Your relocating to the Ft. Lewis Washington area and you’ve made the decision to buy a home, congratulations! After making an offer on the home that you want to purchase, the next step is a home inspection. Phil, at PhilSharpHomes.com, will walk you through this process step by step, but here is a little insight…
You don’t want to get stuck having to pay for any unexpected repairs on your new home, right? The way to avoid that is to make your offer contingent on a home inspection. This is definitely worth the $500 or so dollars you are going to spend, trust me!
A good home inspection will give you all of the information on your home that is important to know before your decision on buying the home is final. Yes, you walk through the home, maybe even a few times, and think that everything looks great. That’s not always the case…there are many problems that you can’t see, even if you may think you know what you are looking for.
When hiring a home inspector you can do your own research on inspectors in the JBLM area, or you can use the one recommended by your Realtor (which is what I did). The home inspector will give you a full evaluation on the condition of the home you want to buy, including but not limited to…heating, air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, floors, attic, roof & chimney, foundation, mold, water damage, hidden moisture, pest issues and overall structure.
You should be present during your home inspection, that way you can walk through the house with the inspector and ask any questions that you may have, they also give some pretty good advice too.
Once the inspection is complete, you will get a detailed summary that you will go over with your Realtor and you will decided what you think is fair to ask for in repairs. If there are too many problems to fix, or they are too expensive you can choose to walk away since you made your offer contingent on the inspection. When in it comes to fixing the problems, count on your Realtor to help you decide what the best option is. You could ask the seller to make repairs, you can ask to reduce the purchase price or you can ask for credit at closing to fix the problems yourself.
Yes, a home inspection is going to cost you a little bit of money, but it could end up saving you thousands! Don’t skip out on this important step in the home buying process!