Purchasing a home requires several professionals including a lender, a real estate agent, appraisers and inspectors. Each of these industry helpers is there to assist the homeowner during the home buying process and ensure that the home is a good mortgage fit. One of the ways to do this is to utilize the inspector and appraiser. An inspector is there to ensure the house is safe, meets housing regulations and can provide secure living accommodations while an appraiser researches the true value of a home. This in turn protects both the house owner and the lender from making a poor investment in a property. We’ve discussed the appraiser’s role in the home purchasing procedure before, but many potential homeowners worry that their dream home may not pass inspection. To ease any worries our readers may have, we want to discuss the home inspection process and its importance during purchasing a home.
The Home Inspection Procedure
Whether future homeowners are attempting to purchase a home through a VA mortgage loan or one through the FHA, the inspection process usually includes four main areas of a property to be examined.
The first place that an inspector will check is a home’s exterior walls and foundation. A home that passes these inspections will have a foundation without signs of water damage, cracks, fractures or other structural foundation damage. The exterior walls will also need to be free of water damage or fractures before an inspector can list them as in good condition.
Following the scrutiny of a home’s foundation and exterior, inspectors should then move to examining the roof of a house and the property the home sits on. The roof of the home will need to be free of any major signs of damage and an inspector should be able to determine whether a roof will need to be replaced or not. While on the roof, examiners should also look at rain gutters, downspouts or chimneys for structural damage or potentially unsafe conditions.
The property a land is on will also need to be inspected for grade and slope. Proper grade and slope will lead the land as well as patios, driveways, and sidewalks away from a home’s foundation to ensure that minimal water damage occurs in the case of rainstorms, floods or leaks.
After reviewing the property and home’s roof, the inspector should move to the basement area of a home. Basement areas to be inspected include:
- Interior Plumbing
- Heating/Cooling Sources
- Electrical Panels and Outlets
These areas are easily checked in most homes with unfinished basements but an inspector should also do a ceiling, wall and floor examination in the basement to ensure it is a strong base of living for a house.
The last areas of inspection are the main floors of the home. These areas should include floor, ceiling and wall examinations as well as the checking of kitchen, bathroom, laundry room and mudroom quality plumbing. Other areas to check are the light switches, any fireplaces, electrical outlets, etc…
The Importance of an Inspection
Inspections are important from the viewpoint of a mortgage lender because they showcase the condition of a home in regards to being a wise financial investment. For the homeowner, inspections can save them from purchasing a lemon house or spending thousands of dollars in home repair after taking out a home loan. Inspections are a vital piece to the home buying process and have been put in place to protect everyone involved and maintain a high standard of house ownership across America.
In the past we’ve discussed the home purchasing procedure, but many potential homeowners worry that their dream home may not pass inspection. We hope our discussion of home inspection process and its importance during home buying has helped ease these fears. If our readers would like to continue the discussion with questions or concerns, we’re happy to help by connecting them with our loan officers.