Getting a Home Inspection Can Save You Money on Your Next Purchase

Okay, so you have decided to make one of the most important decisions in your life: you’re purchasing a home! You found your ideal home. It’s in your desired neighborhood, it’s close to everything you love, you dig its design and feel, and you’re ready to do the deal.

Wait a minute! Buying a home isn’t like buying a microwave oven. If you discover something’s wrong with your new home, you can’t return it for a refund or an even exchange. You are stuck with your buying decision….. Purchasing a home is an important investment and it should obviously be treated as such. Therefore, before making any final decisions, your “dream” home needs an inspection to protect you from throwing your hard-earned money into a money pit.

A home inspection is a professional visual examination of the home’s roof, plumbing, cooling system, electrical systems, and foundation.

There are really two types of home of inspections. There is a general home inspection and a specialized inspection. Most general home inspections cost between $300 and $400. The cost of a specialized home inspection varies from type to type. If the inspector recommends a specialized home inspection, take their advice because buying a home is one of the single most important investments that you will ever make and you want the extra assurance that you’re making a wise decision. 

Having your prospective new home inspected allows you to:

  • Negotiate with the home seller and get the home sale-ready at no cost to you 
  • Prevent your insurance rates from rising
  • Opt-out of the purchase before you make a costly mistake
  • Save money in the short and long run

How Much Money Can a Home Inspection Save You?

A home inspection helps to find potential expenses beyond the sales price, which puts homebuyers in a powerful position for negotiation. If there are any issues discovered during the home inspection, buyers can stipulate that the sellers either repair them before closing or help cover the costs in some other way. If the sellers do not want to front the money to complete the repairs, buyers could negotiate a drop in the overall sales price of the home!

Perhaps even more importantly, a home inspection buys you peace of mind. Your first days and months in a new home will set the tone for your life there, and you don’t want to taint that time with worries about hidden problems and potential money pits.

To help you understand how much money a home inspection can save you, here are some numbers from HomeAdvisor  (a tool that will help you calculate the cost of home repairs) to drive the point home and help you understand what some of the costs are that you could be looking at.

Roof – Roofing issues are one of the most common problems found by home inspections. Roof repair can range between $300 and $1000, but to replace a roof entirely can cost any where from $5,000 and $9,000.

Plumbing – Don’t underestimate issues with the plumbing. Small leaks can cause damage that costs between $1,000 and $3,500 to repair. Your home inspector will look for visible problems with the plumbing such as leaky faucets, water stains around sinks and the shower, and noisy pipes. Stains on walls, ceilings, and warped floors show plumbing problems.

Heating and Cooling – Ensuring the home’s heating and cooling system is working properly is also super important. Your home inspector will make you aware of any problems with the existing system and let know you whether the system is past its prime and might need replacing. You don’t want to spend $5,000 replacing an ill-working air conditioner. Replacing and repairing a water heater gets pricey too. Most would rather use these savings for a nice vacation!

Electrical Systems –Electrical problems might seem small, but they can blossom into catastrophes that cost thousands of dollars to repair. Make sure your home inspector examines the electric meter, wires, circuit breaker, switches, and the GCFI outlets and electrical outlets.

Foundation – If your home inspector sees that the house is sinking, that means water is seeping into the foundation; cracks in walls, sticking windows, and sagging floor are also signs that the house has foundational issues. The foundation is so important that if the general inspection report shows foundation problems, lenders will not lend money on the home until those issues are solved. Foundation repairs can reach as high as $6,000 in some instances.

As you can see, a small investment of a few hundred dollars for a general home inspection can save you thousands of dollars and future headaches. To save even more money, you might consider investing in a specialized home inspection as well.

How Much Money Can a Specialized Inspection Save You?

A general home inspection can trigger a need for a specialized inspection because the general home inspector spotted something off about the roof, sewer system, the heating and cooling system, and the foundation. If humidity is high where you’re buying your home (like it is in Florida!) a pest inspection is highly recommended. Usually, a pest inspection will check for mold as well as pests. Most homebuyers also have a Radon test done to ensure air quality.

Roof –  A roof specialist will examine the chimney and the flashing surrounding it. They will also look at the level of wear and tear of the roof. They can tell you how long the roof will last before a new one is needed. They’ll inspect the downspouts and gutters. The average cost of a roof inspection is about $220. Most roof inspections will cost somewhere between $12 and $320.

Heating and Cooling System – A HVAC specialist will check the ducts for blockage and for consistent maintenance of the unit. The repairs needed might be small or they might be large, but this small investment will save you headaches and lots of money in the future.

Foundation – A foundation specialist will pinpoint the exact problem with the foundation. The specialist will look at the grade or slope of the home. The ground should slope away from the home in all directions a half inch per foot. Most homeowners have spent between $2,000 and $6,000 to repair their foundation. And the average cost to re-slope a lawn is artound $1,700. Most homeowners paid between $1000 and $2,500 to re-slope their lawn.

Pest Inspection – Termites eat a home’s wood structure from inside out and can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to your home. Other pests can turn your dream home into a nightmare. Depending on the humidity of where you live, you should think about having a pest/termite inspection every two years or so. Most inspections are extensive and cost between $100 and $300. The good news is that most pest management company will guarantee the past inspection if bugs show up.

Radon Test – Radon is a naturally occurring invisible odorless gas that is the second leading cause of cancer. A radon test is a good test to have done as a good habit. The cost of radon test is low and its cost varies from state to state. Here’s more information about Radon.

 

Some Steps You Can Take to Save Money Using a Home Inspection

To help yourself save with a home inspection, you will need to:

Attend the inspection – Attending the inspection is important because it’s an opportunity for you to ask questions.

Check utilities – Checking utilities let’s know the energy efficiency of your potential home.

Hire a Qualified Home Inspector – We can recommend bona-fide home inspectors to you. You can compare our recommendation with all inspectors who belong to the American Society of Home Inspectors. While the decision of who you work with is always yours, we can educate you so that you make a wise home buying decision.

Dylan Snyder is a seasoned real estate professional serving the Jupiter real estate market, Palm Beach real estate market, Palm Beach Gardens real estate market, North Palm Beach real estate market, and the surrouding Palm Beach County area. Along with being a top producer in Jupiter real estate, Dylan's professionalism and expertise in luxury and waterfront real estate sets him and his team of real estate experts apart from the competition. For more information on Jupiter and Palm Beach real estate for sale, contact Dylan at (561) 951-9301.

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