Home Buying: What really matters?

Whether it’s your first home or one of many, the process of buying a home can be stressful, and a little scary.  Getting a professional home inspection for your new home can give you peace of mind, but also can have be stressful as well, as you review your home inspection report and realize that you are expected to absorb and understand a lot of (new) information in a short time.  Your new home’s inspection report can often include not only the written report but also a checklist, photographs, environmental reports and more, plus there is the seller’s disclosure form to review as well.

Professionals advise – relax. While there appears to be alot of information about your new home there, most of it will  be maintenance recommendations, life expectancies and minor imperfections. All of these things are nice to know about, of course, but shouldn’t cause concern.  The issues that really matter will fall into one of four categories:

1. A Major Defect

2. Something that could lead to a Major Defect

3. Something that may hinder your ability to finance, legally occupy or insure your new home.

4. Safety hazards

Anything in your inspection report that falls into one of these categories should be addressed. Often a serious problem can be corrected inexpensively to protect both life and property, and often times sellers will be willing to work with you to get these items corrected to close the sale.

Of course, you should realize that your seller is under no obligation to repair everything mentioned in the report. If there are items that fall into one of the major categories, talk it over with your realtor and come up with a short list of items you want fixed (or an adjustment made in the sale price for).  At the same time, remember that no home is perfect. If you can keep things in perspective, you won’t kill the deal over things that don’t matter.

Your realtor is the best person to guide you in this negotiation, but if you have any questions about your home inspection report, I am here to help, just give me a call.