Skipping a Home Inspection? 3 Reasons to Schedule One After You Close

Today’s housing market has many potential buyers offering to skip an inspection in order to win the home of their dreams. In a typical housing market, most buyers would never consider skipping a home inspection – it’s just part of the process – but this extreme seller’s market has pushed people who need (or desperately want) a new home to the limit.

A home inspection is more than just another item on the home-buying checklist. Hiring a licensed, experienced home inspector to review a property has many advantages and allows a potential buyer to go into the negotiation and closing process with a full understanding of the home they’re purchasing. However, in markets like this, buyers do what they feel they need to do to make their offer stand out and secure a home for purchase.

If you are considering purchasing a home but find yourself in a situation where forgoing a home inspection is necessary, consider scheduling one after you close. Regardless of when it happens, a home inspection is valuable. Here at Towne & Country Building Inspectors, we help home and building owners in Milwaukee at every stage of the buying and selling process equip themselves with the home inspection they need to make the best decisions possible.

If you’re skipping a pre-closing home inspection, here are three reasons to schedule one after you close: 

Get to know your new home – warts and all. 

An experienced Milwaukee home inspector will walk you through every level of your home, inside and out, reviewing all major elements for current or potential future issues. When you attend your home inspection – and you certainly should – the home inspector will talk through what they see, point out key features of your home, and give you the opportunity to ask questions. A home inspection is one of the best ways to get to know your new home, especially after you close and start planning how to make the space your own.

A post-closing home inspection will also help you understand necessary and potential future repairs so you can budget and plan. No home is perfect – even a brand-new build. Rather than burying your head in the sand about issues in your new home, it’s best to have an understanding of the issues present and make a plan for remedying them in the future. Not all issues need to be addressed immediately and many may be simple, cheap repairs. Knowing about your new home – warts and all – will only make you a better homeowner.

Identify and remedy safety hazards. 

The most important reason to schedule a home inspection is to identify potential safety issues. A benefit of a pre-closing inspection is that you can bring safety issues to the negotiation table and ask the seller to fix them before you close. However, even if you forego an inspection before signing on the dotted line, you will want to know what safety issues may be present in your new home and what needs to be fixed right away.

As home inspectors, we often see things like homegrown electrical, mold growth, missing shingles, and uncovered pipes and plumbing elements. These are issues that you may never have thought twice about without an inspection but could pose a danger to your family if not fixed.

A home inspection is cheaper than you think – and will save you money in the long run. 

Many people think they’re saving money by skipping a home inspection, but pocketing that extra few hundred dollars could cost you thousands. Issues like basement moisture, faulty electrical, and unshielded plumbing are issues that get worse over time and are more costly to fix the longer you put them off. And a standard home inspection usually costs between $450-$900, a negligible cost in the grand scheme of purchasing a home.

Another scenario in which you may be tempted to forego a pre-closing home inspection is if the seller has already gotten one before listing the home. If this is the case, scheduling your own inspection is still a good idea as the seller may not have disclosed every concern to you and the home inspector they hired may have missed something. It’s always a good idea to have a professional that you hired provide a home inspection service.

No matter what home buying, selling, or owning scenario you find yourself in, Towne & Country Building Inspectors can help. We are the Milwaukee home inspector and Milwaukee building inspector supporting people just like you right here in our local community. Our services also include commercial building inspection, historic home inspection, radon testing, and more. Give us a call with questions or to schedule your inspection today.