Jul 11, 2017 • Home Inspections, Inspection Services • By support

8 Tips for Preparing for a Home Inspection

If you are selling your home, it’s a good idea to get ready for your home inspection. If your buyer is smart, they will want to have one. Depending on where you live, it may be required, or you may just need to provide disclosures, and then the buyer will pay for their own inspection. No matter what you are doing, you’ll want to properly prepare for the inspection. Below are some tips that you can use to help it go smoothly for everyone.

1. Clean the House

This is very important since you want to give your inspector the best impression possible of your home. Plus it helps them to be able to see everything that needs to be seen and not leave anything to chance.

2. Be Punctual

There are times when a home inspector will show up early. If the appointment’s for 10 a.m. be ready at 9:30 a.m. It’s also common for the inspector to start with your home’s exterior, so if you’re still getting dressed, make sure your drapes are drawn or the shades are down. The day of the inspection don’t be surprised if you see a stranger that is in your yard.

3. Leave Your Utilities Connected

Your inspector will have to run your dishwasher, test your furnace and air conditioning and turn on your stove, so your utilities should be connected. If your power’s off, they can’t check the receptacles for reverse polarity and grounding. Without the utilities, your inspection will have to be rescheduled and this can delay your home’s closing and also could remove the buyer’s contingency on the home passing inspection.

4. Give The Inspector Space to Work

Remove any bookcases, furniture, books and other items that could stop your inspector from getting to your water heater, air conditioner and furnace. They are going to need at least 3-4 feet of space to work so they can inspect them. A lot of times they won’t move items themselves but if they can’t access the items they sometimes will suggest the buyer gets a specialist and this could require more inspections.

5. Make Sure Pilot Lights are Lit

A lot of inspectors won’t light a pilot light since they aren’t covered if something happens. If you don’t have your pilots on, the important items like your gas stove, furnace, and water heater can’t be inspected and closing could be delayed until the inspection’s done.

6. Give Inspector Access to Your Attic and Basement

Your inspector will need to get into both your attic and basement, so make sure they can get to it easily. It’s also a good idea to clean up any cobwebs or anything that may be there and move boxes that could be close to the attic steps.

7. Provide Keys to Outbuildings and Fuse Boxes

If you have a shed, you’ll need to give the inspector access to that. They’ll also want to inspect your fuse boxes and anything else that they need to access with a key.

8. Be Mindful of Pets

If you are still living in your house and you have a dog or a cat, you might want to have someone else keep them while the inspection’s going on. This way your pets are more comfortable and your inspector will be too.

These are the things that you can do to help your inspection go a lot more smoothly. The sooner the inspection is done the sooner you can get onto the business at hand; selling your home and getting on to the next great adventure!

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