You may not be familiar with the process after you make an offer on a Michigan home, that involves getting the home inspected. It is 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 should be viewed as an assessment of the property as it is on the day of the inspection, taking into account normal wear and tear. The home inspection is like a snapshot of it’s condition and what type of maintenance or repairs (if any) that will need to be done in the future.
What Do Home Inspectors Look At In The Home?
Typically, a home inspector examines structural components of a home (floors, walls, roofs, chimneys, foundations), mechanical systems (plumbing, electrical, heating/air conditioning), and installed appliances.
According to the Home Inspector Standards of Practice, Home Inspectors are not required to report on: wood-destroying insects, environmental contamination, pools and spas, detached structures, as well as other items specified in Offers to Purchase and Contracts.
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 who 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. Any of the above issues will be found during a home inspection, as well as many others that are too numerous to mention. You can ask any experienced home inspector like Mike at Top Floor Home Inspections; they’ve seen it all. However, most home inspections do not 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. At Top Floor Home Inspections we offer comprehensive testing and lab analysis services as their are a variety of reasons it is important they be looked at.
Affordable specialty inspection and testing services that can be added onto your Top Floor Home Inspection includes:
- Video Sewer Scope and Sewer Inspection. Pictured left.
- Mold Inspection, Swab Analysis and Lab Testing
- Air Quality Testing
- Water Quality Testing
- Radon Testing and Analysis
Request Items You Want Seen
If certain items are of a concern to you in your potential new home, just request your inspector take a look at those when scheduling your Michigan home inspection with Top Floor Home Inspections! Consider additional services and testing for Air Quality, Mold Sample and Lab Analysis, Radon Testing and Analysis and a Sewer Inspection with Video Sewer scope that checks your main sewer line for damage or clogs.
Comments are closed.