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Home Inspection Tips

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If you are trying to buy a home, you might be scouring your area to find one that fits all of your needs perfectly. This will help you avoid buyer's remorse. You also have likely invested in a home inspection for each house that you are seriously considering in order to make sure that you do not have to do a lot of work after you buy the house. A home inspection will allow you to unearth any potential problems with the house that you might not be willing to take on yourself. Here are some tips for your home inspection when you are going through the various homes for sale in your area.

1. Contact the Owners Ahead of Time to Get the Utilities Turned On

The first thing that you need to do is be sure that you take the extra step and contact the owners of the property ahead of time to be sure that the utilities are turned on. This will allow you to evaluate the utilities, such as pipes that might bang when you run the water or general heating and cooling issues. If the owners are not currently living in the house, these are likely turned off, which can limit the amount of information that you can collect about the property.

2. Check for Mold

The next thing that you need to do is actively check for mold. The first place that you and the inspector should look is in the bathroom. If there is mold, the owners likely scrubbed it from the room. However, you can estimate whether or not mold is going to form in the future by closing the door and turning on the hot water. Allow the hot water to run in the shower for ten minutes. Turn the water off. Touch the walls and see if they are slick to the touch. If they are, then there's a good chance that mold might form in the future. If you wait a few minutes with the fan on and the door open and the walls are still slick, you should rethink purchasing the home.

Also be sure to check the windows throughout the house for mold, especially those that are located near vents that are pushing hot or cold air. 

Finally, make sure that you go through the insulation in the attic and the basement in general with the inspector. These are far more common areas for mold to form so your inspector should not have to be prompted to look here.

For more information, talk to a realtor who knows some homes for sale.


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