Step 10 Guide To Buying A Home: Review Home Inspection Report

It’s time to review the Home Inspection Report for the Home Inspection you just attended! Welcome to the second phase of negotiations. 

Let me warn you, don’t be alarmed that it will be 30+ pages long. Home inspectors are required by law to indicate many things that we would typically not be worried about. This makes the initial viewing of the report pretty scary. All that being said, we still need to review the report thoroughly. As a reminder, this is not a “to-do” list for the seller. We are looking for structural issues, safety defects, or appliances/mechanicals that are not working.

Here are some of our tips for reviewing your home inspection report: 

1. Pay particular attention to electrical, plumbing, roof, foundation, or water intrusion issues, as these can be costly to repair.
2. If there are any big-ticket items that are concerning to you, decide if you want to have additional inspections performed. For instance, we can bring in a structural engineer, a sewer inspector, an electrician, a pest inspector, etc. If you want to schedule additional inspectors, you’ll be responsible for paying their fees. 
3. Make a list of items you feel the seller must repair or are unwilling to go through with the transaction. 
4. Make a second list of items you’d like the seller to address but would be willing to still close on the house without the seller fixing them. 
5. Make a third list of the items you’re OK with taking care of yourself or feel don’t necessarily need to be addressed. 
6. Once you’ve done this, email us your list, and we’ll review it and suggest changes if you’re leaving out an expensive repair, not asking for enough, asking for too much, etc.
7. Keep in mind that you can ask the sellers to repair items or provide a credit for you to fix the things after closing. Credits go towards your closing costs. For instance, if we negotiate a $2,000 inspection credit, that amount would come directly off your closing costs. Therefore, you’d bring to closing $2,000 less than initially expected. That way, you have that $2,000 to do needed repairs after the closing.
8. Remember that the things on the inspection report which are important are:
   • Safety issues
   • Structural issues
   • Functional components, such as appliances that are not working
   • When deciding on a home, focus on safety issues and items that don’t work. Unless you buy new construction, asking for paint touch-ups or gutter cleaning is not recommended – these cosmetic flaws aren’t typically indicative of a major issue with the home and should be accepted as part of the purchase. Remember that finding a perfect home may mean investing in new construction.

Once we’ve agreed on a strategy, we’ll negotiate the inspection repairs with the seller’s agent.

We will send a document (Due Diligence and Inspection Response) that lists out all of the repairs you request for you to sign and then send it to the seller’s agent. The seller then has 72 hours to respond to our request. When the seller’s response is received, you, the buyer, will have 72 hours to respond. Your options will be to accept their response or cancel the contract and receive your deposit back. 

Before the final walk-through, you will need to ensure that any agreed-upon repairs were completed by the seller. They should provide receipts as proof of completion.

Here is a copy of the Due Diligence Inspection Response for your review:

You have Reviewed the Home Inspection Report and completed the second negotiation hurdle. Now it’s time for Step 11: Order The Appraisal