A professional home inspection before closing on a resale or new (yes, brand new home) is an investment well worth the money.
While a home inspection from a certified home inspector will typically cost $200 – $500 depending on the size of the home, where you live and what you’re having inspected, the investment can be well worth the money.
Not only will a pre-purchase professional home inspection put your mind at ease before agreeing to buy a home, it can help to uncover potentially costly problems that could at a minimum help you get a lower price on a resale home or discounts on a brand new home from the builder.
Let’s take a closer look at 9 questions about home inspections you need answered.
What does a home inspection typically include?
A home inspection will typically include an inspection of the home and property from the roof down to the foundation of the home and parts in between. It should also included an attached structure like the garage.
More specifically, a home inspection will include an inspection of the following:
- Roof
- Attic
- Visible insulation
- Ceilings
- Walls
- Floors
- Windows
- Electrical system
- Heating system
- Cooling system
- Plumbing system
- Basement
- Structural components
- Foundation
Depending on how thorough the inspection is, the number of problems found and how large the home, expect 1.5 – 4 hours total for the inspection to be completed.
What does a home inspection typically exclude?
Not everything in your home will necessarily be included in a home inspection.
Here are aspects of your home that could be excluded from a standard inspection if you don’t confirm in advance:
- Swimming pool and related equipment. Unless you specifically hire an inspector with pool experience, you’re likely not to receive a report on the pool and any equipment that comes with it.
- Underground sprinkler system – This could be included by some firms but is specialized equipment and if you’re buying the home in the fall or winter after the system has been closed for the winter, it won’t be operational to check anyways.
- Inaccessible areas – If the home has a particularly high or steep pitched roof, the inspector may not be able to reach the top to fully inspect it. They may or may not inspect a shed or garage not attached to the home, treehouse or other structures. Bad weather could also cause areas of the home to be considered inaccessible.
- Appliances – Appliances may be inspected to ensure they are in working order only.
- Fireplaces – Fireplaces and related parts such as the flue of a chimney will typically not be inspected as a specialist would typically be needed. A home inspector should at least check the integrity of the chimney for obvious problems.
- Obstructed areas – Pipes behind a wall are one example of obstructed areas of a home that will typically be excluded from an inspection.
Check with your chosen home inspector for other components you need inspected such as a septic tank, well, dock or other non-standard item.
What further inspections might be done depending on what the home inspector finds?
A home inspector can be qualified to inspect a home but may come across certain problems that they notice but might require a specialist to look at further.
Typical examples include:
- Asbestos
- Mold
- Water damage
- Radon gas
- Termites or other pests
- Lead pipes
- Outdated electrical systems
What is a limited scope home inspection?
An increasingly popular option seen in the real estate business is what is known as a limited scope home inspection. Rather than doing a full inspection of the home for several hours, a shorter and less extensive one is done instead that focuses on certain areas of the home only.
Something else home buyers may come across are cases where the selling agent who listed the home for sale provides a home inspection report that they had done, to all interested buyers. This may also be a limited inspection.
This is often done to speed up the sale process by providing you with an inspection that is already made and obviously shows the home in a good light – why else would they provide it? This is rather than having to wait for up to 10 days to get the home inspected by the potential purchaser and lose out on selling the home if the buyers back out.
Trusting the home inspection provided by the seller of the home is akin to using your parents as a reference check when applying for a job.
Should I skip a home inspection in order to get the house I want?
Electrical problems. Leaking roof. Dead animals in the furnace. Termite infestation. Radon gas. Carbon monoxide slowly and quietly leaking into the home unbeknownst to even the current owners. These are just some of the things experienced home inspectors come across in their day to day work when inspecting homes.
Or it might be something smaller that could still be costly to you down the line that a home inspection might have easily paid for several times over.
Some buyers of resale homes skip the home inspection and simply waive the right to conduct one to ensure they get the house they want.
Is this a smart idea?
As markets heat up and houses become harder to find, a homeowner or a real estate agent (the buyer or seller’s agent) may try to suggest that waiving the condition for a home inspection might be the best way to get the home especially if there are multiple bids.
You may be inclined to look at the house and think that everything seems to be in good shape and that you won’t be taking much of a risk.
Research shows that people skipping home inspections is increasing from 13% in 2019 to 20% in 2020 according to real estate brokerage Redfin
. You lose the ability to ask for repairs to be done and it removes the major reason (along with approved financing) you can often use to walk away from a home purchase.
But a home is the single largest purchase you’ll ever make. Skipping a $350 average home inspection fee to shell out money on a house worth so much more doesn’t seem like a smart business move when you consider the potential repairs that your own eyes may not see.
What does it mean when a homeowner refuses to allow a home inspection?
Sometimes homeowners try to hide things that they know are a problem in their house.
