Purchasing a home is an important and exciting choice. Before making such a large financial investment, you should thoroughly inspect the prospective property.
A home inspection may uncover everything from minor flaws like drywall cracks to severe ones like flooding in the basement.
A house inspection can also assist a potential buyer in making a wish list of improvements.
All of this information is sent back into the negotiating process, providing critical facts to buyers and sellers that determine the property’s worth.
To receive an accurate appraisal of the project, they’re backing; several mortgage lenders need a building inspection.
However, any potential home buyer should conduct a thorough examination.
What Is A Home Inspection?
A house inspection visually examines a home’s structure and some of its components. You must have a home inspection even if you’re buying a recently built house.
Even if the house sale is “as-is,” everyone should have an examination about it. It’s a good idea to attend the inspection since not only will you learn more about your house, but the inspector will also be able to clarify and answer any questions you may have.
A home inspection also grants you the right to a home warranty. A house warranty can provide a financial safety net for homeowners in the event of unexpected home repairs.
The devil, as with most service agreements, is in the details, and many consumers discover too late that the warranty they purchased does not give the coverage they expected.
Home Inspection For Home Warranty
Not every home inspection covers home warranties; you must be aware of the things you must look for when doing a home inspection for your home to have acceptance for a home warranty.
You can easily do that by consulting a professional who does home inspections and also check your state’s regulations about home warranty and what you exactly need with your home inspection to cover the home warranty.
The contractors also need to be reliable to provide you with every problem with the house as you will get another inspection before your home warranty.
You’re bound to discover a few aspects you didn’t see as you walk and speak your way around the property with each contractor, such as the condition of the outside trim or ductwork.
Getting quotes and comments from a few different contractors will help you prioritize your tasks. A seasoned renovation contractor will have a subcontractor network.
What to Look For?
Replacement Limits
Almost all home warranty plans have a limit or maximum amount they will pay to replace a broken system.
In many cases, these restrictions are within reasonable boundaries and will cover the expense of replacing most household equipment.
However, homeowners should carefully evaluate these restrictions. The restrictions are excessively low in some circumstances and fail to account for escalating appliance prices.
If you have average or above-average appliances, your warranty coverage may be significantly less than the entire replacement cost of a similar model, as many households do.
Service Fees
When you log a claim, and a service specialist comes in to assess the problem, almost all home warranty plans demand the consumer to pay a service fee.
This cost might range from $75 to $1,000. In most cases, a consumer will only pay one service charge per claim, regardless of how many trips the service provider may make to complete the repair.
Consumers must, however, carefully examine their warranty agreement to confirm that this is the case.
It’s usual for warranty companies to impose a service fee each time a repair specialist is dispatched, which may quickly pile up and force clients to spend hundreds of dollars more for a repair they believed was covered.
Service Provider Selection
Most warranty companies have a network of service providers that they utilize to do the repairs that their contracts cover.
As a result, most warranty companies do not enable customers to choose which business will perform covered repairs.
The service provider’s connection, and frequently their loyalties, is with the warranty company rather than the customer in these cases.
While this isn’t to mean the service provider isn’t trying to perform a decent job, they may be more concerned with completing the repair at the warranty company’s stipulated price.
Most homeowners would rather work with an expert they know and trust who can help them maintain their systems in the future.
Checklist For Warranty Inspection
Here is a list of things that you should check while doing a warranty inspection:
Garage
- Check the water heater and look for any leaks.
- Look for damaged walls, ceilings, and stains.
- Examine the functionality of the garage.
- If there is an air handler inside the garage, then look for leaks and proper installation.
Bathrooms & Kitchens
- Check leaks under the sinks.
- Check for cracks or damage on tiles.
- Examine the bathroom vents and fans.
- Look for tub drainage.
Plumbing
- Look for leaks.
- Check the water pressure is good at all taps.
- Check the heater is working properly.
HVAC
- Look for any damages to the AC units.
- Make sure that the registers are blowing hot air and cold air when turned on for the respective purpose.
Exterior
- Examine windows and doors, and look for any damages or improper installation.
- Check electrical equipment and plumbing fixtures.
- Ensure the paint is done properly.
Interior
- Examine appliances for functionality and damages.
- Check fans, lighting, etc.
- Check the doors, windows, ceilings, floors, etc.
47 Home Inspection Issues
Why Is Home Inspection Important?
A home inspection is essential for a number of reasons:
- Cost-effective: Home repairs, such as septic tanks, furnaces, roof repairs, etc., can be extremely costly. A home inspection can let you know what items in a home are damaged. This can save you from unexpected expenses in the future.
- Trained inspectors: Structural damages, roof damage, electricity damage, etc., are som things that can be inspected properly by an expert, and homeowners might not be able to check everything on their own.
Who Is Supposed To Pay For a Home Inspection?
The buyers are usually supposed to pay for the home inspection. However, in some instances, while making an offer, the sellers also pay. You can negotiate for this.
Sometimes the sellers themselves get the home inspection done before listing their homes to offer an added advantage to the buyers. However, sometimes the buyers do not trust the home inspection reports offered by sellers and prefer to get the home inspection done on their own
How Much Does Home Inspection Cost?
The buyers are usually supposed to pay for the home inspection. However, in some instances, while making an offer, the sellers also pay. You can negotiate for this.
Sometimes the sellers themselves get the home inspection done before listing their homes to offer an added advantage to the buyers. However, sometimes the buyers do not trust the home inspection reports offered by sellers and prefer to get the home inspection done on their own
Home Inspection Tips For Buyers
How Long Does Home Inspection Take?
A home inspection can take anywhere between two-four hours. The home inspection timings may depend upon the following:
- The size of your house
- Thoroughness of inspector
- Number of defects
- Helpfulness of owner
The Verdict
A home inspection is actually a costly measure that takes time and effort because you have to be able to trust that inspection to go through every governmental documentation and that they need to accept it.
For that, you need to be able to cover every ground of the inspection in the correct way so that you can get a home warranty after your inspection.
If you do something wrong, you have to do the whole process again, which takes more money, time, and effort.
That is the reason why you have to be extremely cautious with your home inspection and follow everything to get your home warranty with the home inspection you do for the first time.
FAQ
How do you make sure you get everything right with your home inspection?
The best way to make sure that everything is right with your home inspection you have to work with the most suitable contractor you can find.
Some contractors do not look at certain areas, whereas some contractors check every piece of the house.
You have to talk to and assess them one by one and then get the most comprehensive contractor.
What happens if there are things you missed out on during your home inspection?
If there are things that you missed out on during your home inspection, you have to fix that issue and get another home inspection to make sure that you fixed the issue, and you can prove that to the relevant authorities to get your home warranty.
Getting another home inspection is a bit of an issue, but if you miss out on something, you have to.
Shefali Jain is a Content Editor & Writer at National Planning Cycles.
After completing her graduation in hospitality, Shefali decided to follow her passion and started writing. Shefali has been writing for two years now and contributes to our website as a skilled editor and content writer with strong research skills. Writing product and service reviews, biographies, and book reviews are some of her key areas, among many others in which she specializes.