Buying a home is a major investment and often the biggest dream for most of us. However, this dream can turn into a nightmare for uninformed buyers. Buying or selling a home is not an easy one, and it includes many different activities. From finding the home of your dreams to hiring a professional for the home inspection, the list of tasks is quite long.
Buying a home simply because you fell in love with it, at first sight may bring severe headaches in the future. For this reason, smart buyers know the importance of home inspection, which focuses on the “big picture” and ultimately affects the buying decision.
Home inspections are an indispensable part of the home-buying process, which is simply assessing the home. A home inspection conducted by a qualified and trained professional helps avoid potential issues with the building and make a knowledgeable decision about the purchase price of the home for sale. However, home buyers are often confused between general contractors and home inspectors, who is better for the job.
Home Inspectors vs. Contractors
People often ask why they should hire a Home Inspector to inspect a home instead of a General Contractor. Both general contractors and home inspectors have different skills and experience to assess a property for a homebuyer. It is common to get confused between the two and get the best services; it is equally important to know which one is best for you.
- General contractors are usually preferred for the task because of their background in building homes, which gives them a vision similar to x-ray to clearly evaluate a structure and even look at what’s under the walls and behind the ceilings. However, this is not always true because home inspection requires different skills than managing a construction site. This means contractors build houses, but home inspectors better examine them.
- A certified and experienced home inspector has more of a background in determining potential flaws in the house. A home inspector will carry out a visual inspection of a home’s structure and examine its critical components, such as plumbing, electrical and heating and air conditioning systems.
- There are chances of a conflict of interest with a contractor because home contractors also perform repair works on a home’s structure and certain critical components. This means in anticipation of getting the work to make any repairs or renovations; they may highlight those issues that are advantageous to their business. Here also, unlike general contractors, a home inspector tells you what’s necessary to be fixed rather than repairing it. Therefore, hiring home inspectors minimizes the chances of a conflict of interest.
Thus, an experienced home inspector has a broader knowledge of defects to look for during a home inspection and know better techniques for finding the building’s loopholes. Most importantly, they have specialized skill in documenting and presenting the defects, which they provide in a written, comprehensive report of the home.
Remember, the professional you hire should inspect the property’s structural elements such as the roof, foundation, walls, windows, doors, insulation, basement, attic, electrical, plumbing, heating, and cooling systems, as well as the presence of termites, etc.
