Preparing Your Home for an Inspection
August 12, 2022
Many homebuyers want a house inspected by a professional before they follow through with the deal. Potential homebuyers may make their offers contingent on the results of a home inspection—they may back out on an offer if the inspection goes south. Depending on the results, they may request that the seller repair anything wrong or lower the cost of the home to make up for it. Nervous about a home inspection? Don’t be!
Help out the home inspector! Try to make it easier for them and the potential buyer by preparing your home for inspection. Here are some things to consider:
What Will an Inspector Look For?
The home inspector will check the roof, walls, foundation, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC system. They will also inspect installed systems like kitchen appliances, any carbon monoxide/smoke detectors, and other systems that may be in place. They will turn on every faucet, flush every toilet, check every outlet, and run all appliances to ensure everything works properly.
There are other tests the inspector may run depending on what the client wants. You should expect them to place a radon test in your home that will need to stay there for up to 48 hours. It detects the level of radon gas (naturally-occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer) in a home. The test is usually in the basement, and the home inspector will come back to retrieve it.
How to Make the Inspection Run Smoother
You (the seller) won’t likely be present at the property during the inspection. If you want to make everything easier for the home inspector, make sure to do these few things beforehand:
#1 Keep Your House Tidy and Clean
No one wants to make their way through someone else’s mess. Make sure common areas are neat and orderly. If you have kids and/or pets, ensure toys are stored somewhere that won’t get in the way of the home inspection.
Put away everything you don’t want to be seen by the buyers or the inspector. Don’t leave any dirty dishes in the sink or the dishwasher.
Clean your bathrooms! If a home inspector sees any mold or mildew, they will note this on the inspection report and this could lead to costly mold remediation. Also, snake the drains of any hair so that the water drains properly—A home inspector will list poor plumbing drainage on the inspection report.
Replace any burnt-out lightbulbs. Not only is it common courtesy, but the inspector will note the fixture as nonfunctional if the bulb is burnt out or missing. Another good rule of thumb is to turn on every light in the house before you leave. It isn’t necessary, but it can save the inspector some time from checking to ensure they all work.
#2 Make Sure the Inspector Can Access Everything
If the home inspector can’t access an area they need, they will note that area as inaccessible, this may cause the inspector to have to return at a later date and send that invoice to the homeowner. Clear away enough room for the inspector to be able to access everything they will need to check. Make sure they can access the basement, attic, crawl space, under sinks, Mechanical closets or anywhere else they may need to look. This includes the outside—take care of any overgrown bushes or plants that may deter the inspector from checking items on the exterior of the home.
#3 Replace Your Air Filter
The air filter is important for the proper function of your HVAC system. The inspector will look at this, so make sure the air filter has been changed recently. A dirty air filter may signal that there could be issues with the HVAC system. It could come across like you didn’t take proper care of it. HVAC systems can be costly to replace, so a potential homebuyer may not want to purchase a house with a failing HVAC.
#4 Take Care of Pests
Hire a pest control professional to get rid of any pests you may have. It’s not usually a big deal to see a spider or a housefly during a home inspection—but if there’s a trail of ants leading to the kitchen or a wasp nest in the attic the potential homebuyers may not be too keen on the house.
#5 Check the Roof
Clean out the gutters and make sure downspouts are in the proper position. If you find anything wrong with the roof like missing shingles, try to get it fixed as soon as possible. If there’s anything else you need to fix like the gutters or the siding, make sure to do that as well.
Hire Method Home Inspection
Method Inspection works with you and for you. We inspect homes with a client-focused approach, which means we present you with possible issues and solutions on how to fix them. We educate our clients on the inspection with interactive, highly-detailed reports within hours of the home inspection.
We tackle each home depending on its needs. All homes are different in size, age, and wear and tear. We do individualized testing depending on the house with optional tests like sewer, septic, mold, water, termite, and radon.
Contact us for additional information about Method Home Inspections or schedule a home inspection! Call or text Method at (417)512-2757.