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Problems Home Inspections Often Miss

Posted By: Stephanie WilsonHartzog In: Real Estate Tips
Date: Thu, Oct 13th 2016 2:19 pm

A home inspection is a part of any home buying experience, and it can make or break your home sale. However, your home inspection report doesn’t always give you the full story; there are occasionally issues that aren’t found or aren’t necessarily required to be checked out during the inspection. Here are a few areas to get double checked when buying a home.

1. Roofing

Sometimes roof leaks and other shingle-related issues can slip through the cracks. This is because the inspector is not required to do a physical examination of the roof. Instead, their evaluation is based only on what they can see from the ground or out of windows that look down onto part of the roof. It’s recommended to get an additional inspection from a certified roof inspector to ensure there won’t be any roofing issues down the line.

2. Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

The inspector’s job is to determine that the HVAC system is working at the time of inspection. It is not, however, part of their job to help determine how long the system will continue working. Getting it checked by an HVAC specialist after the inspection can help give you peace of mind and an idea of how long your heating and cooling system will serve you.

3. Underneath Carpet

The home inspector is going to look for visible problems in the home. Invisible problems to the naked eye, like what might be going on underneath carpeted rooms, go untouched. You can shadow your inspector to make sure that any concerns that you have about things you see get addressed. Keep an eye out for soft spots when you walk across the floor or a musty smell.

4. Water Damage

Although water damage in the ceiling can be pretty obvious, sometimes it’s more difficult to tell if there is water damage within the home’s walls. In fact, this can often only be detected with the use of an infrared camera, which home inspectors are not required to use. Research to see if you can find an inspector who does have experience with an IR camera, and can do a more thorough inspection.

A standard home inspection can help to determine a number of problems that your potential home might have, but it’s smart to go above and beyond with your inspection and seek out specialists for these other, less obvious areas of the home.