Home Inspection Tips For Buyers

There are three parts of buying a home. "I love this house!" That's the heart part. "Does it make sense to buy this house? After all and bottom line this is a financial transaction." That's the head part. And then, there's the administrivia, but, that's another story.

People buy houses for any number of reasons. "It's the right neighborhood. It's the right school. It smells like Grandma's house. It's the furthest I can move in the state and still get alimony." The heart part.

Your home inspection, like the termite inspection, appraisal, Seller's Property Disclosure Statement, and warranty helps you decide if this purchase is a sound financial decision. The head part.

The home inspection is a point in time inspection, a snap shot of your new home. Inspection standards are set by the Arizona Board of Technical Registration, BTR. (That's the architects, engineers, home inspectors, etc.) These standards are available on line at www.btr.state.az.us. Incidently, great reading for insomniacs.

Short version, it's not a warranty or guarantee. Your inspector can't tell you how long your water heater will last anymore than you can tell how long a light bulb is going to last. Hidden and latent defects are not part of the standards. Speaking only for myself, ever since I got that blast of Kryptonite I haven't been able to look through walls like I used to.

What your inspection should be is an education as well as an inspection. People are moving here from places where there are no heat pumps or swamp coolers. "Why is the electrical panel outside? Yikes!" "Why is the main water shut off outside? Yikes!"

People never say, "Find me a good air conditioner and wrap a house around it." The house is the thing, but, there is a need to know about the component parts. This education piece of the report is important. Hopefully, your inspector will be able to explain things so that even the Home Depot challenged can read and understand it. And, so you can fully enjoy your new home.

In the meantime, welcome to Arizona.