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Home inspections are a critical step in buying or selling a home. They thoroughly examine a property's condition, including its structural integrity, electrical systems, plumbing, roofing, HVAC, interior, exterior and overall safety. A home inspection can be done for the seller before placing their home on the market to help protect their investment. A home inspection for a buyer will help them make informed decisions when making one of their life's biggest investments. Home inspections offer benefits and protection for buyers, sellers, and real estate agents.
Home Inspection Checklist
- Uncover Hidden Issues: identify hidden problems that may not be apparent during a casual walk-through.
- Ensure Safety: identify safety hazards and protects occupants from potential risks.
- Negotiate Repairs or Price: provide valuable information for price negotiations, allowing buyers to request repairs or price reductions to account for potential repair costs.
- Protect Investment: provide a layer of protection for buyers' investments, helping them make informed decisions and avoid financial surprises in the future.
- Compliance with Lenders and Insurance: Home inspections may be required by lenders and insurance companies to comply with their requirements for mortgage loans and insurance coverage.
- Peace of Mind: transparency and trust between buyers and sellers, providing peace of mind by clearly understanding the property's condition.
- Provide access to the property to be inspected. Doors should be unlocked, remote controls left out and with fresh batteries, and garage door openers accessible. If the seller is required to provide access to the property, be there at the appointed time.
- Provide easy access to AC and heating systems, hot water tanks, and appliances.
- Replace burned-out light bulbs. Proper illumination and testing of lighting fixtures are essential to the home inspection process. Make certain that all circuit breakers are operable.
- Check that the gas, water, and electric utilities are on. Those electrical panels are accessible, and none are pad. Make certain that all smoke detectors and carbon locked. This is of special concern in whether vacant or multi-monoxide detectors are operable. Replace batteries as family residences. Frequently, inspections are canceled or required. and deals fall apart because sellers refuse to turn on utilities. The reluctance by bank-owned properties to turn on utilities is mystifying and makes the Realtor's job far more difficult.
- Check that all pilot lights are lit, hot water tanks and heating systems are operable, and appliances are connected, and all water valves are "on".
- Remove pots and pans from cooking equipment.
- Remove laundry from washers and dryers.
- Remove dishes and clutter from kitchen countertops and sinks. Add soap to the dishwasher if dishes get dirty.
- Clean up the house. Dirty, smelly homes turn off buyers.
- Clean up the yard. Buyers, realtors, and home inspectors do not enjoy stepping in animal waste.
- Ensure pets are safely put away. Barking and/or jumping dogs make it difficult for the home inspector to do his/her job. Chasing a runaway cat is detrimental to the inspection process.
- During the inspection, do not run water (except for required toilet flushing). Running a dishwasher, laundry, showering, car washing, lawn watering, etc., disrupts the inspector's testing procedures. Let the Inspector run or turn on and run these items.
- Provide access to locked closets or rooms. If access to a closet or room is locked, the area will not be accessible for a complete visible inspection.
- Disarm alarm systems. Appearances by police and fire departments during inspections are disruptive.
- Keep an eye on children. Inquisitive or disruptive children impede the inspection process.
- Provide access to the water meter, gas meter, and electrical panels. Remove pictures or decorative items used to conceal electrical panels.
- Provide access to hatches or crawl spaces. If access to a crawl space is through a closet ceiling or floor, remove contents of the closet or storage room as necessary to facilitate access. If access panels are extraordinarily obscure, leave a note to assist the inspector in locating these panels.
- If any repair or replacement work (roofing, foundation, heating/cooling systems, waterproofing, siding or windows, electrical/plumbing, etc.) has been done recently, provide your inspector with the relevant paperwork.
- Have disclosure forms, engineering reports, point-of-sale information, and/or any
- Provide as much visibility as reasonably possible for garage walls, basement walls, crawl spaces, attics, storage rooms, etc.