How To Have Peace of Mind When Buying a Home

Sacramento, CA

Sacramento Home Buyers and Condo Buyers need to have home inspections whether buying a brand new home or condo from a home builder, a bank owned REO home or a sell home for sale.

Since most experienced REALTORs® have a list of good professional home inspectors who have proven over time the quality of their work, it is likely that your REALTOR® can refer you to a good home inspector.

Don’t worry Realtors do not make money when they refer you to a Lender, a pest company, a home inspector or a Title company. That is considered a RESPA violation and their license could be removed.

Make sure that your home inspector is an inspector member of California Real Estate Inspection Association (CREIA) and The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). Home inspections vary in price depending on the square footage of the home for sale and whether or not the home is on a slab foundation or if there is a crawl space under the house.

A home inspector introduces home buyers to their new home and explains how things work.  A home inspection is a working canvas for your new home as well as enlightening you to any challenges the home may have and gives authenticity when asking for repairs from the seller.

And for those home buyers buying a bank owned REO home for sale, it is imperative that you have a home inspection. You need to know EXACTLY what you are buying. Even if you are getting the house at a good price, you still need to know what you are getting into along with a report of items that need to be addressed a soon as the home is yours.

A home inspection gives the home buyer a bucket list of items to begin addressing for repair or maintenance on their new home.

Here are a few things the home inspector will be checking on the house that you want to buy:

• Fireplace, chimney and flue to make sure they are safe, clean and in working order
• Furnace and air conditioner will be tested. It is always a good idea to have the furnace and air conditioner serviced each year to make sure they are routinely checked and serviced.
• Each window and door will be checked to make sure they close properly and look for any sagging.
• Plumbing will be scrutinized for leaks in pipes and faucets and drains to make sure they are in working order.
• Every electrical outlet will be check as well as the circuits.
• Roof will be inspected to determine its condition, age and if repairs need to be made.
• Foundation of the home will be checked for cracks which may indicate a foundation shift
• Stucco and siding will be scrutinized for further maintenance
• Crawl and Attic space will be inspected which shows a variety of issues that may not have yet been noticed inside the home.
• Where there is a pool, the motor operation will be inspected to assure proper working order
• Garage doors will be checked for safety and proper closing/opening
• Appliance will each be checked to insure working order

The home inspector that I recommend provides a report outlining each item found in the home that is in need of repair or updating along with colored photos in a notebook with a maintenance manual included for each home buyer. The maintenance manual not only explains how to fix an item but also provides the type of professional that should be called along with the parts and where to buy them. It is definitely a resource that every homeowner would love to have.

Remember, every home buyer should have a home inspection.

Click on Search for Homes and chose bank owned homes in all of the Sacramento and surrounding areas. Plenty of 1st time home buyers are approved and ready to buy one of these great deals.

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If you have a real estate question that you would like an answer to, be sure to check out and read what other home buyers and home sellers have asked and feel free to ask your Real Estate question by email. Perhaps, your question will be part of the next article featured on Sacramento REAL Estate Voice. Just ask the Realtor, Gena Riede.

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