What to Look For During Your Next Home Inspection
Doing a home inspection is important because it can help identify damage that may cause issues and require extensive repairs. If you’re not quite sure what to look out for, here’s a short, helpful list that should help you out with this.
Small Holes in the House
The first thing you should keep an eye out for is small holes in the house’s walls and other parts. These can provide an entryway for mice, frogs, and even raccoons, all of which can set up camp in the house and cause untold damage. A bigger red flag would be droppings around these holes, which would indicate that small animals actually venture around them. Take care to look thoroughly, because apart from affecting a person’s health, the droppings of bats can also cause damage to the home. Since a single bat can produce from 20 to 30 droppings a day and they tend to colonize a house in large numbers, it’s easy to see the risk. The droppings can pile up and eventually cause a home’s roof to cave in.
Water Damage
Something else you should be wary of is signs of water damage. These include bubbling and peeling paint, streaks of discoloration on the walls, and pools or puddles of water in places they shouldn’t be. Water damage can create issues beneath the visible layers of the house, leading to extensive damage in the future. It can also lead to the growth of mold, which can cause serious health issues for people in the home. To avoid the possibility of this happening, look out for water damage all around the house as a structural issue can cause it to occur in a place you don’t expect it to.
A Neglected Landscape
If the first thing you notice when you pull up to a house is that it’s in a state of neglect, you need to reconsider proceeding with the purchase. Regular and basic care of a house’s exterior can help keep it in a presentable state that will be different from if it has been neglected. Since a driveway can last for up to 20 years or even more when it’s properly taken care of, you can ask how old the house is so you’re able to gauge if the previous owner took good care of it. Other reasons the driveway may look terrible for its age are poor installation, bearing heavy loads, destruction by tree roots, water, and oil damage, using rock salt, oxidation, and driving over it with studded tires.
Faulty Plumbing and Electricals
You should not forget to look at the electricals and plumbing, which need to be in good form. Make sure that outlets around the house work well and none have a short circuit because this can place you at serious risk while you’re in the house. Also, check the plumbing for leaks and blockages. Since you won’t know the extent of the damage unless a professional takes a closer look, don’t take any issues you come across at face value. With about one out of 20 insured homes having a claim every single year, you need to know the exact condition of the house so you can know what you need to be covered for.
Arm yourself with this list and check every item during your next inspection. You will be less likely to end up with a surprise if you do this, so take the time and leave nothing to chance. Make sure you know exactly what you’re getting so you can proceed with peace of mind and make plans that aren’t likely to get disrupted sooner or later.