The Inspection: The Most Important Part Of The Transaction
Like any major transaction, there are various stages and steps. Most are necessary but not all are as important as the inspection phase of buying a home. Getting an inspection completed, in my mind, is the most important stage. Simply put, it is the time you are allotted to hire as many professionals as you would like to give their opinion on any number of things about the home. It is essentially your time to check out the home and make sure it is it is the dream home you were hoping for. You are able to make sure there aren’t any hidden disasters waiting for you when you move in.
On top of the benefit of having a professional come out, this is really the only time you get to be picky and are able to back out of the contract if necessary. That’s right; this ten day period is the only time you can back out of buying the home without a penalty.
So what can you do to make sure you use these ten days to their full potential? Well, you have a few options. Always, always, always hire at least an inspector to go out to the property. You will want to make sure your agent is on top of this and schedule your inspector in a timely manner. Recently, with an increase in people buying homes, a lot of the good inspectors are backed up. They might not be able to schedule you in for 4-9 days. This can cause a time crunch or force you to ask the sellers for an extended inspection period.
Secondly, make sure your Realtor has a resource for “back-up inspectors”. Sometimes, your inspector will find evidence of an issue that he is not an expert on. For example, he might find clues that there is mold or possibly a foundation problem. You are going to want to have a mold inspector or structural engineer go out there to seriously take a look at what might be a deal breaker. If your Realtor isn’t up to snuff, they might resort to just “googling” someone and you might not get top notch service.
Lastly, make sure you comb through the Buyer’s Advisory. This packet provides a lot of info on a variety of topics you might not think to check out.
As I stated, the inspection period is an exciting but stressful time. You need to be on top of everything. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Thanks for Reading!
Jeff Buettner is a local Realtor, blogger, avid coffee drinker and chess player. With more than 4 years in the real estate industry, Jeff can be contacted through his personal site about Arizona short sales and foreclosure at http://realestatewizkid.com.
December 1, 2011
