When you’re trying to sell or buy a home, it’s tempting to cut a few corners here and there to either maximize your profit or minimize your expenses. However, that is rarely a good idea.
Unfortunately, people on both sides of the transaction tend to skip out on hiring a home inspector for the process. They seem like an unnecessary expense, and many people believe they can simply glance at the house and tell what’s wrong with it. You can’t, and it’s going to cost you money.
For sellers, you might end up having to repair things that you didn’t know about after a seller figures it out, or you can even be challenged in court for not disclosing major issues. As a buyer, you can end up purchasing a home that simply isn’t fit for sale.
Home inspectors offer many benefits that we can’t sum up in one intro. So, here’s a complete list of reasons that support the importance of hiring a home inspector, whether you’re selling or buying a home.
Avoiding Unforeseen Problems
This is what we mentioned in the introduction. As a seller, you’re expected to make sure your home is up to code before you sell it, and you are required to disclose problems.
You might think it’s okay and not your problem after the sale, but what happens if the new owner finds that the roof is caving in months after the sale? They can challenge you over that.
If you’re a buyer, what happens if everything looks great when you inspect it, but you realize the foundation is torn apart soon after finalizing the transaction?
Disastrous post-sale home problems occur all the time, but the importance of hiring a home inspector comes from one fact – they can easily prevent them. If you’re a seller, you’ll learn what you need to fix or declare to the new homeowner, and if you’re a buyer, you can avoid bad deals that cost you a fortune down the road.
Protecting Your Investment
For most people, purchasing a home is the biggest investment they’ll ever make. Don’t you want to protect that investment as much as possible?
If you buy a lemon, and there’s no way for you to rectify that, you’re not just out a few paychecks worth of cash. You’re stuck with a home on a 30-year loan that you’ll have even more trouble selling than the person who sold it to you did.
That is a huge financial burden, and it can completely ruin your financial life, as well as make you lose a lot of money on the investment when you finally do move on from it.
By hiring a home inspector, you will protect your investment and be able to trust that you have the best chance of earning a profit on it in the future.
Access to Comprehensive Information from a Third-Party
The homeowner might be very honest with you, or they might try to hide a few things here and there to prevent you from canceling the purchase. You really don’t want to rely on the homeowner’s personal ethics when you’re putting so much money on the line.
A home inspector will provide a comprehensive home inspection before you proceed with the transaction. You’ll be able to go over their report as soon as they’re finished to decide whether or not the home is a good decision for you.
Unlike the homeowner, the home inspector has nothing to gain from hiding anything or minimizing the importance of a flaw. You can trust that the information you receive to inform your purchasing decisions is 100% unbiased.
Increased Security
This is one factor that many homeowners don’t consider because they just assume that a proper home is fairly secure, and they can add extra measures if need be. However, there are some serious security concerns that might be present, and the homeowner doesn’t necessarily need to mention them, or they might not even know about them themselves.
For example, windows might not have locks, a seemingly harmless cellar door might be the perfect unprotected entryway for thieves to access your home through, or there might be other weak spots that allow malicious individuals to target your new home.
Even more annoyingly, those issues might not be resolved, and you can end up with squatters in your home while you’re working on transitioning from your current home to the new one. It happens all the time.
A home inspector doesn’t just check for mold, roofing problems, and stuff like that. They check the security features of the home to ensure that it is as reasonably secure as possible.
This can help pay off more than any other part of the home inspection service because in the event that such issues aren’t handled, it’s not just your investment and comfort on the line. The safety of you and your family might be in jeopardy without you even knowing it.
Early Warning of Dangerous Problems
Some disastrous purchase situations aren’t just detrimental to your investment. Yes, a bad foundation is a money pit, but what if the water heater is unsafe? What if the gas lines have dangerous leaks, or an unseen stud is under too much pressure after a low-quality addition?
A home inspector can catch these problems before they create an issue that money can’t solve. Like your security needs, this is one of the most important reasons a home inspector is not only optimal but completely necessary. It’s not just about spending or saving money. Your safety is on the line.
Getting a Home Loan and Real Estate Agent
Finally, it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to buy your home outright with your own cash. That is rarely done, and it’s usually not a good idea, even if possible.
You need a high-quality home loan that will work for you long-term. However, the best home loan lenders will want you to get an inspection done before they lend you the money.
This not only protects you, but it protects them since they can trust that you’re getting a home that won’t financially destroy you later on.
Give us a quick call or contact us otherwise, and we’ll take care of you in your home-selling or home-buying process, helping you to get that loan & live more safely!
In addition, you’ll work with one of the best real estate agents out there that’ll aid you in closing the deal!