EXIT Realty Foothills Advises on Home Inspections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Jessie Eide
Realtor
EXIT Realty Foothills
909.593.0502
admin@ourexitteam.com

EXIT Realty Foothills Advises on Home Inspections

What to Expect on a Home Inspection

La Verne, CA (Grassroots Newswire) 5/5/2011 --When buying a home in California, you can’t even get through a purchase contract or a buyer/broker agreement without being bombarded with the importance of a home inspection before the close of escrow. The reason for such fervent prompting for an inspection is because buying a home is the most important purchase a person makes. It is much more important to understand that spending a few hundred dollars could save you thousands of dollars.

How could this save thousands of dollars? A home inspection is an evaluation of a home’s condition by a trained expert. A home inspection is a time for a qualified inspector to take an in-depth and impartial look at the property that is under contract. Expect the inspector to evaluate the physical condition of the home including structure, construction, and mechanical systems. They should identify items that should be repaired or replaced and estimate the remaining useful life of the major systems (such as electrical, plumbing, heating, and air conditioning,) equipment, structure and finishes.

Before hiring a home inspector, ask for a sample report. The report should be 20-50 pages long with color pictures showing the problematic areas of the home. Don’t hire an inspector that is partnered with a contractor. Again the inspector needs to be impartial. Ask how long the inspection should take. This will obviously differ by the size of the home but typically it should take two to three hours in order to do a thorough inspection. Make sure you can attend the home inspection. You will want the inspector to walk you through the house at the end of the inspection to point out the problem areas. Also see if they are certified and recommended before hiring.

The inspection should include structural elements, exterior evaluation, roof and attic, plumbing, systems and components, electrical, appliances, and the garage. The report will not point everything in the house, only the things that need to be fixed. Things that will pointed out are health and safety issues; roofs with a short life expectancy; furnace/AC malfunctions; foundation deficiencies; and/or moisture/drainage issues.

Once the inspection is complete, first pat yourself on the back, you are now more informed to fix problems and know if the home is a good investment. Next it is time to decide if you would like to move forward, request the seller to fix the problems, or cancel the escrow. It might be more advantageous to ask for the cash instead of asking for repairs because then you will know the work is done appropriately.

For more information about EXIT Realty Foothills, please call 909.593.0502. EXIT Realty Foothills is located at 1339 Foothill Blvd La Verne CA 91750.

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