You Need to Have a Home Inspection Contingency in your Contract!
I've written about the reasons to have a home inspection and what to look for but writing a home inspection contingency into your offer to begin with is very important.
It's imperative to have your inspection conducted by a licensed, professional inspector. Expect to receive your inspection report by email within 24 to 48 hours. It will comment on how the systems work, the age of the systems and the inspection may make suggestions or have comments. Once you receive it, review all of the information and also look for a summary of the report which would list the items of concern. Determine if any items concern you: What are you deal-breakers? Because you have a contingency in your contract, you have options:
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Ask the seller to repair or replace the items: Your Real
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Estate Agent will write up a list of the repairs that you'd like to ask for and propose the list to the seller. The Seller may elect to make all of the repairs, some of the repairs or none of the repairs. You can negotiate the repairs and, if that doesn’t work out for you, you can use your inspection contingency to void the contract and get your earnest money back. The cost of the inspection is yours. Without the contingency, you’ll need to complete the purchase (not considering any other contingencies you may have) or lose your earnest money.
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Negotiate the sales price if you have the cash to make the repairs after closing.
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If, upon viewing the inspection report, you find that the condition of the property worries you to the point that you don’t wish to purchase the home, you can void the contract using your inspection contingency and recoup your earnest money.
