Home inspections for buyers
As per the inspection contingency, you will have around 10 days or less to complete an inspection of the property. The status of the listing will be updated to form active to pending inspection by the listing agent.
The inspector will look at structural, electrical and plumbing elements of the home and also do a pest inspection. You the buyer, pays for the inspection. It is highly advisable that you do not skimp on this step. Most of us know little about plumbing, foundations and electrical circuits. You want to avoid buying a lemon of a house. Even if the home is brand new construction and has a 5 year warranty, have it inspected. Building contractors going belly-up is not uncommon and poor quality new construction does exist.
It is a really good idea if you are buying a single family home to have the sewer line inspected. This involves running a camera down the line from the house all the way to the street. Sewer repairs can be very expensive especially if digging up a city street is required. Better that the seller pays for this rather than you.
If you have not purchased a home before, you are probably not going to know too many home inspectors. Calling your uncle Bob who does some handy work on the weekends is probably not the best way to go. Your agent will be able to recommend an inspector for you but you are not obligated to use them. It at all possible, you should free up time to attend the inspection, as should your agent. Although the inspector will put together a report for you, it is a good idea to walk around with the inspector during the inspection. You will learn a lot about homes construction and more importantly, about your potential new home.
Once the inspection has been completed, you have three options.
1. Decide to withdraw your offer (you do not have to tell the seller why).
2. Accept the offer as-is and move on to closing.
3. Make a counter-offer where you ask for repairs to be done or renegotiate the price down.
Say for example, the seller’s roof needs replacing, then you could request:
- That a new roof be installed before closing
- The sale price be dropped to cover the price of replacing the roof
- The sellers credit you cash back at closing to pay for a new roof
Many times the home will require lesser repairs but you will be trying to get the price down by leveraging the information gained from your inspection and any disclosures in the Sellers Disclosure Statement (Form-17) provided by the seller. It is usually better to have the seller do the repairs before closing (assuming it will not delay the closing date), because if the seller discovers that the repairs are bigger and more expensive than expected, the seller will have to pay those extra costs, not you!
