5 Tips to Prepare for Your Home Inspection
Wondering how to prepare your house for a home inspection? Here are a few simple steps to ensure your property’s safe and accessible.
Have you finally found a decent buyer who’s willing to take good care of your property? Not so fast! Research has shown that 46 percent of buyers reported that they utilized the home inspection report to settle on a lower rate on their home.
A home inspection is crucial before your buyer signs the paperwork because if any issues come up in the inspection report against the buyer’s wishes and you’re not planning to reduce the purchase price either, they’ll back out of the deal. Here’s how you can prepare for your home inspection to ensure it goes smoothly and effectively.
Access to Areas
For a successful and effective home inspection, your home must be clear of any clutter. Whether it’s a pile of shoes surrounding the basement, or a litter of cartons filling the attic, the home inspector needs to have clear access throughout your property to examine it.
This includes looking under sinks or in the furnace room. Buyers may even consider this a red flag as it shows that little to no effort was taken to get your home in shape.
Clear the Perimeter
Besides checking that your home’s interior is in good shape, home inspectors will examine your property’s exterior.
The trimming, siding, and caulking around your doors and windows are all areas that require checking, so make sure they’re in good condition before the inspection company arrives at your door.
Trash cans, overgrown plants, and other items should be cleared away from around your home to make it open and unobstructed.
Replace Any Faulty Bulbs
A blown bulb can either be due to defective wiring or if the bulb is out. So, if there’s a faulty bulb anywhere in your home, you should ensure you replace them with working ones. Why? A home inspector will have to waste time gauging whether a bulb works or noting a potential defect without examining it, both scenarios being easily avoidable.
Ensure Your Toilet’s Operational
You may not notice it when you’re living with a toilet that takes long to flush, but a home inspector definitely will. A running toilet can cause further problems that will affect your bathroom’s usage, so make sure you get the root cause identified and repaired before the home inspection starts.
Take Safety Precautions
Before the home inspection company arrives, make sure you have substituted the batteries in your smoke detectors and have a fire extinguisher available.
You want to ensure there are no creepy crawlies scurrying around, so ensure you exterminate any rodents and bugs if they’re hiding away in your home. You should also cover the chimney entry points or gas lines to make the area safe and secure.
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