Home Inspection
Now that you are under contract to sell or purchase a home, it’s time to schedule inspections (if included in the purchase contract). There are MANY kinds of inspections including, but not limited to: Home, Radon, Chimney, Lead, Environmental, Septic, Mold, Swimming Pool, Well, Water and termite Termite (to name a few).
If an Inspection was included and agreed upon, it will need to completed with a response to the seller with any repair requests WITHIN the time period specified in the contract. The general home inspection covers the structural and mechanical components of the home.
What is included?
The Inspector will go over the roof and components, windows, exterior siding, gutters, exterior hose-bibs, appliances, electrical, plumbing, sump-pump, foundation, crawl space, hot water-heater, furnace, air-conditioner, outlets, lighting, garage doors/openers, stairs and handrails, decks, porches, general inspection of the fireplace. BASICALLY, everything, excluding the “other” inspections named earlier which are separate in every way, including cost.
The home inspection is typically paid for by the buyer at the time of service and will range in cost. In Maryland, the cost is between $400-700 depending on the size, style and cost of the home.
Who is present?
Typically, the buyer’s agent, buyers and inspector are present during the inspection. The sellers are typically not present. This is a great opportunity for the buyers to get to know their new home – so bring a measuring tape to measure your windows and room spaces. With permission, take pictures.
What to expect
The inspector will give the home a thorough inspection and document any and all findings including pictures as a reference. They will prepare and deliver a detailed report of each component of the home with recommendations to either maintain or cure an issue including the age and/or life expectancies. The buyer/buyers agent can expect this report typically within 24-hours.
The buyer paid for an Inspector to “find” any structural or mechanical deficiencies with the home and trust me when I say, THEY WILL FIND SOME.
What happens next?
Now that the inspection is completed and the buyers have received the report from the inspector, it’s time for the buyers to decide how to proceed. If repairs are needed, will they want to handle repairs themselves or want to ask the seller to repair them? If the buyers want the seller to repair some or all of the deficient items, the buyers will need to submit a Repair Request Addendum with a list of those repairs, referencing and providing a copy of the inspection report.
TIP: This is NOT a brand new home and any requests for repairs from the seller shouldn’t be considered as such. If the buyers expect the home to be “perfect” I suggest building a new home. The request for repairs should include structural and mechanical items ONLY, not cosmetics or maintenance items.
Negotiations
If the buyers submitted a repair request addendum, the seller will have a certain period of time to respond. In Maryland, the seller typically has 3-5 days to respond. The seller can accept the buyers request as written OR decline some or all of the requests. Once the sellers response is received by the buyers, the buyers will then have typically two days to respond. If all parties are in agreement, all will continue to follow through with their obligations of the contract. If the buyer is not in agreement, then they can deem the contract null and void by responding as such with a RELEASE of contract and deposit addendum.
