Sometimes clients are not able to attend the inspection and sometimes they are present but want further elaboration. What are some questions to ask your home inspector after he’s finished the inspection and you have recd. your report? Knowing the right questions to ask a home inspector afterward can help put that report into perspective. Here are the big ones to hit.
‘I don’t understand [such and such], what does it mean?’
Just so you know what to expect, here’s how it will go down: An hour or two after the inspection, you should receive the inspector’s report (should be same day). It will be a list of deficiencies in the house per the SOP (standards of practice) as required by TREC, often along with pictures of issues if possible. Hopefully you also attended the actual inspection and could ask questions then; if so, the report should contain no surprises. If there’s anything major you don’t remember from the inspection in the report, don’t be afraid to ask about it.
‘Is this a major or a minor problem?’
Keep in mind, most problems in the house will likely be minor and not outright deal breakers. Still, you’ll want your home inspector to help you separate those issues and put it in perspective.
Keep in mind that ultimately it’s up to you and your real estate agent to determine how to address any issues and how important they are to you. “The inspector can’t tell you, ‘Make sure the seller pays for this,’ so be sure you understand what needs to be done,” says Frank Lesh, executive director of the American Society of Home Inspectors. They also cannot advise you to purchase or not purchase the property. They are there to give you the information for you to make the final decision.
‘Should I call in another expert for a follow-up inspection?’
Expect to have to call in other experts at this point to look over major issues and assign a dollar figure to fixing them. If your inspector flags your electrical box for issues, for example, you may need to have an electrician come take a look and tell you what exactly is wrong and what the cost would be to fix it. The same goes for any apparent problems with the heating or air conditioning, roof, or foundation. An HVAC repair person, roofer, or engineer will need to examine your house and provide a bid to repair the problem. Why is this so important? This bid is what your real estate agent will take to the seller if you decide to ask for a concession instead of having the seller do the fix for you. Your inspector can’t give you these figures, but he can probably give you a sense of whether it’s necessary to call somebody in.
‘Is there anything I’ll need to do once I move in?’
Wait, you’re still not done! It’s easy to forget the inspector’s report in the whirlwind of closing and moving, but there are almost always suggestions for things that need doing in the first two to three months of occupancy. Inspectors sometimes gets calls from homeowners whose houses were inspected several months after they’ve moved in. Although certain issues were noted in the report, the buyers neglected the report entirely. Minor issues can need repair further down the line and turn into major or more costly repairs if not fixed in a timely manner.