appraisal will determine the latter. WHEN TO HAVE A HOME INSPECTION DONE
Home inspections are usually done as part of the closing process. Most sellers and their listing agents will have their own home inspection assessments done, and present you with the report, but for buyers it’s never recommended to go ahead with making an o ff er and drawing up a contract without ensuring you order your own home inspectio n fir st. You should inspect the property yourself, along with the home inspector and your agent, before making everything o ffi cial, with a critical eye, even if you truly believe it’s the house of your dreams and you’ve made an o ff er that’s been accepted, and you’re deep into the closing process. Why is this important? One reason is that you must check to ensure that nothing has changed about the condition of the property a ft er the purchase agreement, which stipulates the current condition of the home, has been drawn up. Th e reason is that if something has, in fact, changed, you will have to notify your agent and start the closing process from square one. When you get to the end of the closing process, deals can fall apart at the last moment. Reasons include the buyer’s failure to secure fin ancing through a mortgage loan (one of the reasons that it’s imperative for you to obtain pre-approval for a loan before getting yourself too far into the home-buying process) as well as a low home appraisal, and yes, a home inspection gone awry. If major physical damage is revealed during the home inspection, the deal could be called o ff . Th is shouldn’t be all that surprising, however. If a home is considered structurally unsound or unsafe to live in, then there’s a good chance the deal won’t move forward, and the purchase will fall through. 124
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