Monthly Archives: December 2020

29Dec
That Was My Bad: Common Mistakes Buyers Make 

That Was My Bad: Common Mistakes Buyers Make 

We all make mistakes. Whether it be something as minuscule as picking up the wrong type of ketchup to something as massive as putting in the wrong coordinates for a nuclear missile. No matter how big it is, it’s only human nature to make a mistake from time to time. But some mistakes cost more than others, and when it comes to home inspections, mistakes can cost you a fortune. 

 

It’s no secret that housing is a lucrative and necessary business, especially when it comes to flipping a house. While it can be easy to make a profit when it comes to purchasing a home, there is an assortment of moving pieces that need to be taken care of before you even see the check. One of these necessities comes in the form of a home inspection. What may seem like a simple inspection from the outside is actually a pretty in-depth and sometimes convoluted process. This makes it incredibly important to pay attention and be careful whenever paying for a home inspection. Here a few prominent mistakes that most homebuyers make when getting a home inspection. 

 

Avoiding The Problem: Not Having A Home Inspection 

Yes, this may be the obvious one, but you would be surprised how many homebuyers skip this step altogether and how much they end up paying for it. Most people even know that they need a home inspection but decide against it just to save a few dollars for their wallet. In the end, it would cost more to skip a home inspection, especially if the home has any glaring or obvious issues with its foundation. This usually results in more money being spent on the home being purchased, thus reducing your overall profits when flipping the home. 

 

Cover Every Expense: Going Cheap For Your Home Inspection 

There are a variety of home inspectors out there looking for work. These inspectors have a wide range of costs. Some can cost up to five-hundred dollars where some can go as low as one-hundred. While everyone likes to save a couple of bucks from their wallet, it is absolutely imperative that you cover every expense when it comes to your home inspection. 

 

When it comes to your home inspection, you want the best possible service. This, unfortunately, results in a higher price. However, this price won’t compare to the amount of money you’ll spend if you get a poor home inspector who doesn’t know what they are doing. It’s better to spend more now and get what you need from your home inspection than to spend a fortune later down the road because you decided to be cheap with the inspection. 

 

Can I Be Included?: Get Involved With The Inspection

Everyone knows that hands-on experience is the best way to learn. This is why it’s important to be about the home inspection to go over any concerns or questions that you home with the inspector. It’s important to know what exactly it is you’re paying for. This will also guide you if any changes or improvements need to be made to the home you are buying. 

 

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16Dec
The Silent Killer: Why You Should Test For Radon

The Silent Killer: Why You Should Test For Radon

When it comes to buying or having a home, everyone always thinks about the positives. They live in this delusional world, looking through rose-colored glasses without ever seeing any of the problems that lay underneath the surface. Everybody loves to imagine their dream house, the home where they’ll raise a family or where they’ll fall in love. This is why no one likes to think about the dangers that can come with buying a home, especially the dangers of radon.

Don’t know exactly what radon is? Don’t worry; you’re far from alone. Radon is a radioactive gas that can lurk in the confines of your own home. This gas can be hazardous and even deadly when it’s not put in check. To make matters even worse, radon has no smell, taste, and even sound, thus making it entirely undetectable to human senses. So how does one know if it’s a problem before it’s too late? You get a radon check, of course.

Better Safe Than Sorry: Keep Your Family’s Safety Number One

As we said before, radon’s danger is a genuine and prominent threat that most homeowners encounter over the course of owning a home. What’s so scary about radon is that it can happen to any home. New or old, big or small, it doesn’t matter; radon doesn’t discriminate. This is why it is absolutely imperative that you are continuously checking your home for high levels of radon.

High radon levels have long-lasting consequences that can leave an individual’s immune system damaged for years to come. When particles of the radon you breathe in get into your lungs, you develop a higher risk of contracting lung cancer. While this may not happen for another few years, the initial cause of this cancer comes from breathing in high levels of radon. The CDC has even concluded that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, only behind cigarette smoking.

 

Making The Grade: Passing Your Home Inspection

No one likes to receive a failing grade. Whether it was a high school English paper or the SATs, failing has never left anyone a good feeling before. The same is no different when failing a home inspection. While a home inspection studies a variety of components within one’s home, radon levels are a prominent aspect that home inspectors look out for in particular.

