After the Report

Congratulations! You've gotten your home inspection report: 

Your report may have 50-80 pages of comments and a long list of “Repair” items.  That’s OK – and very normal.  DON’T PANIC.   EVERY house has quirks and issues.  The report introduces you to things you may not have known.

Not everything needs fixed ASAP….or ever.  You may decide you’re OK with a window that doesn’t lock, or toilet that needs the handle jiggled to stop running.  That’s home ownership.

So what matters? 

It’s best to focus on issues that will affect you most: health/safety concerns and major systems such as widespread plumbing or electrical issues.  These issues may also affect the appraisal or insurance process, use your contingency period to research repairs or possible impacts to the closing process.

Our suggestion (How we’d buy a house)

Step 1: Read through the report –

Many people like to discuss the report with their realtor – we suggest you do that AFTER discussing it with your inspector.  This ensures you have good understanding of the defect – is it a small, isolated issue…or is it a symptom of something bigger?   Many issues are a quick fix, others are “peeling the onion” with more layers underneath.   “Onion” issues may sound scary, but they can also be great opportunities in disguise.

Step 2: List out your concern issues. Our reports have 3 labels to help:

“Attention Item” - this is something you definitely need to think about, you might find a problem is really a renovation idea in disguise. 

“Repair” – very common issues ranging from maintenance to fixing a broken item. Assess these in terms of Time and Cost to fix– don’t sweat the small stuff.

“Due Diligence” – items that may be an issue, but need more assessment. Examples include foundation abnormalities, sewer/septic complications or exposed asbestos.

Step 3: Review your list and decide what’s critical.  Everything is fixable, but time and budgets are limited.   Use your contingency period to complete the diligence – for example, if electrical issues are found, most electricians can offer a no-cost estimate to repair.

Step 4: Discuss options with your agent.  Some things to consider:

Sellers have often lived with the issue for some time, and may not agree it’s a problem. They may also feel the listing price reflected any necessary repair costs.

Is it better to have the seller do the repairs, or the buyer?  Sellers are often “moving-on” and may not have the same motivation for repair as you do – this can translate to band-aid fixes. Generally, we feel buyers are in a better repair warranty position if they purchase the repairs themselves. This may translate into concessions on selling price.

For seller repairs there are some best practices

A)   Accountability: All repairs or modifications should be done by licensed professionals qualified for that system.

B) The repair service should issue a written report or invoice that outlines what was done and if permits or inspections were completed.

C) Any follow-up warranty on service should transfer to the buyer.

After prioritizing the report findings, use our handy "Create Request List" to export just the items you want to share with others.   At the top of our report you'll see some buttons - mostly they're self explanatory.