The Home Inspection

With the Covid buying frenzy behind us, things are slowly returning to normal. Which means buyer inspection contingencies have returned! But what exactly does this mean? It means that after you and the seller agree on a contract you have the option to inspect the home to make sure it's going to work for you. If you decide that it's not for you, you have the opportunity to back out and get your earnest money returned. But let's dig a little deeper.

How does this work?

When you put together the purchase agreement you have the opportunity to select whether or not you would like to inspect. If you do want to inspect, you also have the opportunity to make the purchase agreement contingent on that inspection. During the Covid buying frenzy a lot of buyers did not check that box and would ask to inspect for their knowledge only which took away their ability to negotiate based on what they found during the inspection. They also lost their ability to cancel per the inspection.

When putting together the purchase agreement you are also asked if you would like to do 'intrusive' testing. Intrusive testing is defined as any type of testing that changes the property from its original condition. An example would be drilling into stucco to check the moisture content. In most cases unless there is a predetermined need for this, it's not something that's requested at this time and can be re-negotiated at a later date.

A few additional pieces to the inspection are determined in the next few lines of the purchase agreement. They determine what the inspection timeframe will be and whether or not the seller can continue to market the property. The number of days to inspect or timeframe for the inspection are often negotiated; buyers want as much time as possible to do their due diligence while sellers what this done as quickly as possible so they can move forward. It's important to note that not only does the inspection need to physically happen but all negotiations have to be agreed upon during this time as well. If the buyer and seller can not come to terms the purchase agreement needs to be cancelled and the earnest money is returned to the buyer.

Who pays for the inspection?

It should be noted here that this inspection is 100% at the cost of the buyer. The buyer can select to hire an inspection company or do the inspection on their own. If for any reason the buyer decides not to purchase the house that money is not returned or reimbursed this is considered the cost of doing business.

Should I get an inspection?

Ultimately this is up to you and every situation is different but we encourage everyone to get a home inspection. It's the best way to protect your investment and it's a great learning experience especially for first time homeowners.

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As always, from all of us here at Matt Engen Group, thanks for reading!

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If you have questions about buying or selling be sure to connect with us here.

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