How to Get Ready for a Home Inspection
You’ve put your home up for sale, buyers are calling – and everything looks promising! While the interest is certainly reassuring, there is one often-overlooked detail that can derail or even halt your entire home selling process. And, that is the home inspection!
A home inspection can make or break a deal. After all, when it comes to homes, “what you see is not always what you get.” A home that looks perfectly fine on the outside may have serious underlying problems, warns Real Property Group. And that’s why home buyers usually have one before sealing the deal.
To help improve your chances of getting a good inspection report, preparing your home for a buyer’s inspection is vital.
Read More: Using Your Home Inspection Report After Moving In
What Are Some of the Things Home Inspectors Look for During a Home Inspection?
Home inspections cover the main components of a home that are important for the health and safety of you and your family, as well as the integrity of the home itself.
- They will check the grounds for problems. Common problems include crumbling walls and paths, dying or sick trees, and faulty grading.
- The structural integrity of the home. That may involve checking for things like roof and foundation problems.
- Inspectors will evaluate windows, doors, fireplaces, and any entry ways.
- The exterior of the home. They will be looking for things like blistering paint, bowing or dents in vinyl, and cracks or rot.
- The inside of the home to check various things. Including, whether interior rooms have adequate heating vents, sufficient insulation, and stain-free ceilings.
- Inspectors will check appliances such as dishwasher, garage door operators, ovens, etc.
- They will also check the electrical and plumbing systems to ensure everything works as it should.
With that in mind, you want to ensure the home inspector has an easier time inspecting your home by preparing for the inspection. Make sure to provide easy access to everything in and around your home that they may need to inspect.
How to Get Ready for a Home Inspection
1. Provide easier access
This is key to ensuring the inspector can do their job as smoothly as possible. The last thing you want is to block access to vital areas of your house, which will raise suspicion, and the inspector will most likely make sure to note that down in their report.
The attic is one area that is usually not easy to get access to. So, make sure to remove anything blocking entry like clutter & furniture. Other areas that you may also want to provide easier access to include back access and under-sink plumbing work.
2. Check your smoke & carbon monoxide detectors
You want to ensure that both the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working as they should. Remember, every level of your home, including the basement, should have a smoke alarm.
So, test them to make sure they are working correctly. You also want to look at the expiration dates as well, and replace batteries if needed.
3. Check the sloping of the yard
A good yard sloping is one that slopes away from your home and not towards it. If it is sloping towards your home, your home may experience basement water problems.
The inspector may also want to check whether water runoff from rain and snowmelt has compromised your home’s foundation, which is costly to repair if damaged.
4. Check for cracks on floors and walls – fix them if necessary
Cracks on walls, floors, and even the foundation itself may indicate issues with your home’s structural integrity. If you spot some, make sure to seek professional help beforehand & have them fixed.
Remember, DIY repairs can actually cause more damage if they are not executed correctly! Always seek professional help when it comes to big repair jobs.
5. Clear any infestations
Can you spot a lot of carpenter bees hanging around your home? Or perhaps a steady line of ants hanging around?
If you do, seek professional help. Any sort of insect infestation will undoubtedly show up on the inspection report, and is something that could potentially deter buyers from your home.
6. Trim overgrown vegetation around your house
Do you have trees around your property? If so, make sure to trim them, as unhealthy or low-hanging branches could easily fall onto the roof and damage it. Rodents could also have an easier time gaining access to your home via openings like the chimney.
Additionally, trees can prematurely shorten your roof’s life by inviting lichen and moss to take hold.
7. Provide keys for electrical boxes and outbuildings
To ensure all buildings are easily accessible, make sure to provide keys or passcodes to lockboxes. Even better, unlock the electrical box as well as the covers for your sprinkler system.
If your garage is not attached to your house, make sure to leave the key or remote controls.
8. Prepare the repair documents
Have you done any remodeling project on your home? If you have, make sure to provide all of the invoices and documents of the projects. Also, make sure to provide all of the relevant paperwork if you’ve done things like upgrade the electrical system, installed a new dishwasher, or repaired a leaky faucet.
Follow These Tips for Success!
Getting ready for an inspection can help avoid a potentially messy real estate deal when it comes to negotiations post-inspection. Use these 8 tried-and-proven tips to make sure you sell your home & have a successful home inspection.
Your inspector will thank you later!
