Five Tips To Keep In Mind During Your Home Inspection
Feeling nervous during the home inspection process isn’t unusual when selling a house or buying one. As a seller, you may feel anxious because you don’t want the deal to fall through due to hidden flaws, nor do you want to be stuck with the cost and burden of repairs if your buyer requests them as a contingency. But, as a buyer, you may feel uneasy because there are chances of issues cropping up that could force you to look for a new property, renegotiate, or fix the place yourself.
To overcome your nervous feelings and make the entire process go smoothly, the experts at Drougas Inspections LLC have written down five tips to keep in mind during your home inspection.
1. Remember, you don’t know everything or everyone
Often we will talk about an issue during the inspection, and our client will express their knowledge in that area or mention a friend or relative that can take care of it. While this is great, you do not want the seller’s agent or the sellers to hear you say you can fix it or have someone you know to fix it. In their minds, it takes the pressure off them. As far as you are concerned as the buyer, you need to make sure that that seller takes care of all the issues. Avoid even saying that you can do simple things like change light bulbs or you know someone else who can. Even if you rather be the one who addresses the discovered issue, there is still value in having that addressed by a professional. And that is something you can work on with your realtor.
2. Hang out with your inspector
Watching someone open and close doors and windows during a home inspection is not very exciting. But, seeing what they are doing and listening to their analysis and suggestions can really help you understand their discoveries. Similarly, hanging around with your inspector gives you the chance to see that they are checking everything. It allows you to ask questions. Certainly, give them some room to move about (don’t be creepy). The basement is usually the best area for which you have to be close to the inspector. That is where the heating system, water heater, and electric panel are typically located, and you must ensure that they check these aspects. After all, you are paying for our service, so you should be trying to get the most out of it.
3. Inform the property owner about the inspection
We do all we can to notify our clients that we can not move around personal property. Therefore, sellers must be made aware that we need access to the attic, electric panel, heating systems, water heaters, and random access panels. We do not make contact with the sellers. This is something you need to do. It is your responsibility to do all you can to make sure the sellers have everything cleared for access because we have been hired by you, the buyer. However, if you happen to be the seller seeking our services, you can communicate with us directly. That said, we will still need you to offer us access to inspect your house.
4. Tell us what your mortgage type is
We are not involved in the mortgage process directly. But, knowing what type of mortgage you are using can help us help you. We may have to provide a special form for wood-destroying insects. A well water test may have to be taken a certain way or have certain items listed separately from the main test. Not knowing this in advance can cause return visits that may require additional fees or water tests being taken all over again with new lab fees.
5. Keep track of your family
In most cases, it is just us, the realtors, you, and a partner maybe. In some cases, the entire family may be present during the inspection! We understand the excitement of it all and the desire to use the time to show the house to the ones you care about, and we want it to be a fun moment for you too. But having five people in the bathroom while we are trying to inspect it is just not a good idea. While we would like you to hang with us, we would suggest having your family situated at another part of the house while we are inspecting a certain area.
If you are looking for a licensed home inspector in Lee, New Hampshire, then reach out to us at Drougas Inspections LLC. Purchasing a home is a big step, and you need to know what you are stepping into. This is why you must get a home inspection done.
Drougas Inspections LLC is a recommended inspection company. We don’t do checklists or handwritten reports. We offer a room-by-room computer printout report that details the home you want to make your own. The full report is delivered to you via e-mail, usually the same day or first thing the next morning. We offer services like home inspection, septic and sewer inspection, radon testing, water testing to clients across Southeastern and Central Eastern NH, including Lee, Londonderry, Wolfeboro, and Wakefield. For a complete list of our services, please click here. If you have any questions about home inspections, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us here.