Tips on How to Perform Your Own House Inspection

Performing your own house inspection may seem daunting at first. But doing so can help you save a lot, especially once you’ve purchased the house. Like all the other investments, buying a real estate can be risky. It may either mark up its value through the years or worse, depreciate its worth. You can reduce the risk of paying more for repairs and maintenance by performing a thorough house inspection of your house’s structure and utilities before signing in your mortgage. Although house inspections can be optional, it will give you an idea of what the problem is before buying it. This will give you time to negotiate with the seller about its price or have the seller cover the cost of some repairs. Here are some basic tips on how you can do a general house inspection on your prospect house:

1. Check all electrical outlets or switches to make sure that they work. Checking the heating system equipment, especially the boiler systems is highly advisable as well. Making sure that these are working can ensure that you won’t be worrying about any maintenance issues anytime soon. Fixing the electrical outlets, especially the heating system during the winter can be expensive.
2. Check under the rug or bed or even behind any portrait to check if there are any cracks in the walls or even the tiles. Previous homeowners may try to hide these under rugs or even behind any pictures so make sure that you check those areas as well. Hairline cracks in a block are not really an issue. But make sure to check if there are any horizontal and vertical cracks in the walls or on the ceiling because these types of cracks can get bigger.
3. Check the water system if it’s working properly. You may want to check the sinks, tubs, and showers in the house. Make sure that the water flows properly and make sure that everything drains properly as well. Make sure that no debris clogs the water system to prevent any issues in the future.
4. You may want to hire a professional to inspect for termites or molds. These aren’t really visible unless checked by a professional so it would be better to ask for an advice for inspections like this. Repairs caused by termites or molds can be expensive so it would greatly advisable to get professional help for it.
5. Ask the seller or the agent if they know any issues that are not clearly visible. The Federal Law clearly requires full disclosure of the condition of the property including its history. Failure to do so may require the seller to cover the costs of any repair or damage and may even end up in court.