Home Inspection is not a usual affair for everyone, sellers won’t sell their homes after just a few except for some abrupt serious reasons, and buyers would make the decision to buy a home with their future in it long ahead in their minds. Therefore, experience only comes once they are already in the process of selling and buying themselves. And so, we thought, it would be important for you to know what you need to do after the home inspection, following through on our previous article in this blog.
First and foremost, you might ask, how long does a home inspection take? Well, there are a few factors to consider: the size of the home, the number of defects found, the thoroughness of the inspector himself, and also the owner’s helpfulness during the preparation and the home inspection process itself. There may be exceptions to this number, but expect the home inspection to last about two to four hours; or more.
What’s Going to Happen After the Home Inspection?
If, fortunately, the home inspector only found minor and expected issues, the home buying process can continue as planned. The seller or his/her agent should be the one to address the problems that were pointed out. There could just be a leaky faucet, a missing doorstop, or a downspout that needs to be re-attached, which could easily be fixed and crossed out from the ‘to-do” list of the buyer before moving in.
When all the problems have been fixed, the buyers can see for themselves for the last time, if they are so. The process of purchasing the house can then be pursued.
What if Serious Problems Are Discovered?
If this is the case, the buyers will have to stop and think about a very important question: “Should I still continue to buy the house?”
No means no and you know what happens then. A huge safety issue or a structural problem is enough deal breakers to give up on a house. But if you still want to move forward with living in the house of your dreams even if there are major hurdles along the way you’ll need to do an additional inspection, negotiate, and more importantly, follow-up.
Moving forward, after a home inspection, know that the home inspector may not necessarily be an expert on any one aspect of the construction of the house. An additional inspection will need a specialist such as a structural engineer who can assess the condition of the home and also determine how much it would cost to fix a particular problem.
With regards negotiating, the buyer can ask the seller to lower the price of the home depending on its current condition. But, if the seller wants to keep the price at the current offer on the table, he/she will have to agree to fix the problems before closing.
A simple assurance is not enough when it comes to serious structural problems. Therefore, follow-up will have to be done after the fixes. Say, if the foundations were lifted or if water diversion was done, an expert will have to be called again to check the quality of the repairs.
A home inspection is not done only for standard operating procedures. It is a very important part of the process of buying and selling a home in order to make sure that everything is perfect in the future for the buyer and that they are paying for the right price. It is not something to just cross out of the list as homes are not simple things to take for granted, we’re talking about the safety and the comfort of residents here, therefore, get a home inspector that you can trust.