Buyer Home Inspection

A Home Inspection for the home buyer can make your dream home a worry-free reality. Finding a new home can be exhilarating, but nothing's worse than buying your dream house, moving in, and finding out that there are serious issues. So make sure your experience is a positive one, all the way through, with home buyer inspection services from CAI.  You'll know the condition of your prospective new home and will be able to make an informed decision, offer the right price, know what to expect once you move in and what to plan for in the years to come.

With a CAI home inspection, you'll receive a detailed, comprehensive report that explains the condition (both positive and negative) of the home's structural elements, major systems and components. The friendly, knowledgeable and experienced home inspector will answer any questions you may have about your home, during the inspection process or anytime afterwards, so you can make your purchasing decision with confidence.

What really matters

The process of buying a home can be stressful.  A home inspection is supposed to give you peace of mind, but often has the opposite effect.  You will be asked to absorb a lot of information in a short time.  This often includes a written report, a checklist, photographs, environmental reports, and what the inspector himself says during the inspection.  All this, combined with the seller's disclosure and what you notice yourself, makes the experience even more overwhelming.  What should you do?

Relax.  Most of your inspection will be maintenance recommendations, life expectancies for various systems and components, and minor imperfections. These are useful to know about.  However, the issues that really matter will fall into four categories:

1. major defects.  An example of this would be a structural failure;
2. things that lead to major defects, such as a small roof-flashing leak, for example;
3. things that may hinder your ability to finance, legally occupy, or insure the home; and
4. safety hazards, such as an exposed, live buss bar at the electrical panel.

Anything in these categories should be addressed.  Often, a serious problem can be corrected inexpensively to protect both life and property (especially in categories 2 and 4).  Most sellers are honest and are often surprised to learn of defects uncovered during an inspection.  Realize that sellers are under no obligation to repair everything mentioned in the report.  No home is perfect.  Keep things in perspective.  Do not kill your deal over things that do not matter.  It is inappropriate to demand that a seller address deferred maintenance, conditions already listed on the seller's disclosure, or nit-picky items.