The home inspection process that occurs after you make an offer on a Michigan home may be unfamiliar to you. It’s called the Home Inspection Contingency. Learn what a general home inspection is and what a home inspector is looking for.

What Is a Home Inspection?

Professional home inspectors investigate your home, townhome, new construction home on offer for problems from top to bottom. Some home inspections are requested by a seller prior to putting the home the market. This is called a Pre-Listing home inspection. The home inspection is a homebuyers perfect opportunity to asses a home’s condition before they proceed forward in the purchase.

As a Michigan home buyer, you always get to choose your home inspector. Your Michigan Real Estate agent will have some great suggestions of inspection companies they have worked with for your consideration.

What a General Home Inspection Is

Home inspections give the client (usually a homebuyer) a better understanding of the visible and accessible components of a home (plumbing, roof, HVAC, appliances, foundation etc.). You should also know what a home inspection does not cover. It does not provide an appraisal of the property’s value, nor does it cover the cost of repairs.

A home inspection does not guarantee a home’s compliance with local building codes (which are subject to periodic change) or protect you in case an item inspected fails in the future. The inspection is an assessment of the property, (as it is on the day of the inspection) taking into account normal wear and tear. A home inspection is a snapshot of it’s condition and what type of maintenance or repairs (if any) that will need to happen in the future.

What Do Home Inspectors Look At In The Home?

A Home Inspector Don’t Always Find a Serious Issue

There is serious remorse among two-thirds of all buyers who waived their home inspection contingency. Some new homeowners that waived their home inspections during the historic and frenzied pandemic sellers market, were shocked to find expensive or dangerous issues with their houses. It turned out that one person’s water contained dangerously high levels of arsenic, while another who didn’t have a video sewer inspection because of waiving the home inspection, discovered that there was a break in the line between the house and the city line allowing sewage to leak into the plumbing of the house! 

Don’t be scared, be prepared. While the examples above would rank high on the list of the most problematic home inspection findings, not every inspection finds drastic defects. The issues outlined above, as well as a number of others, will be found during a home inspection. You can ask any experienced home inspector like Mike at Top Floor Home Inspections; they’ve seen it all, but most home inspections typically don’t uncover anything major.

The reason everyone should get a home inspection, is because it provides every homebuyer from new homebuyers, to upgraders, a chance to learn everything about the single largest investment of their lifetimes.

What Home Inspectors Do Not Inspect

The home inspection is extremely deep and thorough investigation of the home from the foundation to the attic there are some items a home inspector cannot inspect.

• Anything that is blocked or locked. If your home inspector cannot gain access to areas because of boxes or anything blocking the area, they cannot move those items. Always be sure that access to attics or other important areas is not blocked.
• Home value is not accessed by an inspector. Only a qualified appraiser can assess the home’s fair market value.
• Well or Septic systems. You will need to locate a Well or Sewer inspector that specializes in that.
• Paint, wallpaper or home furnishings or landscaping
• Local code compliance

What are Home Inspection Testing Services?

Home inspectors offer a variety of extra services they are certified in. Top Floor Home Inspection offers comprehensive testing and lab analysis services that a homebuyer often needs a closer look at.