Writing the contract part 2--the home inspection

We have found the home of your dreams but need to know more information about that home. We do this with a home inspection. I will recommend home inspectors but you may bring in anyone who knows what they are doing to check out the home. The charge for most homes that are single family is about $300, worth every penny, and paid at the time of the inspection. I only recommend inspectors I have used personally myself. I will ask you to call the inspector and set up a time that you and the inspector can all be there. (Then you call me to set up the appointment with the seller so they know when you will be there--it takes 2-3 hours to do the inspection, so be sure you alot that amount of time.) You need to be there if at all possible so you can learn as much about your new home and the care (and feeding) of it. The inspectors will give you tips on furnace filters and how to change them, water shut offs in case of emergency, electrical and roof problems if there are any and what to do about them, they will explain what a GFI plug is and why you need them around the water sources in your home. They tell you the age of the systems and about when you will need to replace them down the road. They will answer your questions and don't be afraid to ask--you are paying for their time and expertise. You can bring family or friends with you if you want and that is fine. (Dad always wanted to know about the house we were buying and he knew what questions to ask). You will get a booklet from most of them to refer to when you have other questions. All of the inspectors will be licensed and bonded. When they are finished they will give you a list of the things that may need to be repaired or warranted or are just unacceptable. We take this list to the sellers agent and ask for repair, an allowance or what ever remedy we would like to have. They then have the option to do what we ask or counter our request. We are asking for them to fix the major problems, not do simple stuff like paint the pepto-bismol pink bedroom. Once we come to an agreement, they repair what they said they would do or give us the allowance at closing. Once in a while, with certain kinds of financing (FHA) there are things that the appraisers want done or finished and they put that on the appraisal sheet and we ask the seller to do those things or if we can do them, we get the sellers permission to fix them. Knowing what you are getting into will make your life easier down the road.