The Home Inspection

Congratulations. You have signed the offer and you have made a step forward towards selling your home. One of the next steps is the home inspection. This is the process where the buyer hires a professional home inspector to come to your home and make them aware of potential issues that an untrained eye might not recognize. The buyer is entitled to an inspection to protect them in the event that the issues found significantly change the value of the house.

A home inspector will look at many things. These will include the roof, the foundation, the windows, is there any wood rot, plumbing and electrical systems, heating and cooling systems, the presence of fire alarms, whether or not your house has lead paint, radon levels, and the overall interior. If you have taken good care of your house there is probably no need to worry, but be prepared - no inspector goes through a house inspection without having a few comments to make.

The best advice regarding where to be during a home inspection is anywhere but home. Home inspectors don't like homeowners looking over your shoulder, and it puts you at risk that they will be more critical. Also, your realtor will be there to represent you and has the experience to act on your behalf.

If you must be present, then its critical that you are very polite and that you don't disagree or argue with the inspector during the inspection. This can create the impression with the buyer that you are trying to hide something, and once again, makes the inspector irritated.

Once the inspection is over you will get a copy of the inspection report, and the buyer may ask you to address some or all of the problems reported before the closing. You can decide to agree or disagree with the requests. If you agree to make the repairs, make them as soon as you reasonably can, because the inspector will need to come back and verify the repairs. Delaying the repairs will delay the inspection of the repairs, and can delay the closing.