Defects Found During A Home Inspection

Retaining the services of Licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) home inspector can translate into big savings at the closing table. First, you need to be sure that you retain the services of a qualified professional who can identify subtle defects that are not readily visible to the typical home buyer. Buyers who inspect their prospective homes by themselves are rarely qualified to conduct a thorough home inspection and even if they have a good knowledge base to work from, they are too emotionally involved in the purchase and are usually blinded by the glitter of the cosmetic issues.

Buying the home of your dreams usually consumes all of your available resources as well as everything you can borrow. You sure don’t want to wake up to an unexpected $3,000 repair bill for a new heating system three months after you move in.

Identifying subtle defects before you sign a contract can translate into a reduced selling price, or repair of uncovered defects at the sellers cost. And don’t believe that the seller is offering the house “as is”, there’s always room for negotiation. Of course, there is a limit to what any inspector can uncover because home inspections are visual investigations and destructive probing is not the standard of practice in the industry. However, there may be times when destructive probing may be recommended by the home inspector and this must be undertaken with the seller’s approval. The purpose of a pre-purchase home inspection is to reduce risk to the buyer, the visual inspection can not eliminate risk.

It is important to accompany the home inspector during the home inspection because one picture is worth a thousand words and there’s a unique opportunity to learn about the home; the home inspector will be sure that you are not blinded by the glitter. Familiarize yourself with the following top ten list and you will have an idea of what your home inspection engineer should be looking for.