Are Home Inspections Necessary for Homebuyers?

Real Estate Podcast with John Quinn

Should you order a home inspection when you’re buying a home? Absolutely! Even seasoned investors who buy countless homes get home inspections on the house they’re purchasing. If you buy a home without a home inspection, you’ll never know if you’re going to end up with a huge problem that could potentially cost you thousands of dollars. Most of the time, that’s not the case, but you’ll never know without an inspection. Most home inspections will cost anywhere from $300 to $500, depending on the size of the house and how detailed the home inspection is. Regardless, you’ll need to know certain details, such as how old the HVAC system is, whether you’ll need a new roof, if there are any pests, how much water damage is present, and more. Homeowners will sometimes, unfortunately, try to gloss over these types of issues. “If you buy a home without a home inspection, you’ll never know if you’re going to end up with a huge problem that could potentially cost you thousands of dollars.” Another benefit of home inspections is that they tell you whether any additions to the home have been made, especially those that required any permits to be pulled. Sometimes a homeowner will have made some awesome-looking additions to the home, but the inspector will uncover the fact that they were improperly or illegally installed. Knowing about this before buying the home will save you thousands of dollars spent on rectifying those issues. Ultimately, when the inspector comes up with a long list of things that need to be taken care of, it doesn’t mean that the seller is going to fix all those issues. You can certainly ask them to do so, and sometimes you can even negotiate the price down by offering to do some of them yourself. It depends on the situation. Either way, you’ll still want a home inspection to determine whether negotiations are necessary. If you have any questions about home inspections or real estate in general, please feel free to reach out to me. I’d be glad to help you with anything I’m able.