Living Inspiration

The Importance of Home Inspection for Your Property

BY Bridge Estate

You’ve chosen your neighbourhood, your seller and your unit, you’re almost at the end of your home buying process. There is, however, one crucial task you need to complete before you should call the unit your home – the home inspection.

A home inspection is when a professional inspector surveys your unit to assess its health and quality.

Why is home inspection important before buying?

A home inspection will help to single out any major issues with the property, before the unit gets transferred to you. Majority of the time, your unit will be mostly alright with no major issues, with the home inspection acting as an assurance for yourself. However, there is always a chance that you might discover major defects in your unit that you will want the seller or developer to take care of rather than yourself. This helps you save on the extra repair or renovation costs.

What does a home inspection typically cover?

While home inspections vary in their services, a good home inspector should examine aspects of the unit and submit a report that covers their findings. The inspector should be able to classify each issue and determine whether they are safety issues, major defects or minor defects. They should also identify items that might need replacement, repairs or servicing. On a smaller scale, they should also note issues which are suitable in the short-term but that need to be monitored closely in the long-term.

A good home inspector can also go above and beyond to inform you of routine maintenance processes, which can be especially helpful if you’re a first-time home owner.

What can you expect in a home inspection?

Home inspection involves examining every aspect and item of your unit, from floors to ceilings to fittings. While non-exhaustive, some common items to look for are:

Floors
One of the most common defects are found around the corner of tiles, which are chipped during installation. Poor workmanship can also result in loose and uneven flooring, leaving your unit lopsided.

Internal walls
Cracked walls due to poor quality of materials during construction can prove troublesome in future. Ensure that there’s no chance of water damage near windows, corners and ceiling.

Doors
Check your door frames to see if they have been damaged. Ensure that your doors can fit the door frame exactly.

Windows
Ensure that windows have been installed to specifications with respect to measurements and materials. Tropical countries like Thailand encounter rain regularly, hence ensure that the walls around the window are water and seepage-resistant.

Plumbing
Make sure that all pipes and other plumbing fixtures in the house have been thoroughly examined. Check for water pressure in sinks and pipes both in the bathrooms and kitchens.

Electrical & Fire Safety
Ensure that fixtures like outlets, electrical panels, air conditioning units etc. have been installed to specifications and safety standards.

What do you do after your home inspection?
Homebuyers have a few options they can consider after conducting a home inspection. If the defects are too major, they can choose to walk away from their purchase, depending on their contract with the seller. They also ask the seller to fix the problems found during the inspection, or offer to fix them on their own in exchange for a lower purchase price. If all other options are unavailable, homebuyers will usually fix the issues themselves with a good maintenance service provider.

Home defects, if not too major, should not be the sole reason for rejecting a home. Every unit will have issues to be addressed, in one way or another. It is, however important, to get a reliable third-party home inspection to conduct a thorough examination of your unit, so that it can save you maintenance and renovation costs in the long run.

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