Most people don’t think about hiring a professional home inspector except when they want to buy a home and make sure it’s in good operating order. That’s a great time to order a home inspection, but it’s not the only time.
Consider having a thorough, professional inspection of your own home if:
- Your home is at least seven years old. The dry Arizona heat puts all of your home’s systems, from the air conditioning to the insulation, through a lot of stress. Unless your home is brand-new, consider having a home inspection every four to five years.
- You have lived in your home for more than a decade. Hidden problems with mold, electrical wires and leaks can make your home inefficient and unhealthy.
- You are trying to sell your home. First, patch up all of the obvious problems: replace missing trim; touch up scuffed paint; fix leaky faucets; change broken windows. Then call a professional to find the not-so-obvious ones in your electrical system, in the attic and around the foundation so your home is move-in ready for the next owner. Knowing what’s wrong with your house also puts you in the best position to make the proper disclosures to potential buyers.
- You want to buy a home. Like the old sea captain who wants to know where the leaks are so he can plug them before taking the boat on the water, it’s wise to ask a professional home inspector to identify any problems or potential trouble spots before you make an offer on a home. Some of the problems will be easy enough to fix, you can replace broken roof tiles or an old dishwasher, for instance but others, like rampant mold, a chronically leaky basement or a cracked foundation, can be so expensive to resolve that you might want to find a different house. The inspector can find help identify big and small problems.
- Your home has been damaged. If your home has suffered a fire or extensive damage from a monsoon rainstorm, a home inspector can help you scout out areas of damage that might not be obvious, like hidden leaks.