Other times they may refuse a home inspection or pressure you into waiving your right in order for you to secure the house.
In a hot market, you the buyer may only be allowed a window of 30 – 60 minutes for a home inspection when a quality one will typically take 1.5 hours and up depending on the home size and problems found.
What does it say about the home and homeowner in this case?
If a homeowner is making it difficult to conduct a home inspection or making it seem like they’d prefer you didn’t do one, it’s likely they have something to hide. This could be a costly problem for you down the line if you purchase the home.
Why pay for a home inspection on a brand new home?
Paying a home inspector to inspect a brand new home from the builder may seem like a waste of money. You most likely have a warranty on everything in the home as it is, right? Why spend hundreds of dollars on a home inspection for a new home from the builder?
My wife and I bought new home from the builder and other than the final walk through with the builder, didn’t pay for a home inspector. At the time, we didn’t even know it was a thing.
Within 2 months of taking possession, we discovered a roof leak due to flashing that had not been installed around a window on the upper floor. It led to a leak in a bedroom which resulted in the wooden framing around a closet door needing to be replaced.
It was replaced by the builder free of charge but a home inspector may have caught this oversight ahead of time.
With that being said, there are a number of reasons why you should do a home inspection on a brand new house:
- Shoddy work – A typical home builder will use many sub contractors. These are people who may provide specific work on the home such as drywall and taping, plumbing, electrical, roofing and other services. Not all of them offer consistently high quality. Some will make mistakes that a homeowner may not catch. Many (most?) work as quick as possible to get the job done. This can lead to shoddy workmanship.
- Incomplete work – We didn’t notice that in our brand new home, one baseboard in a closet wasn’t painted. There were small cracks in the floor grout of a shower which could have led to a leak. Several parts of a wall weren’t painted properly. A hot and cold water tap were mixed up. Our tenants who rented the house noticed these problems, not us. Fortunately, they were diligent and understanding. You may simply not notice things that a home inspector can.
- Incentive – Home builders have an incentive to fix a problem in a home before it closes since you haven’t paid them yet. Once you’ve taken possession of the home, it is up to them to fix any issues you have but it could take time. You’re not necessarily a priority any more since you’ve paid them.
- Prevention – It’s better to learn about a potential problem up front and get it addressed before closing on the home than finding out a year from now or worse, after the warranty period is up.
- Negotiation – If you find a major issue that could be costly to repair, you not only find out about it but you might make the owner aware of it too. They may not know about it and be inclined to adjust their price down to compensate for the repair in order to sell the house. Or they may take responsibility and have it repaired at their expense. Either way, the home buyer can potentially win.
Is a walk through and home inspection the same thing?
When you buy a brand new home, you’ll probably experience at least one walk through and if you pay for it, a home inspection. What’s the difference and do you need both?
Walk though – This is a free (i.e. part of the house price) service from a new home builder. This could occur more than once depending on the builder and where you live. This is typically where you literally walk through the home perhaps as it’s still being built and again around one week or so before closing to view the progress/results and inspect the home visually for problems. You are accompanied typically by a qualified staff member from the builder and perhaps a second person like an electrician or the site manager. They note any problems and are responsible for correcting them before you take possession of the home.
Home inspection – You pay an independent professional home inspector who is not associated with the seller (resale home) or home builder (new home) and they check the home from roof to foundation for any problems that you should be aware of. They will (should) compile a full report in writing that explains their findings so you can decide if there are deal breakers – large problems – that could prevent you from buying the home or if you should ask the seller for a discount on the price.
You can probably see the difference: The walk through requires you and perhaps the person who accompanies you to identify the problems. With a home inspection, you pay a third party who reports to you – and not the builder – to find any problems, including ones your naked eyes may not notice.
What can a home inspection on a new home uncover?
Here are several personal anecdotes on why a home inspection for a brand new home makes sense.
My family bought a brand new home from the builder and after speaking with several neighbors regarding their home purchase experience, paid for a home inspection. While nothing was found to be wrong other than a few easily correctable items here and there, we learned a few interesting things:
- Several houses on the other side of the development from another builder had also hired the same home inspector and these houses failed the inspection. The owners couldn’t move into the home on time. The reason? Problems with the house foundation, which is a potentially very expensive problem.
- One homeowner had noticed things that were not done correctly that resulted in them getting a refund from the builder for around $10,000 on the purchase price of the home. Interestingly, the same home owner also noted that the builder accidentally finished their basement floor without them paying for it, so they got a bonus there.
An experienced home inspector can notice things – foundation problems to name but one – that a layman can’t. This is especially true if they have experience with a particular builder or housing development that has been known to have problems.
In that regard, getting a referral from someone in your neighborhood who hired the same inspector might be a good idea if possible as they may have experience with your builder and know where they’ve fallen short in the recent past.