Home inspections are important because they provide the buyer with pertinent information about the house they are purchasing. The whole idea of a home inspection is to disclose as many material defects inside the home before the close escrow. A home inspection protects buyers by disclosing defects before the buyer purchases the home.
When choosing a home inspection company its important to know that the home inspection industry is completely unregulated in the State of California.
What that means is anyone can become a home inspector with no official training business license or insurance.
It is extremely important that buyers work with home inspectors that are Certified and Insured in the State of California.
The home inspection is not the only piece of disclosure that is important in the sale of a home. In California, it is also important to review the disclosures from the seller of the property as referred to on the Transfer Disclosure Statement. Also, to review the TDS portion that is filled out by both of the agents in the transaction. In the TDS, the sellers also write down any known defects or conditions that pertain to the home.
All of these documents combined provide an accurate picture pertaining to the home the prospective buyer is purchasing.
A home inspection for a house would be similar to taking a car to a mechanic to evaluate the car before purchasing the car.
A person wouldn’t want to move into a house and find out the roof had leaked and caused damage to the attic structure and inherit that costly repair.
If major issues are discovered a buyer can enter a second round of negotiations with the sellers. The sellers can negotiate a credit to issue to the buyers. The sellers can have the items of concern fixed before the close of escrow. The buyer can choose to walk away from the property if they are uncomfortable with the major issues disclosed.
Please know that every home we inspect has issues. Even brand new homes have a lot of defects inside them.
No house is perfect. The home inspection should be used as a tool to gauge the condition of the property. All offers written in the California are considered as is offers.
Buyers may find things wrong in the house that they may want to have fixed upon moving in. This involves a second round of negotiations through a request for repairs. This can be difficult to navigate in a competitive real estate market.
You real estate agent will guide you through this process. It is a best practice to keep in mind that the home inspection is a picture of the property that you are buying and not a fix it list for the sellers.
It is best to look over the items that are of major concern to the buyer and have those evaluated further for the buyer to gain more information about the issues before the close of escrow.
Always keep in mind that every home has defects and it is normal to see defects inside every home.
In order to provide peace of mind to buyers our Certified Master Inspectors are trained to check over 1800 items inside the property in regard to the plumbing, heating, electrical, roof, foundation, air conditioning and structure.
The home inspection industry is an industry birthed out of lawsuits.
Prior to home inspections many buyers would move into a property and find structural or mechanical issues that were not disclosed in the sale of the property. The new buyers would end up being surprised about the issues with the home and then sue the former homeowner and real estate agents.
Pointing out structural and mechanical defects is out of the scope of expertise of many real estate agents and therefore a new industry emerged the home inspection industry.
Home inspections typically come into place when and offer is accepted by the sellers of the property and the transaction moves into escrow. The home inspection is ordered by the buyers of the property.
A contingency period normally 17 days or less will give the buyer time to complete all necessary inspections on the property. If a person decides they don’t want a home inspection they will have to sign a legal document acknowledging they are waving the right.
Think of a home inspector as a general doctor for the home.
If I was to go the doctor and there was something wrong with my heart they may refer me out to a specialist…. a cardiologist.
An inspector is inspecting major systems inside the home and sometimes when they find a defect they may refer out an appropriate professional to look at the problem more in depth. As our inspection is only visual and we do not take apart anything during the inspection.
Below are only of few of the 1800 items our inspectors evaluate.
For plumbing, the inspector is looking for active leaks and to see if everything is in normal working conditions. That there is proper psi inside the plumbing and what type of plumbing is being used. We make sure there is hot water and cold water in all areas of the house and that the plumbing is draining properly.
For heating and air conditioning we check the temperatures at the register and make sure the thermostat is working properly. We also inspect the ducting to evaluate its integrity.
For electrical we are checking for exposed wiring and making sure electricity is wired properly. We cannot see through walls. We look for exposed electrical and make sure power is where it needs to be.
The roof the inspector will evaluate the condition and access the attic to look for any issues. The inspector will walk the roof if accessible.
The inspector will crawl the sub area and make sure the post and girders are installed properly. They are also looking for cracks and other defects.
After evaluating the 1800 items the inspector will create a full photo report that is typically available the same day.
Some of the major findings will be noted in red and be posted in the summary section. It is important to read the whole report and not just the summary section.
The home inspection is an overall snapshot of the home on the day and time the inspector completed the inspection.
This report gives the buyer more evidence as to the overall condition of the property.
This is an educational time for the buyer to ask the inspector questions about the defects inside the home. It is important that buyer attend the home inspection.
At the Elite Group we combine the best training with our 33 years of experience to provide the most thorough inspection money can buy.
