So you got your home inspection done. Now what?
This is probably one of the scariest moments for buyers during a real estate transaction. You’re excited about buying the home, but you just paid someone $500 to find out everything that’s wrong with it, and now you have a report giving you answers.
As an agent, I can also say that this is the one instance during the transaction where it’s difficult to coach a buyer. I don’t want to sound “sales-y”, but it’s important for me to share my experience in terms of what’s normal and what’s a safety concern. Remember—if you pay someone to find out every single thing that’s wrong with your future home, they’ll do exactly that. The key is to work with your agent to understand the difference between what’s important and what’s not.
Let’s say you have a vintage BMW that you’ve driven forever and love dearly, but now you’re thinking of selling it. If you take it to a mechanic and tell them to find everything that’s wrong with it, the results will be pretty disheartening. They’ll not only detect major items that might affect the performance of the car, but they’ll also notice all the little imperfections. Once you’re aware of these issues, it’s easy to feel pressured into addressing every single one of them.
When it comes to home inspections, though, the goal is to find issues that may not be apparent and then give you a baseline of the home’s condition. That way, you can make a plan for how to maintain or improve its condition moving forward.
At the end of the day, it’s a tedious but necessary part of the home buying process. If you have the right agent beside you, it’s the best way to make an informed decision regarding the rest of the transaction.
As always, if you have any questions about this or any other real estate topic, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help you.
