Home Inspection

Now that you are under contract, one of the first contingencies we’ll be navigating is your home inspection. Although we will guide you through the inspection process every step of the way, we wanted to provide an outline as to what you can expect as the process unfolds:

INSPECTION DAY

Inspections typically take 2-3 hours, depending on the home. In almost all cases, the seller will not be present during that time as to avoid any awkwardness while we are reviewing findings with the inspector. Although we usually won’t receive the written report until the following day, we should have a clear picture of how the home checked out based upon our discussions with the inspector while on site.

Once they are finished, we’ll have an opportunity to go over a verbal summary of the results. This will be the perfect time to have the inspector point out any findings that may need further explanation or help answer any specific questions you may have.

INSPECTION CONTINGENCY TIMELINE

In order to meet the requirements and timelines of your purchase contract, we’ll need to provide for all of the following to take place prior to our deadline:

Complete the physical inspection of the property
Obtain the written report (usually the day following our inspection)
Review the report
Respond to the seller, either accepting the results of the inspection or requesting specific repairs for items you deem important.

REVIEWING THE RESULTS

Once we receive the written report (usually via email the day after), we’ll now be in a position to respond in one of 3 ways:

Notify the seller that no requests for repair are being made. If this is the case, the inspection contingency will then be “satisfied” upon our written notice to the seller.
If you identify items from the inspection that you want addressed, you can either ask the seller to fix those items or propose a cash credit or reduction in purchase price in lieu of the seller making the repairs.
If the results of the inspection turn up a lemon of a home, you can simply notify the seller that you reject the results of the inspection and hereby rescind the contract.

NEGOTIATIONS

It’s quite common for some negotiations to take place during the inspection process relating to a buyer’s requests and the seller’s responses to them. The main goal here is for us to negotiate a solution that provides you enough peace of mind or monetary compensation to be comfortable enough to continue on with the purchase.

Regardless of what request you make and how the seller may respond to them, you are only obligated to follow through with the purchase if the seller agrees to your requests. With that said, it’s quite common for buyer and seller to arrive at a resolution that may differ from the original request but ultimately satisfies both parties. Once we’ve reached mutual agreement on a remedy, the inspection contingency will be considered satisfied and behind us!

RE-INSPECTION BEFORE CLOSING

If the seller agrees to complete any repairs prior to closing, you are entitled to have the inspector re-inspect (at your cost) and confirm repairs were done correctly. In some cases where we may be requesting an easily defined fix like a hot water heater or furnace replacement, a simple invoice will usually suffice without the need to pay an inspector to come back out.