The Home Inspection Process and Results

You’ve done it... you’ve found the home of your dreams and now you’re working through your conditional period. You have the mortgage approval from your bank or mortgage broker and it’s time for the “Home Inspection”. Careful consideration should be given to choosing a Home Inspector. Try to find a certified home inspector who’s been referred by someone you trust, and further, ask the Home Inspectors you interview for references so you can satisfy yourself that their past clients have been satisfied with their services. Once you’ve selected a Home Inspector you’re ready to schedule the Home Inspection. So what happens during the home inspection anyway? What should you expect? Well your chosen Certified Home Inspector will meet you and your Realtor at the property and should explain the process. Typically the inspection would start with the exterior of the property. Your home inspector will share items of concern or interest with you as you walk through the property with them. It’s important to stay in close proximity and pay careful attention to what’s being said so that if you have any questions or need anything clarified you have the opportunity to do so.  This is a great opportunity to learn as much as you can about your new home. You will also need something to make notes on but don’t try to take notes on everything the Home Inspector is saying as you may miss something important – a good Home Inspector will typically be providing you with a written or digital copy of the Inspection outlining their findings afterwards anyway- but rather take notes about things that are of particular importance to you that may not necessarily be included in the report. After the Home Inspection you should have a report in your hands that includes items that need to be fixed now or budgeted for in the future as well as routine home maintenance items and typical costs of some common renovations or updates. You can think of a Home Inspection as an information gathering session about the property. There will typically be many items discovered and in fact it is quite common to see 60 or more recommended items to be addressed. This is not restricted to older homes either – many times newer homes and even brand new builds will contain items which need to be remedied. It’s important to realize that the Home Inspection is not a To-Do” list for the seller but rather information for you, the Buyer of the property.

However there may be a circumstance where a Home Inspection uncovers a major defect in the property that was previously undiscoverable by you, the Buyer or by your Realtor. It could be a twisted rafter in the attic or a roof leak that the seller was unaware of as it was only visible in the attic... or maybe there was substantial moisture detected with a  moisture meter behind some drywall. What do you do now? It can be an overwhelming experience when this happens – you’ve found your dream home and now a major defect is identified and you’re not sure what to do. There are a few options and Your Realtor will have some guidance for you depending on your specific circumstances. One option would be to walk away from the deal and not complete the purchase due to receiving an unsatisfactory Home Inspection. A second option would be to accept the defect or problem and complete the deal as it stands or a third option would be for your Real Estate representative to prepare an amendment to the agreement or purchase and sale addressing the issue that came up. You could request that the Seller repair or replace the problem in a professional manner prior to completion or maybe you want to have the problem fixed after completion and ask for an abatement in the purchase price, or perhaps you and the seller could agree to compromise with a 50-50 split on the repair.  Whatever the scenario is, if there is an amendment completed both the buyer and the seller have to agree to the amendment. If they can’t agree to the items in the amendment, then the agreement of purchase and sale remains the way it originally was and you have to decide at that time whether you’re comfortable with completing the deal or not.

Information  authored and courtesy of Terry Beckett SRES, ABR, SRS, Broker, Realtor