What should home buyers look out for during their home inspection? When tying up a home in a contract and during the home inspection you should look out for three major categories: 1) Honey-Do-Item: From Doorknobs to cabinet doors: Some small items that are not essential to the home won't be fixed by most sellers in a competitive market.

Three Inspection Mistakes You Don't Want to Make from The Novak Team on Vimeo.

Three Home Inspection Mistakes You Don't Want to Make

One of the most important phases of buying a home is the inspection. As a buyer, you’ll want to make sure you’re protected from and prepared for whatever may happen in the inspection, which is one of the jobs of your real estate agent.

#1: Not Having An Inspection Strategy

If you’re talking about inspections for the first time as you’re putting an offer in on a home, you’re way too late. Predicting the outcome of the inspection should be an integral part of making the offer, and should align with the objectives you have as a buyer.

Ask your agent about inspection strategy up front so that you can develop a plan.

#2: Not Knowing the Risk Profile

Different types of properties carry different levels of risk.

Most of the time, this risk is in the areas you can’t see?attics, furnaces, crawl spaces, plumbing, etc. The job of a home inspector is to find all of these areas so that you can address them as you move towards closing.

In a standard home, all of this risk falls on your shoulders as a buyer. Condos, on the other hand, often have elements that are covered by the homeowners association and pose no risk.

These are important things to know and consider as you’re touring homes and considering putting in an offer.

#3: Expecting Small Repairs Post-Inspection

We’re in a seller’s market right now, meaning sellers are less willing to make minimal repairs on the home. These could be small things such as faulty hinges, door knobs, dings in the walls, etc.

Buyers should know this beforehand and factor small repairs into their offer, and only expect bigger repairs post-inspection.

An experienced agent will help you to understand which of these repairs might seem bigger than expected and help you negotiate your way to a fair closing price.

Snohomish County Buyer's Agents

One advantage of using a local agent is that they’ve seen all the problems in the area. They know what to look out for on each type of house and location. They’re also familiar with local trends and working styles within real estate and can leverage connections and best practices to get you the best deal possible.

We’ve been working in real estate here in Snohomish County for decades and have had much success working with local buyers. We’d love to sit down with you, develop a buyers plan, talk about the current market, and get you out there looking at some homes!