6 Areas to Check Before the Home Inspector Does

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Getting your home ready for sale is easier said than done. It takes time, patience, and bit of money to get everything in order for your sale.

Before you sell, you should get a home inspection for your potential clients to review, but before you do that, you should embark on one of your own. You want to catch an silly infractions and fix them before the inspection, or after if you want to get one before and another after.

Either way, let’s take a look at the major areas a home inspector will check, so you can fix it.

1.Structure and Foundation

The structure and foundation of your home are major selling points. No one wants to buy the house with sagging walls, cracks in the corners, or a failing foundation. These items can be major expenses to potential home buyers and even bigger deterers. To avoid people walking away from the sale, eat the cost of foundation and structure repairs. Although it’s a lot out of your pocket now, it will ultimately raise the property value, and help buyers get through the front door.

2.Appliances

Another major concern for inspectors is the appliances in the home and their connections. People aren’t going to want your dead appliances, so if they go with the house, make sure they work. Make sure you check the connections for these appliances, too. Leaking gas and water can cause bigger problems for potential buyers, and it might scare them off right before finalizing the deal. To avoid this, replace broken fitments, repair damaged lines, and fix any leaks.

3.Electrical System

The way a home is wired can affect its ability to be sold. Homes that have older, non-grounded outlets should really look into upgrading. No only does this make you connection to electricity more reliable, it also improves the safety of electric currents running through the home.

By grounding your outlets, you help the home disperse overcharges and electrics shocks throughout the home into the ground beneath it. This prevents power shorts and protects your electronics better than non-grounded outlets. More power management means less potential for fires, too.

4.Plumbing

Plumbing and water pressure are always a major part of any inspection. To make sure you don’t have any issues, start with making sure the drains work. This includes the drains in the house, the gutters, and even any drains running from the house to the road or creek.

Once all the drains are checked, it’s time to check your water pressure. Turn on a few fossetts and run a shower or two. Was there any dip in water pressure? Now add the dishwasher into the mix and check. If you see any major dip in water pressure, you might need a recalibration of your water system, or you could have a plumbing issues. Either way, time to call a plumber.

5.The Roof and Chimney

Looking at your roof can be scary, but it’s part of an inspection, so if you can, check it. You want to look for any spots that look damp, have lost shingles, and even soft spots in the roof. These are all signs of heavy water damage, so it’s time to look into a roof replacement. There are plenty of options for roof financing, so you won’t have to put the entire cost up on your back up front, and you can pay the rest off after closing the sale. A solid roof is a must for selling a home, so don’t ignore any sign of damage. That means checking the flashing on the chimney for a proper seal, too.

6.Dampness and Mildew

The last major sign of a problem in the home is the presence of dampness and mildew. These unsavory smelling bacteria can result from a number of different causes, but it’s always a red flag for inspectors. Since toxic black mold is a hot topic in homes, these problems should be the first to be taken care of. Any room that has stains on the ceiling, damp smells or nasty foreign fungai should be immediately inspected by a professional housing inspector to make sure they won’t harm you, or anyone else.

Conclusion

A housing inspection isn’t exactly cheap, so you want to make sure you check as many boxes as you can before you pay for one. Since it’s ultimately in your future due to the general practice where buyers ask sellers to pay for a housing inspection, taking that worry off the table is an automatic value booster, especially when you then back up the inspection with receipts for all the work put in afterwards.

Remember, even a novice eye can spot a problem, so if it doesn’t look right, it’s probably not. Good luck and happy inspecting.

What do you look for when you inspected your home before the professional inspector? Do you have any must do tips for people trying sell their home? Share your inspection prowise in the comments below.

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