Benefits of Home Inspection

Benefits for Home Buyers

Buying a home is one of the biggest decisions you will make in your life. You need to go into the closing knowing what you are getting into. For example, what if your roof will need to be replaced in two or three years? (How much will that cost you?!!) What if the air conditioner doesn't work? Have you looked for cracks in the chimney or problems with the foundation? How's the insulation in the home? Is the home structurally deficient? A home inspection will give you peace of mind and help you avoid major repair expenses that you didn't anticipate.

Missing a major defect in a home can be financially devastating when you have to get it fixed.

A home inspector will go places a lot of us hesitate to go. Have you crawled around the attic to see what's up there? Have you been in the crawl space? Chances are you haven't ... and you don't want to! However, these places are important to inspect, and a professional home inspector will inspect them.

If you're still not convinced, we recommend you rent the hilarious comedy The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. You'll get a definite appreciation for the value of a pre-closing home inspection!

If You Are Divorcing

On Nashville's ABC Affiliate, WKRN News 2, Divorce This House^TM
explored 3 Surprising Truths of Divorce Real Estate:

Truth #1: When dividing YOUR marital property, appraisal minus mortgage does NOT equal equity.

Truth #2: Keeping your house after divorce may possibly be expensive and extremely risky.

Truth #3: Waiting Until After Your Divorce to prepare/sell your house is too late.

The above reasons are why you should acquire a home inspection if you are divorcing. A home inspection can identify home maintenance issues prior to the sale of your home to your spouse or someone else. Many times in a situation like this, the house maintenance has been postponed due to the emotions involved in dissolving a marriage, therefore it is important to acquire an assessment of those maintenance items.
www.DivorceThisHouse.com

Benefits for Renters

If you are renting or leasing your home it is a good idea to acquire a home inspection for the condition of the property prior to renting. This provides documentation of the condition of the home prior to renting.

If you are renting a home from someone it is a good idea to acquire a home inspection of the condition of the property prior to providing your deposit and signing a lease.

Benefits for Home Sellers

If potential buyers find a problem with something, the next thing they'll probably think is, "What else is this seller hiding?" By having your home inspected beforehand, and fixing the things that the inspector noted, you can reduce the amount of buyer "nit picking."

Once you have the known problems fixed, you might have your home re-inspected. Handing a copy of the new inspection report to the buyers will add a huge amount of confidence.

Having a home inspected usually means you can set a more-realistic (and usually higher) sales price. For example, making a roof repair for (say) $5,000 might stop the potential buyer from asking for a $10,000 or $15,000 discount to cover the roof problem his inspector discovered.

New Construction Inspection

If an individual is building a home (acting as their own contractor), new construction home inspection can identify and correct problems early in the construction phase, problems which could be expensive to correct later on.

New home construction inspections provide peace of mind to the home owner in knowing the construction is in compliance with local residential building codes.

Benefits for Real Estate Agents

Please encourage your sellers to get a home inspection. As an old Holiday Inn slogan says, "The Best Surprise in No Surprise." Home inspections can help you avoid frustrating (and costly) delays in completing a sale.

You will impress potential buyers by showing them a copy of a home inspection report. This marks you as a professional and lets them know that you care.