You’ve just placed an offer on a home. It’s real now. The attorneys are preparing the P&S, making it more real. Thoughts of a 30 year mortgage are weighing on you as well as the Offer and soon the P&S deposit. All of that hits you in just a few days & awfully fast. Hey…Let’s crank up the stress a bit more. Let’s have a home inspection(HI). It’s the Law now in MA, so It’s happening. An expert is going to go over your new home with a fine tooth comb & tell you everything that’s wrong with it. WHAT FUN!!!!
This is a common way buyers look at HI’s. They’re not entirely wrong, but a good home inspector is a valuable asset & offers way more than clouds & rain. There’s sunshine & puppy dogs in there too. Here’s a few ways how:
1. The home inspector points up what’s wrong now, what might go wrong in the near term(5 – 10 years in the future), what issues are optional & what need immediate attention. It’s not all immediate doom & gloom.
2. The home inspector gives you assurances that the home you’re buying probably doesn’t have any major pitfalls that could pop up to surprise you after you move in. The #1 cause of buyer’s remorse in Real Estate resulted from buyers who waived their home inspection & later discovered the house had serious problems.
3. It’s not just a deep problem dive. A good home inspector will introduce the house to you. Show you the best features and is a wonderful resource to discover what possibilities you have to make it your own. Helpful tips & things you should do to maintain the home are great tools for planning out how to customize your living space.
4. You can have your building/structural questions answered by a pro, questions your Realtor may not be qualified to answer.
5. Keep in mind, the inevitable punchlist you’ll create in your head maybe include wants & not needs. There’s items on the punchlist when I bought my house that remain on the punchlist…30 YEARS LATER. Mostly because I included wants on there that I thought were needs at the time.
One thing you need to expect beforehand. The home inspector will find something. It’s their job. In over 15 years of being a Realtor, I’ve never had a home inspector say, “Yep, the place is perfect. Nothing wrong here.” There’s always something, even in new construction. If it’s serious, you have the option of backing out of the transaction or bargaining with the seller for either a rehab of the issue or maybe money off the sale, so you can fix it yourself. The home inspection gives the buyer power & justification to negotiate a resolution.
Keep in mind, the home inspection isn’t scary for just the buyer. It’s a double edged tool. Yes, the buyer might get a list of problems, but then the seller might have some of those issues forwarded on to them. Sellers fear home inspections too.
A good Realtor can help guide you through the whole process, including the inspection itself, calmly and cooly reading the report with you and guiding the negotiations with the seller to help address as many issues as possible.
Here’s an article from Realtor magazine. It’s written for Realtors, so you’re getting the inside scoop. Here’s the link:
https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/help-buyers-stay-calm-after-the-home-inspection
The home inspection is a complex & very valuable tool for the buyers and really for the sellers too. Good information & a baseline in truth is the best way to move forward on the largest purchase or sale most of us will ever make. Ask questions of the inspector & your Realtor to get the most out of the experience. You’re paying for it. Wring every valuable tidbit from it &…
Have fun!
Lew McConkey, Realtor/Notary
Brook Realty, Serving Whitman Hanson & Surrounding Towns
(781)252-9789
If you have questions about your place in the current Real Estate market, as a buyer, seller or Landlord,
Please feel free to call text or email for your free, no obligation consultation.
