A home is one of the biggest investments you will make in your lifetime.  Making sure you know the condition of your investment is important and beneficial. An inspection helps to ensure transparency, uncover potential problems, and facilitate informed decisions about issues with the home.  Here are some other reasons why you need a home inspection.

   1. Safety Hazards: A poorly built or maintained home is susceptible to plenty of safety hazards. A home inspection can help to detect potential safety hazards such as unsafe vent clearances, improper wiring or dangerous structural issues.

   2. May Reveal Illegal Additions or Installations: If the home has an altered garage or basement that has several issues, they could reveal code violations or work completed without the required permits. This could affect the home insurance, property taxes, and overall value of the home. As a buyer, once you close on the home, those illegal additions may become your financial problem to fix. As a seller, these issues could cause lost sales or delays.

   3. Value Tool: As a buyer, the home inspection report presents an opportunity to ask for repairs and/or request a price reduction from the seller. As a seller, you can hire a home inspector to conduct a pre-inspection to limit any repair surprises for which you weren’t prepared. If you decide to make repairs, you may be able to increase the listing price of your home and close faster.  Both the buyer and the seller should talk to their agents about the best approach for their situations.

   4. Forecast Possible Future Cost: Although unable to determine the exact age, an inspector may be able to approximate the installation age of major systems like plumbing, heating and cooling, and critical equipment like water heaters. All components have limited usage life. Understanding the approximate time systems and components may need replacement can be helpful. For the buyer, it helps with budgeting future expenses and determining the type of insurance coverage or warranties you should consider. For the seller, it helps with deciding whether to replace them, which can help determine an appropriate list price.