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John Robenault
Look Realty
1900 Presque Isle Ave
Marquette,
Michigan 49855
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Why Have a Home
Inspection?
Home inspections are very important to anyone
buying or selling a home!
A home inspection can alert buyers of problems that may be serious
and expensive to fix. Chronic problems that linger for awhile may
end up costing you more than you bargained for.
Home inspections can also reveal potential safety hazards that may
affect you or your family. Often times these potential safety
hazards are cheap fixes, but left unchecked can do great harm.
A home inspection can also alert you of certain deferred cost items.
These are items that have a specific lifetime such as furnaces, roof
coverings, water heaters, well pumps and septic systems. If these
items are getting older and may need to be replaced sometime in the
near future, at least you’ll know and be able to plan ahead.
Just because a house is new construction doesn’t mean it might not
have a structural or environmental problem the builder may have
overlooked, such as a radon problem.
Having an inspector give you an objective, unemotional report can be
the best thing even for a buyer who knows homes. It is also a great
learning experience for those not familiar with homes or who want to
know about their future home.
Home inspections help you prepare for the unexpected
If you've ever bought a used car then you probably remember taking
it to a mechanic to check under the hood, give it the once-over, and
a thumbs-up before you laid down the cash for the vehicle. Shouldn’t
you do the same thing when you buy a home? Think about it. There are
just as many things to inspect on a house as a car and certainly
your home is worth more than your car.
In fact, a good home inspector will probably
check and evaluate hundreds of items when he does a home inspection.
Inspectors are usually hired by the buyer to check out a property
before the buyer invests in it.
A good inspector will discover if it's functional
or if it needs repair. The inspector will also determine if there is
any periodic maintenance that needs to be performed to ensure proper
and safe operation of the furnace, water heater, laundry hook-ups
etc.
Home inspections are not required but are highly
recommended, just like the car analogy. The inspections let the
buyer know what types of problems may unexpectedly unfold in the
future. A good home inspection is a visual inspection of everything
that pertains to the house from the roof all the way down to the
grade of the soil.
Inspections are good for the seller too
Often sellers will be advised by their real estate agents to get
their own pre-sale home inspection; it's a good way to know what
types of concerns buyers might bring up. Just because you’re selling
your house doesn’t mean you should wait for the buyer to get an
inspection.
You’re anxious to sell your house, you finally get an interested
buyer, and they are enthusiastic as you are, being cautious though
they get an inspection done. The inspector finds something in the
inspection that breaks the deal, now you’ll have to wait for the
next buyer to come along and who knows how long that’ll take. If
you’d have only had an inspection done of your own, you would have
found these problems first, repaired them and probably sold your
house.
A seller’s inspection is a valuable tool for the seller in that you
could see the problems you have with your house, get them fixed and
probably get the asking price. No haggling because things weren’t
right with the buyer’s inspection. And if you’re a do it yourselfer
or handyman, it is best to get a second opinion to check your work
and make sure it is done right.
Make sure you get a qualified home inspector
Real estate agents often recommend home inspectors, but buyers and
sellers should also ask if the inspection company is part of their
state's Real Estate Inspection Association, a nonprofit voluntary
membership organization that provides education, training, and
support services to the real estate inspection industry and to the
public.
Environmental issues such as radon, mold, lead based paint and
asbestos are things a home inspector may be able to help you with as
well. It is always best to hire an inspector who is certified and
trained in these areas so you can be assured of getting the right
answers.
Hire an inspector who is affiliated with some professional
organization so you can be sure that your inspector is up to date on
the latest training, technology and techniques out there.
You may spend a little money on an inspection now, but may save big
money later. Buying or selling, get an inspection!
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