Contract Contingencies Mean Inspections
Your Real Estate Agent is an insightful resource when it comes to purchase contracts but you may be curious on what contingencies help you most when buying a home.
To ensure the safety of your family, many purchase contract contingencies contain clauses concerning home inspections and variables surrounding them. Under the home inspection contingency, buyers have the right to hire a home inspector and conduct a complete inspection of the home in question. This is an essential step in the home buying process and the clause is there to help you. As the buyers, you may issue a Request for Repair after the inspection is conducted. If this is the case, the seller must receive a copy of the home inspection to ensure that they are completely informed.
Within a home inspection, many assessments are made including those concerning lead-based paint, the roof, sewers, pests, and more. This is to your benefit! To give you more on the contingencies involved with these inspections, we offer you some useful insight:
-Federal law gives buyers 10 days to inspect the home for lead-based paint. This may not be relevant if purchasing a new model but if the home is built before 1978, it may raise some concerns.
-You may consider hiring a roofing company to complete a roof inspection for many home inspectors cannot risk walking on roofs due to possibility of damage and/or liability if damages occur. If you want to take a look for yourself, we suggest using a ladder and binoculars so you can get a bird’s eye view of the roof without laying a foot on it (or through it).
– The purchasing contract should specify who would pay for any pest, radon, mold or asbestos inspections. You need to consider whether or not the outbuildings or garages are covered in the inspection as certain sellers may take advantage of this loophole.
-Water sources become very important elements making sewer and, if necessary, private well inspections essential aspects of the purchasing contract. Plumbing companies have the ability to insert a camera into the sewer line to check for damages during a sewer inspection so you can be assured no tree roots or deteriorated plumbing is lurking beneath the surface. If the home is on a private well and not connected to city water, you may want assurance that the water is potable. If not, the water may not meet acceptable health standards and could put your family in harm’s way.
Be sure to read through any contracts you will be signing, as you want this to represent you in a way that makes your new purchase the right one.
For more information on inspections visit http://www.hermannlondon.com
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