What Home Inspections Do I Need?
Buying a Los Angeles Home, Part 8
Congratulations! You searched and searched and finally found your dream home! Do you realize the importance of a home inspection before you buy? This is most likely going to be one of the largest financial investments in your lifetime and it only makes sense to fully understand what type of condition it’s in. I’m a huge believer that home inspections are one of the most crucial parts of any transaction when you’re buying a home.
General Home Inspection
There are many inspections you can have done on your home if you so choose but the most important one is s general home inspection. A qualified, experienced home inspector will investigate every accessible area of your home and discover clues to its past history. This includes crawling under the home if it has a raised foundation, walking the roof, and entering the attic area. These areas are not easily accessible and are often neglected or go unnoticed by homeowners. They may contain critical defects that will affect the structure of the home or allow water entry that could cause major damage. According to the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI):
“The standard home inspector’s report will cover the condition of the home’s heating system; central air conditioning system (temperature permitting); interior plumbing and electrical systems; the roof, attic and visible insulation; walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors; the foundation, basement and structural components.”
How much does a home inspection cost? A general home inspection can range from a few hundred dollars to more than a thousand, depending on the size, age, and complexity of the property. The idea of spending even more money on an inspection when you already know you’re responsible for a down payment, closing costs, and loan fees may make you uneasy, but if you opt not to purchase a home inspection, just one surprise will most likely cost you more than the money you would have saved on the inspection fee! In my experience, a home inspection usually pays for itself in the form of repairs by the seller or consideration for repairs at closing.
A general home inspector is a trained professional who has the ability to discover defects not seen by an untrained eye. You may think your handy uncle can look over your new home to see if everything is OK, but don’t risk it! At the end of the day, there are no perfect homes. Every home has defects of one kind or another, even new construction. Expect to hear about flaws, large and small. Speaking with the inspector, post-inspection will help you understand how immediately pressing some issues may be versus those that simply require ongoing routine maintenance. A home inspector will thoroughly evaluate the systems and structure of your new home and then provide a comprehensive report with photos.
Here’s a partial list of common defects found at a home inspection:
Moisture intrusion
Lack of maintenance
Roof issues
Plumbing leaks
Foundation defects
Substandard repairs and installations
Electrical problems
Systems nearing the end of their useful life
Defective or hazardous components
Carbon monoxide hazards
Structural damage
Hazardous materials
A word of caution: With all inspections, it’s usually best to choose inspectors who know they will not be doing any repairs they recommend (with the exception of pest extermination).
Additional inspections
If any of the above areas inspected raise concern from your general home inspector, their report may recommend further evaluation (inspection) by a specialist in that respective field.
Regardless of whether the general home inspector recommends further evaluation for any particular concerns, I almost always recommend the following additional inspections to my clients who are buying a home in Los Angeles.
Wood-destroying pest inspection
A licensed pest inspector examines a property not only for pests (like rodents, termites, and other structurally damaging insects or organisms), but also for water damage and/or the presence of any fungus, mold, or dry rot. Pest and home inspectors cover some of the same ground but from different perspectives. It would be unusual, however, for a pest inspector to find sufficient water intrusion in the crawl space to cause fungus to appear on structural members, for example, without the home inspector reporting that condition as well.
Pest inspectors who find termites (or other insect infestations) are the exception to the “you find it, you don’t fix it” rule as they have to be certified to use the poisons needed to address such infestations. You — or
more likely the seller — will be able to schedule the work faster if the finder is the fixer in this situation.
If the inspector finds other conditions that do not require poisonous treatment, expect other contractors to bid and do that work.
Chimney inspection
California is an earthquake country and chimney damage is not uncommon in masonry fireplaces. Chimney inspections are relatively inexpensive and sometimes include a cleaning. Rule of thumb, if the house has a chimney, you need a chimney inspection.
In many counties, policies regarding wood-burning fireplaces are changing (or have already changed). The inspector should be able to provide the latest information on wood-burning rules in your area.
Sewer inspection
Always, always, always, always, always, always do a sewer inspection. If you don’t do a sewer inspection, and you find out later that there’s a problem with the sewer line, this could be a very very costly repair, from anywhere from 5,000 to upwards of $40,000. And if you live up in the hills, it could cost you a whole lot more than that. Some cities and counties are making homeowners pay to upgrade aging sewer laterals (the pipe that runs from the main sewer line to each home). If there is any possibility this could happen after the closing of escrow, your buyers will want to have that lateral looked at before they release inspection contingencies.
Those are the inspections I recommend to buyers at the start of escrow, at a minimum. I know it’s tempting, but don’t skimp. The money you spend on inspections will be money saved in your pocket in the long run!
More from the‘Buying a Los Angeles Home’series:
Step 1: Get Pre-Qualified for A Mortgage
Step 2: Find A Realtor
Step 3: Define Your Criteria
Step 4: Start Your Search
Step 5: Make Your Offer
Step 6: Navigating Escrow
Step 7: Holding Title
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