working systems and components, and that provides comfort and enjoyment to your family. Involving a licensed home inspector facilitates real estate transactions and brings peace of mind to all parties. Look below to see how you stand to benefit from a home inspection, whether a buyer, seller, owner or agent.
Home inspections benefit buyers.
If you're considering placing an offer on a home, you want to know what condition it's in. Hire a licensed home inspector to check out your candidate house. Working from a thorough home inspection checklist, the inspector examines, among other components, the structure, roof, exterior, interior, and all the heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems. If licensed to conduct a pest inspection, he also investigates and identifies any infestations of wood destroying organisms. You will receive an inspection report, which lists the condition of the entire house and itemizes needed repairs, both major and minor. If you have made an inspection one of the contingencies of sale, you now have the choice of (a) asking the seller to complete certain repairs before closing, (b) renegotiating the price, or (c) walking away altogether.
Isn't it worth the relatively modest inspection cost to protect one of the largest and most important investments you'll ever make?
Home inspections benefit sellers.
Do you want to sell your house quickly for top dollar? Take a tip from us: One of the best ways to present your home to prospective buyers is to have it inspected prior to listing. The inspection report documents needed repairs, which you can proactively fix ahead of time. Chances are you can recoup these repair costs (as well as the cost of the inspection) by commanding a higher sales price. Now when you bring your house to market, furnish the report and proof of repairs for all to review. This forthcoming and honest disclosure of the building's condition is an attractive selling point; buyers assign it value. Their worries greatly allayed, they are inclined to respond more quickly with an offer and to be more willing to pay full price.
Put yourself in the buyer's shoes and ask what you would want to know about your house. Then provide that information as part of your home's staging.
Home inspections benefit owners in two ways.
The first way concerns homeowners who bought a newly constructed house within the past year. New residences typically come with a builder's warranty or assurance that obligates the builder to address a punch list of defects within the first year at his expense. Hire a home inspector, who works from an exhaustive checklist, and use his report to make sure your punch list is complete.
The second kind of benefit is for those whose house has not been inspected in some time (if ever). The owner of an older home may be unaware of its condition and/or the condition of its component systems. He may be unaware if termites, carpenter ants, or other wood destroying organisms have compromised the building's structural integrity. If there are problems, the longer they go uncorrected the more expensive it usually is to repair them. So addressing them sooner rather than later pays in the long run. Furthermore, an inspection report helps the owner establish a maintenance routine and servicing schedule, it projects life expectancies of the roof and other components, and it serves as a kind of user's manual.
All this comes at a relatively small cost. Protect your long-term investment and find homeowner peace of mind.
Inspections benefit agents.
Some agents view home inspectors as deal breakers or alarmists who needlessly scare their clients away from sales. But so long as both the agent and inspector, in adhering to their respective professional codes of conduct, focus on serving the needs of their common client, any perceived conflict simply vanishes. In fact, a successful inspection that you referred reflects well on you. Looking out for the client first and foremost builds trust, and trust boosts your reputation and referral base.
Another benefit is that agents eliminate or greatly reduce the risk of failure-to-disclose lawsuits. The inspector essentially assumes this risk, but he is also, at least in Washington, required to carry errors and omissions insurance to protect against it (especially for pest inspections).
Ask yourself what rewards you wish to reap from the real estate business. If a satisfied and appreciative client is at the top of your list, plant the right seeds to garner that reward by recommending a home inspection.
Contact us Today to Schedule your Inspection.