We all want the best that we can afford; that’s human nature. But there’s a cost associated with getting the best. Quite often, getting the best means paying the most. Yes, we could be stopping at McDonalds for our anniversary dinner, but the situation demands that we eat somewhere better for this special event. Likely, that means we’re paying more money.
At other times, getting the best means not only paying more but doing more as well. For that fancy anniversary dinner, we’ve got to research restaurants, figure out transportation, make reservations, and clean up our car (and ourselves!) Whenever we get some new tech device, we’ve got to spend time reading a manual or watching YouTube videos to figure out how it works. It’s almost like we’re back in school again, bogged down with homework that’s keeping us from doing the things that we’d really like to be doing.
As the potential homebuyer, you are the person who’s responsible for making a good decision about whether or not to purchase this property. Whether you’ll end up regretting that decision has a lot to do with how well you do your homework before you sign on the dotted line. (In reality, you’ll likely end up signing on a few dozen dotted lines…)
This is one of the drawbacks to hiring a thorough home inspector: you’re going to have homework. You’ll need to read your inspection report; that’s a given. But while you’re going through the report, you’ll need to come up with some type of ranking system for the issues that have been discovered.
Every house, no matter how old or new, has things that need to be repaired, renovated, updated, or replaced. Obviously, as you have yet to live in the house, and likely haven’t spent much time there at all, you’re likely clueless as to what those eventual problems are going to be.
It’s my job, as a professional home inspector, to find and identify those things so that you don’t have to. On an average inspection, I’ll spend a few hours there, poking and prodding to see what things I can discover and then provide you with a report of my findings.
That’s where the homework part comes in. As the home buyer, you should go through the items outlined in the inspection report and rank them in order of their importance to you. Some things, like a bad roof, will be deal breakers: “If this isn’t addressed in some way then I’m not buying the house.” Other items, like a cracked outlet cover, may not even make it onto your list.
It’s your job, with input from various sources, to determine which (if any) of the items in the inspection report are important to you. With assistance from your real estate agent, you’ll figure out what things to ask for and which to simply add to your own to-do list. How well you do your homework, deciding which items are important and which ones can wait until later to address, will determine whether or not you end up regretting your purchase decision.
Owning a home is just like having a child, only this one stays young forever and it constantly needs care, love, and attention. By thoroughly reviewing your inspection report, you can help ensure that you’ll have a better idea of the repairs you’re likely to face should you buy this property.
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Thanks, Joe
