Tag: Licensed home inspector in Toronto

licensed home inspector
licensed home inspector

Why is Home Inspection Crucial? From the Buyer’s Point of View

Buying a house is an expensive investment. Thus, you must think carefully and consider all the vital factors before signing the dotted lines. Inspection of the concerned property is a crucial factor that helps you to determine if the property that you are considering is worth your investment.

It is, therefore, crucial to analyze all the details and not to get ahead of yourself by the lavish-looking property. Here are a few advantages of working with a licensed home inspector (from the buyer’s point of view):

  1. Warning Signs

A home inspector can provide you with a report that contains all kinds of warning signs. Therefore, you should identify all the critical warning signs by working with a professional home inspector before buying the property.

  1. Reduce the Asking Price

One of the best benefits of home inspection for a buyer is that it helps reduce the asking price of the property. If you come across some faults or flaws in the house, you can negotiate with the seller and lower the purchase prices.

  1. Repairs Needed

A home inspection can give you an insight into the overall condition of the house. The investigation of the home you’re considering can help you in the calculation and keep aside all the additional expenses that you would incur for repairs and damages.

  1. Planning Ahead
    licensed home inspector

                                                     licensed home inspector

Once the inspection of the property is over, you can get an idea about your future planning. An inspection done thoroughly can give you a clear picture of how you want your home to look like.

Here are a few tips to help you find a suitable home inspector in Toronto.

  • License:

The home inspector you consider should have a license or certification as per the regulation of the country. Toronto has its specific regulatory standards, and all inspection companies must have a license to serve the role of inspector.

  • Cost

You should collect relevant information about the fees for a home inspection in Toronto. Look for an agency that charges reasonable fees without compromising on the quality provided.

  • Physical Presence

Check whether the agency for home inspection has a physical presence or not. When in doubt, visit the office and verify. Moreover, if you think that there is something fishy, discard that service provider.

  • Contract to Sign:

Before you work with a licensed home inspector, know whether you need to sign any contract. Profession inspection agencies sign an agreement for starting the process of home inspection.

These tips will help you choose a suitable inspector for your home inspection. Do not hesitate to ask questions to the inspector. It’s your right as the customer as you’re paying for the service.

Home Inspector
Licensed home inspector Toronto

Safe Home Inspections During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As we all know that home inspection is a crucial part of the home-buying process. A thorough inspection can reveal significant issues that could impact a property’s value and may even prevent a sale from moving forward. A Licensed Home Inspector spends hours at a house looking for any sign of trouble. The process is hands-on and often crowded. Well, the question is, is this still possible during a pandemic?

The home inspection process has slightly changed during the pandemic. Inspectors, real estate agents, homeowners as well as the potential buyers are getting creative. The process is still hands-on, but there are a few extra steps included. The pandemic may have altered the way inspections happen, but it hasn’t changed the fundamental role of the inspector.

Firstly, we’ll talk about what goes into a home inspection.

During a Home Inspection, the inspector evaluates every aspect of the structure. The inspector looks for health or safety issues, which can compromise the longevity of the house or a part of the home. In the end, the inspector offers advice about how to remediate any issues discovered during the inspection.

Although the home inspection is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged. As a homebuyer, you will take on a substantial amount of debt, and a home inspection can provide peace of mind. Buyers generally focus on gathering as much information as possible to safeguard themselves.

Let’s talk about home inspection during COVID-19.

Home inspections, like many areas of life, are quite different now because of the pandemic. Everyone involved in the process has to follow the drill, which you might be familiar with: wear a mask, wash your hands or use hand sanitizer. Now, this makes the home inspection a bit safer during the pandemic.

Right now, buyers should limit the number of people present at the inspection. Now, as a home seller, if you are having your home inspected during the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some steps you should follow.

  • If you have symptoms of the virus, postpone the inspections.
  • Avoid shaking hands
  • Make arrangement for children and the elderly to be out of the home during the inspection
  • Be sure that anyone entering the house, maintains social distance
  • Leave cabinets and door open for the inspector to browse
  • Disinfect your home after the home inspection, especially commonly touched areas.

Other home inspection consideration during the COVID-19

For a buyer, a virtual tour is one way to limit face-to-face interaction during the pandemic. The licensed home inspectors have done this in the past with buyers who lived far from the inspected home. Not being able to see the inspection might seem stressful, but you should also weigh the risks regarding coronavirus.

Also, if the home inspection report reveals that there’s work to be done, the first thing to consider is whether the repairs demand immediate attention or they are more cosmetic and can wait.

The Bottom Line

In order to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the home inspection process, fewer people are encouraged to attend. Also, people attending the inspection are encouraged to wear a mask, practice social distancing, wash hands and sanitize anything they touch.

licensed home inspector
Licensed home inspector Toronto

Can I perform Home Inspection Myself or Should I Hire the Expert?

Inspection of the property is a critical element of the home buying and selling process. They can bring peace of mind to buyers; educate investors about their new asset, and inform real estate professionals of how to proceed with negotiations. Homes can be inspected for several reasons, and while it’s unlikely you will need every type of inspection, it can be beneficial to understand the options available.

Now, if you are considering performing an inspection on your own, here are reasons you should not do it by yourself and should hire a Licensed Home Inspector in Toronto.

You don’t have experience

Comprehensive home inspections require knowledge across multiple engineering disciplines such as civil, electrical and plumbing, to name a few. If you are not trained in all of those disciplines, you better leave this job to a professional.

You don’t have the right equipment

In order to better judge the quality of the home, you need to use several tools and equipment. These include, but are not limited to, clamp meters, moisture meters, fault detectors, IR thermometers, thermal cameras and many more.

Unless you possess these tools and know to properly use them, leave home inspection in the hands of the expert.

You may miss issues

Licensed home inspector Toronto

        Licensed home inspector Toronto

This is probably the most essential reason that you should not inspect the property on your own. The motive of inspecting the house is to find problems so that you can have them fixed before you move in. Since the chances of you missing issues are relatively higher, the consequences are quite costly in the long run.

Any money you saved by inspecting on your own will be offset by the time and money that you might need to spend in the near future if an issue that you failed to catch becomes crucial.

You don’t have the time

Usually, it takes home inspectors 6 hours to inspect a 1200 square feet home. A person who isn’t professional will take multiple days for the same inspection. You probably won’t want to spend 2-3 days inspecting the property, and even after doing it, you might not get the desired results.

Your inspection report may be scrappy

Generally, home inspectors use apps to perform the inspection and churn out well-formatted reports with annotations, pictures, text etc. that your potential client can easily understand. Since you have to compile the report manually, the look and feel of the report may not be professional enough and might lead to a client not taking you or your report seriously.

The Bottom Line

These are the top 5 reasons that you shouldn’t conduct a home inspection yourself but instead, hire a licensed Home Inspector in Toronto. Even if you looking to save money and time, better get the expert to inspect your home.