If a home has high levels of radon, then the odds of passing a home inspection are minimal at best. Because of how dangerous radon can be, measuring a home’s radon levels is one of the most crucial aspects when it comes to a home inspection.

 

Going, Going, Sold!: Selling Your Radon Free Home

Unless you find yourself living in the home of Tony Soprano or the futuristic mansion of The Jetsons, you’ll probably end up selling your first home several years after purchasing it. But you know what you’ll need in order to sell it properly? That’s right, a passing grade on your home inspection.

In order for any potential buyer to be interested in purchasing your home, they have to know that they are not throwing their money into a money pit. This is why a passing grade on your home inspection is an absolute necessity when it comes to selling your home, and you’ll never receive that A until you make sure your radon levels are in check. Nobody in their right mind would ever live in a death trap, so why would they purchase a home with high levels of radon. This is why it’s a good decision to purchase a radon check for your home before you even consider putting it up on the market. It’s the first step of many that you’ll be taking in order to sell that first home of yours’.

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10Dec
Home Inspection Tips for Buyers

Home Inspection Tips for Buyers

Dot Your I’s And Cross Your T’s: Home Inspection Tips for Buyers

So you’re buying a house? First, congratulations are in order. Give yourself a big old pat on the back. Are you done? Alright, now it’s time to get down to business. The first, and debatably only, thing you really need to know when buying a house is that there’s an assortment of steps you need to take before you can finally rest. One of these tedious steps is getting a home inspection.

Now, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a home inspection isn’t the most exciting thing in the world. Far from it, actually. But when it comes to either buying or selling a home, it is an absolute necessity. The idea may seem daunting, especially if it’s the first time having a home inspection. But there’s no need to fear because when you break it down into smaller pieces, the process of a home inspection is as simple as ABC.

It’s Official!: Making The Home Inspection Legitimate

Nothing is official until it’s in writing. This is a universal truth that is used within every form of business. So, of course, the same goes for home inspections. It is absolutely imperative that you make sure it is written into some form of contract when having a home inspection. Most of the time, buyers will edit this into their contract as something that’s called a contingency clause. This essentially is an action or condition that must be met to be binding for the contract.

This clause is also beneficial to the buyer of the house because it can give them a specific time frame to have a home inspection on their prospective house. The clause makes the home inspection official and accountable, but it allows the buyer to use it as leverage for negotiating price. And who doesn’t want to save a few bucks when they can?

Reach For The Stars. Or, on Second Thought Don’t: Keep Expectations Low

Everyone wants the perfect home. It’s what we all dream of when we grow up and plan out our futures. But unless you find the home of Tony Soprano or Don Draper, you’re more likely going to end up with something more like Roseanne’s. This is why it’s important to keep realistic expectations when it comes to your home inspection. The worst mistake any potential buyer can make is expecting their home inspection to go flawlessly without a single flaw noticed. This is almost never the case.

There’s also the notion of the home inspection itself not covering every square inch of the house. While most home inspections are incredibly detailed and thorough, they don’t always capture every nook and cranny that the house holds. Sometimes they miss something as minuscule as a section of paint peeling from the bedroom wall, or maybe they miss the tiny faucet leak in the guest bathroom. No matter what it is, don’t expect every home inspection to be airtight.

Ask, Ask, Ask: Asking Questions Through Your Home Inspection

Everyone always made fun of the kid who asked question after question in seventh-grade biology. But you want to know a little secret? That kid made a higher grade than the rest of the class. It’s because they asked all those questions and learned from all those answers. If you don’t ask questions about topics you don’t know about, how do you expect to ever learn about them? This is why it is essential to ask question after question during your home inspection.

No matter how small or big your question is, it’s always important to know what is wrong with your potential house and what it is you’re exactly paying for. You wouldn’t waste money on a movie you hadn’t seen the trailer for, would you? This is the same principle when it comes to buying a home and having a home inspection. Don’t be afraid to annoy your home inspector, either. It’s their job to walk you through the process step by step.

 

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