A house inspection involves an examination of real estate property to unearth the defects it may have at the time of letting. A house inspector assesses the condition of a home from heating systems to water and sewer systems plus other relevant safety issues. Home inspection serves to reveal the current condition of a home normally hired by a willing buyer. The findings will be used by the buyer to make concrete decisions on whether to close the deal or move on. It will help the buyer in the negotiation table by taking into consideration the cost of repairs and more. A home inspection is quite different from a home appraisal in that appraisal is used by the lender to gauge the mortgage the property owner qualifies for.
How home inspection works
As a potential buyer of a property, you are expected to hire a home inspector to research a property and present their findings in a written report. The assessment is expected to detail the cost of repairs required, property safety concerns and more. The other things a house inspector will look out for is the foundation and the roofing to see if it meets the code laid down by local authorities. If a house inspection saves a willing buyer some costly repairs needed in the house, it also lets the owner find out defects and make upgrades accordingly to increase the chances of closing the deal and even increase home value.
The report can be used by both parties at the negotiation table, and it can serve as a binding material even in a court of law in case a dispute arises amidst. If the buyer finds that there are serious issues with the house that need attention, the buyer if in dispute can call for an original inspector to see if past issues with the house were remedied or not.
Appraisal vs Home inspection
There is a big difference from the two, even though all of them are useful for pre-purchase of a home. The difference is, an appraisal determines the value of a home against a mortgage while home inspection focuses on the current condition of a property. An appraisal can have an impact on the amount of mortgage received, while house inspections can have an impact on the net value of a home.
Benefits of a house inspection
- Problems in equipment and home systems can be detected earlier and fixed to prevent escalation to a costly affair. Malfunctioning equipment can pose a safety concern which may lead to fatal accidents.
- Maintenance managers will benefit from home inspection reports and plan for preventative maintenance. All equipment will face wear and tear at some point, but it doesn’t mean they are broken. So as a manager, you will schedule regular maintenance before they fail. It will reduce the cost of maintenance and downtime for the equipment or the system.
- It enables property owners to identify recurring problems and correction measures implemented or isolate the cases for further actions.
- If a regular inspection is done regularly, the personnel handling that equipment will be cautious enough when using it because uncovering those who mishandle equipment will be easy.
- Having insight information about equipment and the home system will let you procure better ones the next time you want to replace the old ones.
- If the inspection is thorough the benefits will be critical because they will be reliable and comprehensive to depict a true picture of the home condition.
