3 Reasons Why a Home Inspection is Worth Every Penny
In the current market, many homebuyers are doing everything they can to get their offers accepted, including waiving the home inspection. With competition from up to 20-30 other potential buyers, it's understandable why it might be tempting to make this move—but it’s risky.
Here are 3 Reasons Why Scheduling a Home Inspection is Crucial When Buying a Home:
- It’s often required by insurance carriers, especially on homes 25+ years old, or homes that haven’t had an inspection in 10 or more years. Many insurance carriers require a 4-point home inspection of specific areas of the property before coverage is obtained. This also protects homebuyers from potential risks and liabilities. Inspections also help insurers to estimate the value of the property they are covering, and what the coverage needs are for that property.
- Hidden issues within the home can add up to tens of thousands of dollars. Buyers have no way of truly knowing the condition of the property, especially if it’s a home that’s 25+ years old. Still, even new construction homes can have major issues that a buyer might overlook or not be aware of.
- It’s a bad idea for both the buyer and the seller. Why? Not only can the buyer find out the home had a lot more issues than they realized, but sellers open themselves up to potential lawsuits by allowing buyers to waive inspections. If a buyer suspects the seller knew about certain problems in the home, and didn’t disclose that information, they can get sued. Though it can often be hard to prove the seller chose not to disclose issues with the home, hiring an attorney to defend yourself can be expensive—even if you win the case.
- Resolving a problem that showed up on the inspection report can lower your homeowners insurance rates. Not only will it be a relief to have that leaky roof fixed, or the water damaged flooring in your bathroom replaced, but it also won’t cause your homeowners insurance rates to skyrocket. Many of these issues can be paid for by the seller when negotiating the sale of the home, so it’s often at no cost to you.
Sometimes, buyers will bring along a friend or family member who is a handyman or a contractor, but nothing takes the place of an actual home inspector. They’re trained to look at everything with a fine tooth comb and will catch things even home experts might miss.
It’s a crazy housing market out there right now, but remember, the purpose of a home inspection is not only to protect you from tens of thousands of dollars in fixing damages you weren’t aware of, but also to keep your insurance rates as low as possible.
Just bought a home or looking at buying one? As an independent agency, we work for our clients, not the insurance companies.
Call us at (239)202-0233 for a homeowners insurance quote today!