There is a group of ‘do it yourself’ or ‘we need to save money’ folks who – decide to take a chance and forego the property inspection during a real estate transaction. It ends up costing them more in the long run – and often, by thousands of dollars in missed repairs, problems and code violations. Your real estate property inspection is an important part of buying or selling a home – because it can help you identify and repair or acknowledge things that can be very costly if left to become worse, or end up costing more money in violation fees or penalties.

It’s a common problem to forego the home inspection service if you are trying to save money, or if the seller opts not to pay for repairs – but the home inspection is not to create a laundry list of items for the seller to cover. At it’s core, the process and service is to provide you full disclosure (or as full as possible) of what you are getting into, as well and allowing more negotiation on both sides.

Your money is well spent with a professional who is versed in major home maintenance issues as well as compliance, permits, code violations and other things that can cost you money if they are missed.  Unfortunately, even the smallest repair, or the smallest code violation or compliance/permit problem – can snowball into a huge expense if left undetected. At Grissom Home Inspections, we know what to look for – to save you money and disclose the full story.

Refinancing your home is a great way to either lower your interest rate and save long-term, or obtain funds to do repairs or remodels using the equity you’ve earned on your home. It’s a great time to do it – when the real estate market is booming, and it always makes sense to keep your home in tip-top shape maintenance wise, as well as updated with modern appliances, flooring and fresh paint. Or perhaps you need a big-ticket repair, like air conditioning or foundation. Maybe you’re considering listing your home – and you want it to look nice. And of course, even if you plan to stay for a while longer – nobody wants a home that looks (and feels) dilapidated.

So do you need a property inspection when refinancing a mortgage?

Often, the process and services of a home inspection and a home appraisal are confused:  what we do, at Grissom Inspections — is property inspections, and we do not assign any value to the property. Our main job, as professional property and real estate inspectors, is to help sellers and buyers understand the condition of their home and property, exposure needed repairs and code violations or issues that might be costly later. It’s about knowing what you are getting into – fully, with regard to home and property ownership. When refinancing an FHA or conventional home mortgage, a lender may require an appraisal and the same inspections as it does for financing a new home purchase. However, a “home inspection,” similar to the inspection you obtained when you bought your home, is never required.

Could a property inspection be done without buying, selling or refinancing?

Yes – in fact, we’d think that the savvy home owner would invest in a knowledgeable property inspection service from time to time as a preventative measure to stay on top of the less fun more expensive part of home-ownership. In act, we have tons of clients – commercial owners and individuals who own real estate (rental properties, and similar) that do this often to make sure they are ahead of exorbitant repair costs (due to something going on too long) and other costly ‘smaller situations’ that turn into larger ones because it was not reported or noticed by a tenant.

Whatever your need for a home inspector in Dallas, or Plano and surrounding areas – it’s important to know exactly what you are getting and what to expect during a home inspection. You can rely on Grissom Inspections. Friendly, highly reviewed professionals.

Buying or selling a home is a huge event in one’s life, but many things can be prevented with proper maintenance and care during your years of ownership. Buying a home can be more costly than need be if you don’t perform a proper property inspection and heed the information your inspector gives you. Selling a home can become expensive as well – if required to repair impromptu issues that arose from a revealing home inspection – right when you were trying to market your home to a potential buyer. Whether you are buying or selling, and whether your problems are structural, or just cosmetic – they can effect your pocketbook and subsequently – your satisfaction with the purchase or selling process or the excitement of moving your new home.

Certain things seem to surface over and over again when professional home inspectors are performing routine home inspections. Interestingly, they are the types of problems that can escalate and multiply quickly. So, staying on top of these areas can save you, or your buyer a lot of money and time, as well as prevent other related issues.

Electrical and Wiring

Electrical problems are a repeat offender on the list of problems found by a property inspector. Not only can electrical and wiring issues cause more electrical issues and short out appliances and larger systems in your home – they are a fire hazard. Make sure you always hire a professional.

