Studies have shown that almost two out of every five homes suffer from some deficiency or defect.
Before you consider buying a property, it is extremely important to conduct a thorough home inspection. If deficiencies are not identified prior to purchase, a homeowner may be set back by thousands of dollars, when conducting repairs relating to unanticipated issues. Part of the home-buying process involves understanding what your home inspector will or will not do for you.
Errors and Omissions coverage
Even the most professional and experienced home inspection services can also overlook an aspect of a property, and make mistakes. As a layman, you will not be able to identify if a home inspector has conducted an inspection thoroughly. To avoid paying hefty repair costs, as a consequence of a home inspector’s mistake, you should protect yourself by hiring services that come with Errors and Omissions coverage. This kind of coverage is different from basic liability coverage. With this form of coverage, homeowners will go some way towards getting protection from home inspection mistakes.
Home inspections and repair work
Some home inspection services also provide repair and renovation services. As such, these kinds of home inspectors are far more likely to find deficiencies and flaws in your property, so that they can market their own repair services. The ethical factor involved must be weighed out by the home buyer. While there are numerous home inspection services that go about their services ethically, you should be aware of the risk involved with hiring a home inspection and repair service. Ideally, you would want to keep the two services independent of each other.
What does a home inspection cover?
A home inspector is only required to provide services relating to the immediate interior and exterior of your property. As such, he/she will not consider other aspects of your property such as fencing, or sewer systems. When you are negotiating with a home inspector, you need to identify what exactly the home inspection will include, and what it won’t. In doing so, you will be in a better position to negotiate and drive down home inspection rates.
Home inspectors and real estate agents
One of the most common mistakes that potential property owners and sellers make when looking for home inspection services, is to ask their real estate agents about them. In reality, home inspectors are incentivized towards getting on the good side of real estate agents. By pointing out deficiencies or flaws in a property, they acknowledge that they may be potentially endangering a real estate deal, or forcing price reductions. As such, they also know that if the deal gets canceled, they may not be referred to by the particular real estate agent again. The best way to protect yourself from this kind of risk is to conduct your own research, independent of your real estate agent.
