As the buyer of a new home, you might be advised to have the home inspected before the sale closes. While it’s so easy to get caught up in the excitement of the new house and want the sale to close as quickly as possible, it is important to have both a home inspection and a WDO inspection.
- Home inspection will check the structural condition of the home and includes the electrical, plumbing, roof, heating and AC.
- WDO inspection is typically referred to as a termite inspection, but termites are only one type of wood destroying organism. Carpenter ants and rodents can also wreak havoc with your home.
Why is this so important?
You might be thinking you don’t need the Home Inspection at all, especially if it’s a brand new house. But there are several reasons that an inspection is highly important.
It can save you from a really bad deal. If there are flaws in the home, you, as the buyer, can negotiate price with the seller, ensure that the seller pays for repairs before the closing of the home, or, depending on the level of damage, back out of the sale completely.
It can save you major legal problems down the road. An inspection can reveal illegal installations that were added or done outside of building codes that can be dealt with before it becomes your obligation to adjust or pay for down the road.
It can save you money. It can also help predict future costs, by revealing the age of certain aspects of the property like heating, plumbing, roofing, and other fixtures.
It can help you decide what to fix and when. Inspectors know their field well. Their task is to do an extensive inspection of the house including the plumbing, electrical, foundation, crawl spaces, attics, basements, and many other things. At the end of the inspection, they can give you tips and advice on how to handle current damages that need to be repaired right away, versus the ones that can be put off for a while longer until your budget allows it. They can also tell you which items should be repaired versus completely replaced, and recommend good contractors or product brands.
It can identify potential pest problems.
Some evidence of rodents is obvious, such as droppings or suspicious holes in a wall. However, resident pests aren’t always so easily spotted. This is another reason that having a WDO inspection done on your potential house is a good idea.
One of the primary pest concerns is with wood-destroying organisms (WDO). This includes any wood-boring pests, but mainly focuses on the most common perpetrators in this department: termites. Getting a WDO inspection is crucial because the inspector is trained to find subtle evidence of termites in a house.
It’s important to be sure the inspector is licensed in pest control to ensure a quality inspection. This also means they can identify potential termite threats that would otherwise get past even a savvy home buyer.
A termite inspection is worth every penny, because according to turnerpest.com these pests cost people over $5 billion a year.
Who pays for the inspection?
There are times when the seller might have the home inspected before putting their house on the market, so that they can adjust the asking price of their home, and also so that they have an inspection report to give to potential buyers. If not, then it’s your responsibility as the buyer to get an inspection on the house. Usually you’ll have a stated number of days in your contract to do so, and it’s your choice who to hire. Prices for a full inspection can range anywhere between $250 to $500 depending on the location and the size of the property. If you’re unsure which inspector to hire, ask your realtor for recommendations.
In short, home and pest inspections aren’t the most exciting part of the home buying process, but they are very important and shouldn’t be skipped because of the time, money, and problems that they will save you down the road.
