If you are purchasing a home(and especially if you are a first-time home buyer) a lot of new information will be coming at you all at once. Mortgage rates, home insurance, various finances, mortgage types, etc. will be presented to you almost daily at a relatively rapid pace. This can be overwhelming to a person who has never been involved in the process before. There will also be alot of information presented to you(some good, bad, and untrue) about having your home inspected after the sellers accept your offer! This blog post will aim to clear up some of the questions(and misinformation) about the home inspection process!
In the state of Ohio, your realtor is ethically obligated to provide you with a list of at least 3 licensed home inspectors for you to choose from! If you real estate agent implies that they "have a person that they use" you should ask yourself does that inspector have your best interests in mind? Or do they have the agent's best interest in mind? You should take the time to investigate the inspectors presented to you(a quick google search of the company's name will usually bring you to their webpage or Facebook page) to determine which inspector is a good fit for your needs! Their webpage will usually provide information about the inspector, the services they offer(or dont offer) and several ways to contact them. For example, if your loan requires a wood-destroying insect inspection to complete the underwriting process, hiring an inspector who is not licensed to perform this service will result in hiring a third party, or another inspector, to complete the process. This is more time spent scheduling and more money out of your pocket at a time where alot of your finances are being consumed paying for other parts of the processes! This can drag the closing period out further! If you are unsure what services an inspector provides, reach out and contact them! Choosing the right inspector can take alot of headache out of the inspection process!
What will(and will not) be inspected during a home inspection in the state of Ohio? The answer to this question is better served with a link to a webpage! The state of Ohio laws out very clearly in their laws and administrative code what is to be inspected for a real estate transaction. At Mook Home Inspections, our inspection template on our software is literally written based directly off of the information found in these laws(in fact this exact information will be referenced in your inspection report so that you dont need to go searching for it!) If youd like to have a look at the state of Ohios requirements for a home inspection before you choose an inspector you can find it here: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-1301:17-1-17
How much will a home inspection cost? That answer can vary depending on the size of the dwelling, the age of the dwelling, the systems installed(or not installed) within the dwelling, ans the number of ancillary(additional) inspection services required by your lender! Most inspectors will not provide ballpark figures on their webpages to avoid giving you bad information about the potential cost of an inspection due to these variables. A very useful tool to give you a rough estimate(and a tool that I use to provide estimates when in question) is Internachis Inspection Fee Calculator and a link to that service can be found here:
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