Can you perform your own home inspection?

While DIY projects can be fun, you should save the DIY-ing for smaller scale projects. 

When it comes to home inspections, or anything home related, hiring a professional is always the best way to go. 

Can a buyer do their own home inspection?

Doing your own home inspection on a home that you are interested in purchasing might save you money initially. However, in the long run you will likely end up spending more. 

Doing your own home inspection will save you a couple hundred dollars when you purchase a home, but if you miss any defects, you might end up paying thousands of dollars in repairs. 

Why hire a home inspector?

Hiring a home inspector will save you a lot of time and effort. Home inspectors have checklists with specific items that they go over and look for. 

Although you can easily find a checklist of what is included in a home inspection, these are just general lists of items. Each of them has an in-depth analysis, rather than just a glance over. 

Home inspectors are highly trained professionals, and they have to go through various training courses and certifications before obtaining a home inspection license. This means that although some buyers may be handy and knowledgeable about home systems, hiring a professional home inspector is always a better option. 

Can a home inspection kill a deal?

One of the biggest reservations that home buyers have about getting a home inspection is whether or not the inspection will kill the deal. 

Of course, the only reason that a home inspection would “kill a deal” is if the inspector finds a variety of costly and dangerous defects with the home. 

As a buyer, it is actually better for a home inspection to kill a deal in that event. Without a home inspection, you might not have realized that there was significant damage to the home. You might’ve ended up buying a money pit or unlivable home. 

Essentially, a home inspection cannot “kill a deal.” The home inspection report has nothing to do with the final transaction of the home. As a buyer – it is up to you to choose to use the inspection report as a tool to help you decide whether a home is a good purchase or not. 

If you get a home inspection and find that the home has various defects, but you still wish to purchase the home and make repairs later, then that is your decision! 

Home inspections help buyers

Use your home inspection report as a way to learn more about the condition of a home that you are wanting to purchase. It is better to know what needs to be repaired in advance, rather than finding out in a year or two that you’ll have to spend thousands of dollars in repairs. 

So, get a home inspection! It will only cost you a couple hundred dollars, and will give you peace of mind and knowledge about the home in return.