Structural & Natural

Foundation repairs, cracking sidewalks, tree roots, and water rot are all things that will naturally occur over time with any home.  The long term problem would be doors that don’t shut, rot and mold in the walls, cracks all around your home and more. Obviously this category is a post by itself, for another time – but you can see it can be costly to let these kinds of problems build up.

Air & Heat

As a professional home inspector in Texas – we can tell you – you gotta have air conditioning that works. It is not uncommon to have multiple air conditioning units running a home in August in North Texas.  Replacing multiple air conditioning units is extremely expensive. But it doesn’t have to be – with proper maintenance and regular, routine checks – you can keep your machinery in top shape and keep your home cool.

Of course there are several other things that make the list, but living in Plano, McKinney or Frisco – which is our main working area, these three things are some of the most prominent offenders on our list.

Read the full article on HGTV here

The Texas Real Estate market is hot, hot, hot! And a professional property inspection is a huge part of buying or selling a home.  Hiring an experienced home inspector is paramount – so that you can avoid costly repairs to your  new home or allowances to a new buyer.   There are three things that everyone should know about hiring a professional home inspector in Texas – whether it’s for a real estate deal, or just because you want to know what shape your property is in.

Not All Home Inspectors Are Created Equal

Experience counts. Hiring an inexperienced or unaccredited inspector can be frustrating ad costly. Grissom Home Inspections are members of the National Association of  Home Inspectors, Inc. (NAHI), and have completed their home inspector training program, and work according to the NAHI Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.

1. Home inspections are meant to find needed repairs, structural damage and other real problems.

Some issues are more important (and more expensive) than others. It’s a good idea to attend the inspection with your inspector – you will learn so much! Your inspector will work with you to prioritize what’s important to repair sooner, than later – and what is cosmetic only. Certainly cosmetic updates are important during the staging process and your realtor will assist you with those things. But for your home inspection – the focus is more about needed repairs, faults and safety concerns.

2. Get Your Home Inspection Report.

During our general home inspection, we have an exclusive process to efficiently inspect items in several areas:

• Foundation – Interior and Exterior
• The Parameter and Entire Exterior of the Home
• All Electrical Systems
• Roof and Gutters
• Plumbing Systems
• Basement, Attic, Insulation and Crawl Spaces

We look for cracks, bumps, warps, leaks, broken pieces, and any red flag to more serious problems. We may see issues that we are unable to resolve – like termite damage or large repairs like roofing or foundation – and we will (or your realtor can) help refer you to a reputable vendor. We will provide a written and easy-to-understand report on everything we find.

3. We can be trusted to be truthful. ALWAYS.

The NAHI Standards of Practice are very clear, and require home inspectors to be unbiased, third party support to the real estate transaction. Their Code of Ethics state they “will discharge the Inspector’s duties with integrity and fidelity to the client.” Bottom line: we’re required to be truthful. Real Estate is a business of sales, but those relationships are based on trust. Our clients – both Realtors, buyers and sellers – can trust that they will get a truthful and thorough home inspection report from Grissom Home Inspections in McKinney, Texas!

This is also important when it comes to what the inspectors do and do not find. For example, since we can’t go behind walls or under the floors – there might be some issues that could be reasonably overlooked.  A high level of professionalism and business integrity are required since the home inspectors are not a part of the real estate transaction: if a problem arises post-inspection, a trusted home-inspection partner cannot be held liable for this, if it was something that was not clearly determined.

It is also important to maintain a high level client confidentiality. We take pride in adhering to these strict standards, and keep all report findings private, unless required by court order. As a buyer or a seller, you choose which pieces to disclose.

If you’re a seller, it is not required to disclose the entire report to buyers, but there are items you must disclose, such as any failure in the systems or integrity of your home. Please speak to your Real Estate professional for more information on this.

As a buyer, you need the home inspection to determine whether you can take on the potential repairs or remodeling needs.  Certainly, you can use the report to bring awareness to needed repairs or negotiate a better price. You can also use the report to estimate cost of needed repairs or remodels.

Contact our office today to learn more about how we help realtors, buyers and sellers be more aware of the condition of the properties they are working with.

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