An Imperfect House: Inspections and Repair Requests

If there were ever a perfectly constructed home, it's never been sold. It would take an enormously incompetent home inspector to find nothing in need of repair on a home. We're talking about a used house, after all. Even if you're buying or selling a brand new house, I guarantee that something - a faucet, an electrical socket, a hinge - wasn't installed correctly.

For those of you buying a home for the first time, here's how the inspection process fits into the home-buying scenario: After having your offer accepted by the sellers, you'r real estate agent will hire a home inspector (you'll be paying the fee on the spot or at closing, by the way) to look for needed repairs in the home. This usually takes place within a week or so of the offer to purchase being signed. The inspector and the real estate agent will schedule a time and date for the inspection, which should take anywhere from one to three hours, depending on the size of the house. It's a very good idea for you to attend the inspection. Not only will you have another chance to see the home you want to buy, but, you'll have an opportunity to learn a great deal about the house at the same time.

When the inspection is over, the inspector will submit a report to you and your real estate agent within three days. You'll discuss the report with your agent and decide on the repairs you'd like to have done to the home. These repair requests should be submitted to the sellers or the listing agent as soon as possible so that negotiations may commence. Aside from, or in addition to repairs, you, the buyer, may request an allowance of some dollar amount; which would allow you to pay for the needed repairs yourself. Expect the sellers to respond to your repair requests relatively quickly. Sometimes they'll agree to everything; sometimes not.

Now, it's important to avoid deluding yourself into thinking that the home you're selling or buying will be devoid of needed repairs. The inspector's objective, seemingly academic report of the house's flaws will be likely to surprise and intimidate most any home owner. In fact, if you're anything like me, seeing the inspection report for the first time will make you wonder how anyone could live in the house at all. References to loose receptacles or a malfunctioning HVAC are detailed enough to sound dire, yet brief enough to imply that only a trained professional can rectify the situation.

In some cases, of course, there are serious problems that require immediate and expensive attention. Some of the problems are more important than serious and, nevertheless, in need of repair. But, in many instances, the report is merely a descriptive list of standard maintenance oversights. A receptacle is the actual socket on the wall into which you plug an appliance. If it's loose, it is usually because the screws need to be tightened.

In the case of the home we're selling right now, the inspector recommended that we have a plumber repair the kitchen faucet. It leaked at the base. A quick search in Google revealed that the leaking base was likely due to a worn out 0-ring, one or two rubber rings that cost less than three dollars at the local hardware store. Taking the faucet apart to replace the rings took me less than five minutes.

Be aware, too, that inspectors are not experts in any particular field other than inspection. They make mistakes. The inspector who inspected our house indicated that the temperature split relative to the HVAC was too low. So, we called professionals in to repair it, which is what the inspector recommended. Guess what. The HVAC specialist said there was nothing wrong with the temperature split. The whole system was working perfectly. Having an HVAC repair specialist visit your home is not cheap. And, it's more painful to pay the fee when it's due to an inspector's misjudgment.

In spite of the occasional human error, the home inspection really is crucial to both the buyers and sellers of a home. As the seller, you'll want to be sure that you pay careful attention to the inspection report and the corresponding repair requests submitted by the buyers. Be prepared to negotiate the requests, because buyers are more inclined to accept the inspector's recommendations at face value. As the buyer, you'll need to discuss the report with your real estate agent. He or she will be invaluable in interpreting many of the inspector's recommendations.

I, for one, like having the opportunity to fix something myself. The inspection report gives home sellers a great excuse to spend time and money on surprisingly inexpensive things at the hardware store. And, who doesn't like the hardware store?