As you have found your dream home and your offer has also been approved by the seller. Now is the time to begin the process of closing the transaction, which involves doing a comprehensive home inspection by a professional.
A home inspection is a vital aspect of your home purchase, even if it isn’t required by your mortgage lender. As a buyer, you should make sure that you’re fully aware of any outstanding maintenance concerns, existing damage, or other potential difficulties with the property by the written home inspection report. Even if you’ve previously agreed to settle repairs with the seller, and have inspection contingency included in your contract. Then also your real estate agent will certainly recommend an inspection to be confident that you are not purchasing a money pit. But after you have hired a perfect home inspector and fixed a date and time to go through the property once more for final decision. There are some things that you need to know:
For an averaged size home with a total area of 1000 square footage, the home inspection requires at least 2- 3 hours of continuous analysis. As the footage area increases, the efforts, cost and time of home inspection also increases. But apart from the footage area there are several other factors that influence the duration of home inspection. Let’s check them out.
Top Factors That Influence the Duration of a Home Inspection
- Footage area
The first and most obvious factor is the footage area. As we already know, with an increase in footage area, inspection time increases. The reason behind this is, with an increase in the area, the number of rooms or bathrooms also increases. Also, the issues regarding safety and health can increase. More areas to check for, foundation, plumbing, heating and cooling systems, electrical system, and other things, increase. With the increase in every 50 square footage area, one hour of inspection increases.
- Age of the house
If the age of the house is more than 10 years, issues regarding tearing insulation, wiring, roof quality, water drainage, or foundation can persist. As we all know, the value of an asset depends upon the maintenance done by the keeper. For some properties, old properties are better maintained and grow into the beautiful habitable zone with age.
- Specialized inspection
Some buyers demand special inspections like asbestos testing, chemical testing, termites, and pest manifestation. These tests require special tools, time, and sometimes additional help from specialized professionals. Due to the waiting for lab results in these cases, the time to develop the home inspection report also increases.
- Experience as an inspector
If your home inspector is a newbie or does not have any prior experience with your house area. The inspector can take a lot more time than expected. Whereas if the certified home inspector is experienced in your home area, he can find out the issues in the house with just a visual inspection and 2 hours is more than enough for him.
- State laws
Every state defines different due diligence for a home inspection. Generally, states define their time of inspection as about 10 -15 days to make the final decision after getting through the seller’s contract. So if the list of mandatory points to be checked at a home inspection as per the law increases, the time of inspection also increases.
Average Home Inspection Time
Average home inspection time is the time required by the home inspector to go through the comprehensive list of home inspections. A visual inspection was followed by extensive testing of electrical, heating, HVAC, Cooling, Roof, Structural strength, plumbing, floor, walls, electrical appliances, exterior interior, and whatnot. Starting from every bathroom fixture to the basement of the house. Every nook is examined closely to ensure that there is no deal-breaking issue in the property.
As per ASHI for a 1000 square footage area of the house the average home inspection time is two to three hours.
What Happens After a Home Inspection?
After the completion of the home inspection, the buyer and their real estate agent will discuss the findings of the home inspection report. Based on the findings of the home inspection, they will decide whether to purchase the house, request repairs or cancel the purchase contract.
Following receipt of your home inspection report, you must undertake the following:
- Go over your home inspection report with a fine-tooth comb
You typically have 2-3 business days to study your home inspection report once it is sent to you. You must completely read your home inspection report. The structural components, foundation, roof, plumbing system, electrical system, and mechanical systems will all be covered in your home inspection report. Although not all repairs are urgent, some can be deal-breakers.
- Talk to your real estate agent about your home inspection report
It’s time to sit with your real estate agent and review your inspection report minutely. Your estate agent will help you prepare a repair addendum and submit it to the seller’s estate agent for further proceeding with repair cost and negotiations.
- Responses from sellers, discussions, and negotiating
There are some unreasonable repair requests by some buyers like renovations and cosmetic issues. But some issues need urgent attention like plumbing, gas, or electrical issues. Response from seller can be of the following three types after reviewing the repair addendum at their end:
- Approve the repair request
- Cancel the deal
- Negotiate for partial approval of the cost of repair.
Sometimes sellers also try to buy some time to get approval for the repair from their repair fund lenders. The inspection report can further need to be approved by specialized professionals and contractors.
- Go for a home’s appraisal report
Your lender will utilize the real estate appraisal to evaluate the home’s current market worth. It will also help the lender to assess how much of a down payment you’ll need at closing based on your credit and loan type. Your lender will begin scheduling your closing after the home appraises for the agreed purchase price and the lender’s loan to value ratios match up.
- Get ready to close
As you get closer to closing on your new house, the lender will have a few last tasks to perform. The title search, homes insurance, and the final credit check are among these essentials.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Home Inspection Report?
Before you sign the contract, a home inspection report by a reliable home inspector may help you avoid making an expensive mistake by alerting you to possible problems with the house you wish to buy. Inspections are usually performed quickly after the buyer and seller agree on the home’s selling price, but the inspector’s report might take a few days to arrive after the inspection is performed.
Inspectors spend only a few hours touring the house and performing the examination, but the report may take a few days to arrive. Most home inspectors, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, provide their reports within 24 hours. However, because each inspector has his schedule, you should inquire about when you may receive the report before deciding who to employ. Because reports differ in style and depth, one inspector may be able to produce a checklist-type report fast while another may make it narrative. Other factors that fluctuate the time of delivery of a home inspection report is the awaiting results of a specialized test like the asbestos test, termite infestation, chemical, and mole test. These test results may take at least an extra day to obtain a result and thus the time of report drafting increases.
Specialized home inspections can make you wait for a day, but can prove to be eye opening before closing the deal. Book the best-in-time specialized home inspection here!
