Inspection Items You Should Care About
When you buy anything at all, you want to know about its condition. If you’re buying something that’s brand new you want to know about the warranty and the return policy of the merchant. If the product is used, you need to know if what you’re buying will work when you bring it home and if it doesn’t, what happens? Can you return it for a refund? Regardless, you need to inspect the product thoroughly and know in advance if you can return the item to the seller if there’s a problem.
Using your VA home loan benefit to buy and finance a home also means getting an inspection but with a real estate purchase, there is no way for you to return the property to the seller holding your receipt. It’s yours now. For your protection, you order a property inspection from a licensed inspector. The inspector will literally go over your prospective purchase from basement to roof to look for any existing or potential problems. Some issues you can live with and others may make you want to adjust your offer or even withdraw it altogether if the problems are significant ones.
Some of the more common items that you can fix on your own or ask the seller to fix them for you are things such as leaky faucets, a sink disposal that’s not quite working or light switches that don’t switch. If a room needs paint or the carpet needs cleaning, you may not find that on a report. But when things aren’t working or appear to be on the verge of failing, the report will tell you. A leaky faucet or disposal is something that shouldn’t stop the sale.
On the other hand, any structural issues with the foundation or roof need to be fixed. If the HVAC system doesn’t work properly you need more information as to the problem. A faulty air conditioning system can cost you thousands and a bad foundation even more. If an issue affects the habitability of the home, think twice about the purchase. If a light switch needs replacing, that’s something you might overlook.
