What to do when the home inspection report reveals problems

If your home inspector presents a report with major issues, you may be wondering what you should do in this situation. If you’re not in love with the house you might consider walking away from the deal. You can also ask the seller to fix the issues or lower the asking price of the home so you can take care of the repairs.

Here is a short list of major issues that are a cause for concern.

Legal Defects

Chances are, in order to secure your home loan the home will need to be ‘purchasable.’ Meaning, that it needs to be structurally sound and up to code according to state or federal laws. Your home inspection will find issues that fall into the category of “major repair.”

• Building Code Violations – These are typically done on a state by state basis and speak to how the home was built. For example, the materials that were used to build the home, the electrical systems installed and even the plumbing systems.
• Structural or Mechanical Defects – Defects found in the foundation or major load-bearing elements of a home. Mechanical defeats are those that relate to systems that are broken or flat out unfixable.

Health Risks

A home inspection may reveal some hidden dangers within the home. If the repairs are small, you may decide to just fix those items on your own. However, if your health or well-being is at stake, asking a homeowner to repair these items would be appropriate.

• Safety Issues – These can be defined as things that may impact the well-being of you and your family. For example, fire, drowning, or falling hazards.  
• Mold – If there appears to be a mold issue inside the home, you can always ask the seller to acquire the help of a mold remediation company to get a better handle on how extensive the problem is. Oftentimes these problems can be remedied easily, despite their notoriety for being super scary.
• Poor Radon Test – If you receive a poor radon reading in your home inspection or from a radon inspector specialist,  this might be another appropriate repair to ask for. Radon mitigation can be expensive and a homeowner will likely anticipate you asking for that repair.

Expensive Repairs

• Mechanical Failure – Large operating systems of your home, for instance, the furnace or the HVAC system, can rack up a hefty bill. Home warranties may cover some of these items, but you should speak to your realtor about those specifics so you don’t get handed a surprise.
• Pests – A home inspection may reveal that you have a pest problem unbeknownst to the seller. small animals like birds and squirrels can do quite a bit of damage to a home. You should get a good estimate at what repairing the damage from pests would cost you, and present that to the seller.

If you are looking for a quality home inspection professional, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team. You can also schedule an inspection online if you are ready to book.