Buying a Home and Conducting a Property Inspection

Conducting an inspection is a major component of finding the home you really want to buy.

For the purposes of this article, we will proceed as if you already know how much money you can get for a home loan, and are ready to begin the selection process of the house you will ultimately purchase. In this section we will cover the process of figuring out what type of home will suit your needs for the money you can afford to pay.

The following is a general list of things to consider before you go house hunting:

• Consider wants VS actual needs
• How many bedrooms do you need? How many bathrooms do you need.
• Are you looking for a starter home or your dream home?
• No home will be absolutely perfect. Allow some room for a few general repairs in your budget.
• What location is desirable? Many things to consider here, like school district, proximity to work, traffic, and general neighborhood considerations. Do you want to live on a quiet street?
• Lawn and lot care. Do you want a yard, or do you want something that is or can be made into an easy maintenance lot. There is always some maintenance, even if you have a completely rock or paved area. Owning a home will require at least some outside maintenance.
• How large of a home do you need? This can vary depending on the layout of a home. Some homes that are efficiently laid out can be very comfortable on less square footage. Be ware of three bedroom homes built in 1,000 to 1,200 square feet. They can become very crowded very quickly.
• What other attributes are you hoping for in this house purchase? Do you want a garage, or could you live with a carport instead? Do you need two bathrooms, or could you live with and be happy with one?
• Do you, or will you have pets? If so, how much room will they realistically need? Very small dogs can thrive in small yards. If you have a St. Bernard, you may have to give up something in order to have a large enough yard for the dog.

Most people work with a Realtor when looking for a home to buy. If you have found some homes you want to look at, it can be better for you not to contact the listing agent to view the home. Why? Because the listing agent represents the seller. If you go through the listing agent to initially view the home, then if you buy it, you are bound by what is known as "Dual Agent" Which means that the listing agent represents both buyer and seller. The listing agent is the person whose name is on the For Sale sign, or in the real estate flyer or booklet.

Contact a different real estate company and have them show you the home. This way, that Realtor represents you, and you only in the negotiations if you decide to buy it. Any licensed Realtor can show you a home. It does not have to be the person or company that lists the home.

How to approach the first walk-through of a home:

• Bring a notebook to make notes, including the address of the home.
• Take several photos of the home with a camera or cell phone.
• Walk around outside and check for vents in the foundation, and on the roof. Make note of the general condition of things, such as cracks in the foundation, water faucets, fencing, siding, roofing (is it curling or missing in places?)
• Walk in the front door and pause. Breathe deeply and get a sense of how it feels when you walk in the door.
• Make note of any dings and damages you see.
• Make note of things you would want to change about the place.
• Open cupboards and drawers, turn on the faucets if the water is on, flip light switches, and flush the toilet.
• Check for discolorations around the bath / shower areas and in the ceiling.

Okay. That is enough for the first walk through. By this time you have a general impression of the home. Keep your insights close at this point. View only one or two homes per day to prevent the various aspects of each home from blurring in your memory.

Most people hire a licensed property inspector to do the home inspection. However, you are not required to do it quite this way. You can have a licensed electrician, plumber, or general contractor come inspect the home, and sometimes this is cheaper than the cost of a home inspector. I recently paid a licensed electrician $80 to inspect and give a professional opinion on the wiring in a small home I was considering. The available home inspectors were licensed but they were not electricians. They did not have the knowledge I was seeking. Since that was the only major concern I had with the home, I saved some money and got a more qualified expert opinion.

What Does A Home Inspector Do? They flip the light switches, turn on faucets, check rooms for dings, damages and discolorations. They look for cracks in the foundation. They look at the roof, they may go into the attic to look for insulation, and at times may go under the house to check for vapor barriers and the size and accessibility of the crawl space. In some states they are allowed to remove outlet or light switch covers to check for burned or discolored wires. They do check outlets to see if they are working in my particular state. While this is not an all-inclusive list, as you can see, many of these things are easily done by the buyer. The inspectors do go through a training program to become licensed, and their service can be valuable.

Qualifications of the Inspector: Most home inspectors are not licensed electricians or plumbers. Anyone can take a course online to become a licensed home inspector.

Fees: Depending on where you live, home inspection fees can range from about $350.00 to as much as $800.00 or more.

Doing the Inspection Yourself: If you are knowledgeable about remodeling, work for a general contractor, or really good at doing research, you may opt to do the inspection yourself. Most people, however should consult with an expert of some type.

Research Not Covered by the Inspector: The property inspector will not tell you what the electric bills and water/sewer/garbage bills run on the home. They will not give cost estimates. These are things you should check into on your own. Often times, busy Realtors will simply answer, "I don't know" when you ask about these things. After the first walk-through, and before the inspection, you can easily call the utility companies and ask for information about the water bills. When doing this, take note of any unusual spikes in the water bills which may indicate a problem with the main water line leaking into the ground, etc.

Look up the property at your county Assessor's Office online: Simply type in your browser, ________ County Assessor's Office. Go to the Tax tab to find out how much the property taxes run, look at the county appraisal tab to see the assessed home value, recorded square footage, lot size and more. This is free and provides valuable information to the home buyer.

Have the water to the property turned on: There is usually a small turn-on / turn-off fee for this. Just call the city and make arrangements to do this. Make sure that someone can quickly turn the water off again if you find a broken pipe. Many sellers will turn the water off to a property in order to save money on the water / sewer/ and garbage charges in vacant homes. Paying to have the water turned on in order to check for leaks is always a good idea.

By making a chart similar to the one shown below, you can easily compare the various attributes of the homes you are considering. Write down as much information as you can about each one. Be sure to include the addresses so that you can look them up in the county assessor's site.

Try to spend some time driving around the neighborhood, and I always advise getting a takeout meal and just parking in the driveway on a Friday or Saturday night to see what kind of rebel rousers and other traffic goes on in the neighborhood on the weekends. Take note of the other houses on the street to see if the people who live there take pride in the appearance of their homes.

All things considered, this may seem like a lot of effort to go to in order to make a decision about which home to buy, but in the long run, it really pays off.

Happy house hunting!