When it comes time to purchase a home, hiring a certified home inspector is an important step. The job of a home inspector is to not only determine the condition of the house, but also give advice on aspects of the home that can be improved upon. Any deficiencies raised during the home inspection can become negotiating points. Home inspectors can help you in protecting your purchase and may also help you get a better deal. But if you would like to make an initial inspection yourself, make sure you have a checklist!



Before you begin your walk-through of the property, make sure you have a home inspection checklist with you. The list will aide in a making sure your inspection is thorough. A good list may have as many as a hundred points on it. Failure to have an adequate checklist could result in allowing certain aspects of the property fall between the cracks.

Organize your list by different areas of the home. Start outside. As you inspect the outside of the property you should be looking for things like railings that are unsafe, exterior wall cracks, damaged or leaning chimney, and roof damage to name a few. And always take notes. For instance, if you notice down spouts that are not draining far enough away from the home take a note of it as that information could become useful later on.

The interior of the property should also be separated into different areas. These may include plumbing, electrical, heating, basement, finishes, etc. You do not need to be experienced in the construction industry. Just be on the look-out for things that look off or smell strange. You can point these out when you come back to the property for a thorough and professional home inspection.

As part of the offer buyers can place in a condition on obtaining a professional home inspection. This condition not only shields buyers from purchasing a home they are not prepared for, it also gives buyers a bargaining chip that can be used if major issues are found in the inspection. If you do lower your offer make sure it is reflective of the issues found. If the original selling price already reflected the properties deficiencies you may not be able to lower your offer by much.

In a multiple offer scenario, you may need to have a home inspection done before you present an offer. This can be a concern for some purchasers since after spend the money for an inspection they may still not get the home. But it can put you in a superior negotiating position if your offer now has fewer conditions. You can then finalize your deal more quickly if you offer is the one that is accepted.

You do not need to be a professional contractor to notice that a railing is loose or that the roof is in need of attention. You can remove a lot of homes from your list that may be too much work for you simply by doing your own initial inspection of a home. Walking through a property with a home inspection checklist will also enable you to look beyond the decor and base your decision to make an offer or not on solid facts rather than first impressions. Beware not to rely solely on your own findings but to bring in a professional home inspector who will provide you with a written report on the condition of the property.