Is Your Home Prepared to be Inspected by a Professional Home Inspector?

Do you as a home owner know what a professional inspector will be looking for? This guide will to help you prepare your home for your upcoming inspection, listed below is a few main things you can do to make the inspection go much easier.

1. Have your home pre-inspected by a licensed or certificated Home Inspector that has passed the national Home Inspectors exam and carries E&O Insurance (not all states have licensing for home inspectors).  The two certifications that are most respected in the industry is ASHI & NAHI; they both require Home Inspectors to take and pass the national home inspectors exam.  This may sound crazy, and you may be saying why should I pay for an inspection, but the answer is really simple, do you know what a good qualified inspector will be looking for.  Why wait to have a inspector come thru and take the chance killing your deal that you have worked so hard on, know what problems are possibly their before you sell your home.  Remember not all inspections are the same, hire a good qualified inspector.
2. Leave records to the best of your ability, what the current age of the roof is, and furnace & hot water heaters are.
3. Make sure all kitchen outlets within 6’ of water, all bathroom outlets, all garage and exterior outlets are GFCI protected.  Remember a Home inspector is not a code inspector, but this is something 99% of all inspectors will point out immediately.
4. Make sure you have the furnace and AC checked by a licensed professional HVAC contractor (remember a Home Inspector is not a professional HVAC contractor), so don’t take chance of letting them make a call that will cost you in installing a new furnace or AC when the furnace or AC unit is functional.
5. If your house has had and past water leaks in any area of the home make sure you disclose exactly what happened and how you repaired it.  A buyer will normally accept a past problem much easier when you’re up front and honest instead of letting the home inspector find the problem.  At that time the customer is wondering if you’re hiding something and the Home Inspector could make something a problem that is actually nothing (that is never a good situation to be in).  Don’t forget when you sign a disclosure contract you are signing a legally binding contract that will hold up in a court of law if prosecuted.
6. Make sure you look in your attic and see if there any black or grey spots (mold).  This is very common for homes that were built in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s that were not insulated and ventilated properly, the humidifier were turned up to high or the bathroom fans were not ventilated to the exterior of the home, this is just some of the reasons why mold does occur.