It is rare these days for a home to be bought without any sort of residential home inspection being done first. Most states require that at least a cursory inspection be carried out by either the buyer or the seller. Once a certified home inspection has been done, the sale of the property can proceed.

Not all licensed home inspectors are created equal, however. As a buyer, you should take care to find a qualified, ethical, and honest residential inspector that will let you know exactly what is wrong about a home. Even if the home is being sold “as is” by the bank you should take care to make sure the house is thoroughly inspected to determine if it is going to be worth purchasing and fixing up. The last thing you want to do is close on a house and find out as you are moving in that there are a myriad of problems that will cost a lot of money to fix. Before you know it, it may have been cheaper to buy a brand new home than it was to buy this foreclosed house!

But, that is what Long Island home inspectors are here for! Do your research properly here, and you will be very satisfied with how your residential inspection is carried out. Remember to be leery of the inspector that a real estate agent provides you. Times are tough, and real estate agents are pushing to sell the home. Make sure you speak to your agent directly about the qualifications and trustworthiness of any home inspector that they recommend, as some unscrupulous agents will make sure the inspector they provide does not find anything overly wrong with a house you are planning to buy, even if there are quite a few faults with it! By speaking with them directly about it, you put the ball in their court and can use any statement of theirs against them in court should it ever come to that. This is a risk most realtors do not want to take.

Make sure the Long Island home inspector sent to your home does more than just a visual check of the home. All good inspections include, at a minimum: temperature check of the appliances and the heating and cooling systems; pressure check for the hot water heater; inspection of the outdoor wiring and lighting; inspections of interior wiring and lighting; inspection of the foundation; roof inspections; radon inspection; mold review in areas such as the basement and attic; inspection of the attic; inspection of the plumbing; inspection of the furnace; and inspection of the garage, basement, and other storage areas. This is the bare minimum that must be checked. If you are on a septic or well system, these will need to be examined as well.

After all of this is carried out you will receive home inspection reports that outlines any and all problems the inspector found, as well as the overall condition of the house.

Armed with an expert report from professional home inspectors, you will be able to make an informed decision on whether or not to buy the house, and for what price you are willing to buy the house for. The cost of home inspection is far outweighed by the amount of savings you could have in the final price of the home!