Do I Really Need a Home Inspection?

The hot market is cooling off a bit, but North Texas real estate is still quite competitive compared to most major cities, and some home buyers may be tempted to skip a home inspection.

If you are hoping to purchase a home in a competitive market where the seller will have no trouble finding someone else to purchase their home, a home inspection will make no difference to you as a negotiation tool. It will, however, be a huge source of information about what you’re purchasing — and what extra expenses may be coming down the road. You wouldn’t buy a car before looking under the hood and taking it for a test drive, would you?

Here are some examples of #HomeInspectionFinds that you’d be glad you knew about before purchasing a home.

Water in The Walls

Here the inspector noted some discoloration on the wall in a closet. Because the other side of the wall is a bathroom, he checked for the presence of moisture in the wall, and he found a major problem. This homeowner will need a plumber to find the leak, likely pulling up flooring and drywall, and possible mold remediation.

The Previous Owner Was a DIYer

After seeing the work of this DIY porch conversion, you’d want to go ahead and check everything in the house pretty closely. 🤭

HVAC in Bad Shape

A home inspection will give you an overview of all the big-ticket items from the foundation to the roof, as well as all the little details. You want to know the age and state of the HVAC unit so you can plan for how long you have before you’ll have to replace it. This one likely won’t have much life left.

If you’re thinking you’ll save time or money by skipping the home inspection, that’s just bad calculus. Spending $500 to make sure you know as much as you can about your $500,000 (or whatever) purchase is a pretty safe spend.