Love Buying A Home Series: Week 10

The “Love Buying Your Home” series will take you step-by-step through the entire home-buying process — from finding a buyer’s agent to settlement day, and even to maintaining your home after you’re all moved in. Every first-time buyer will find this information-packed series easy to follow and understand. Make sure to tune in for the next few weeks!

Congratulations! You found a home and now it’s time to do our due diligence.

During the under contract phase of your home purchase, my job is to manage all the parties, make sure we are adhering to the timelines in the contract, and communicate with all parties so everything goes as smoothly as possible.

There’s a lot happening during this phase of the home selling process, much of which is behind the scenes.

My goal is to help make it as transparent to you as possible. That means every step of the way, I’ll do my best to prepare you for what’s coming up and also be sure to close the loop with updates as we go through each item on our list of to-dos.

We now have more people involved other than just you and me.  We have the sellers, the sellers’s agent, title company, lender, and inspectors—working together to make sure the terms of the contract are completed.

One of the first “big” steps is your home inspection.

I created this guide to help prep you for your inspection—what to expect before, during and after the inspection.

What Happens Before The Home Inspection

I will provide you several recommendations for inspectors.  I will also recommend whether we need more than a general inspection.  For example, if we need a termite inspection, roof inspection, radon inspection, or any other inspection, I’ll recommend both the type and whom I’d suggest doing the inspection.

Once you let me know which inspections you want, which inspectors you’d prefer and a few times and days that work for you to attend the inspection(s), I’ll coordinate with your schedule, my schedule, the inspector’s schedule, and the seller’s schedule to make sure the time and dates work for all parties involved.

I’ll send you a confirmed schedule and will let you know which inspections I recommend you being present for and which buyers typically don’t attend.

Then, I’ll meet you at your new home on inspection day.

What To Expect At The Inspection

Depending on the size of your home, this inspection could take anywhere from one to four hours and you should plan on being there for the last half.

This would also be a good time to take measurements or photos you need and bring along any family members or contractors you want to look at the home.  The seller does not have to allow us back except for reasons allowed for in the contract, so it may not be possible again to spend hours in this home before you move in.

Keep in mind that the inspector can only identify items that are showing as of the date of the inspection.  So, for example, if it hasn’t rained in weeks, but every time it rains hard, water comes in the basement, he might not be able to know that.  Or, if you are buying a new construction property, sometimes a defect doesn’t show until the house has been occupied for a few weeks or even months.

So, your inspection is not full proof, but it’s still necessary to have a trained eye to give you as much information about what is apparent as of now.

Here is what an inspector typically looks at during your home inspection:

What To Expect After The Inspection

There likely will be a long list of items that your inspector identifies as needing attention.  That is normal.

Some of those items will need to be repaired immediately.  Depending on how we originally wrote your contract, we may be able to request that the seller repair these items.  There is no guarantee they will agree, but we may choose to make a request and negotiate for repairs prior to settlement.

Other items listed in the inspectors report, will be maintenance items you’ll want to do soon or keep an eye on while you live there.  In addition to the inspector identifying what is currently not working properly, the inspection is a great time to get to know your home as the inspector points out things to keep an eye on, such as keeping exterior drains clean, caulking windows, weatherproofing doors and the link.

In addition to what the inspector finds, there might be additional items you want to improve upon that are above and beyond the scope of the inspection, such as remove a wall or any remodeling.  Those are the type of items you’ll want to bring in a contractor for and the inspector will not be commenting on.

After the inspector provides his or her report, we’ll schedule a time to talk through everything identified and decide what items, if any, we will formally request the seller to repair prior to settlement.

From there, we’ll either remove the home inspection contingency or enter into negotiations with the seller regarding repairs.

We’ll either need to remove the contingency, void the contract or send the list of repairs to the seller before the home inspection contingency expires.

No home is perfect, even your dream home!  Getting a professional home inspection is one very important step you need to take once you’re under contract (or before making an offer, depending on the demand for the home you are interested in).

Your contract may include a contingency that gives you a certain number of days to complete an inspection.  Once you have the results, you may ask for repairs, renegotiate the price, or even cancel the contract if the inspection resulted in uncovering something that was a dealbreaker.

My job is to coordinate with all parties, manage timelines, and

communicate to you what needs to happen by when.  I’ve got my eye on the ball and I will get you to the finish line.

It may seem like a lot need to get done in a short amount of time and it’s true, but you’ve got

me and I’ve got you.

Keep coming back here each and every week to learn more about the home buying process and reach out to me through email at mccall@youragentmccall.com anytime with questions about how what you are learning applies to YOUR specific situation.  Just like every real estate agent is unique, so is every buyer and I’d love to help you apply what you are learning in this series to YOUR home buying plans.