What inspections
do you choose?
There
are 6 standard inspections, some are required, others are optional, and we
will share all those details with you here.
You never want to skip the home inspection; it
is well worth the investment. The home inspector will look at everything
he can get to without tearing apart any wall, so that means getting into the
attic and on the roof, perhaps there is a crawl space. TK inspectors will
put defects they find into two categories. The first is the stuff you
want to get fixed right away, like a drip under the sink, missing shingles, or
a bad furnace.
The rest of the report is what we like to call your
honey-do list, or general maintenance around the home once you move in. In our opinion these are not items to
negotiate with the seller. These are the
things anyone who owns a home would repair on a regular basis.
One of our clients once stated, “I’d rather pay $300
twice than $30,000 once.” What she meant is that she is willing to walk away
from the first house and pay for a second home inspection to make sure she gets
the right house.
Termite or pest inspections
are formally known as a Wood Destroying Insect (WDI)
Inspection and this report details any wood destroying insect activity at the
home. Sometimes the lender requires a WDI inspection, and they are always
required for government loans. FYI: if you are getting a VA loan, the
seller must pay for the WDI, not the buyer.
Testing for radioactive radon gas
is an option
for home buyers. Radon gas is the #1 cause of lung cancer in non-smoker
and Ohio has very high levels. Fifty four percent of all homes in Stark
County have what the EPA consider to be a level needing action. In Summit
County, it is a little lower at 34%, but that is still 1 of 3 homes with an
unsafe level. Here is what our customers tell us: if they get the test
and it comes back high, they are glad they did it. If it comes back low,
they say they wished they would have saved their money. It’s a peace of
mind thing.
There are 40,000 septic systems
in Stark
County and only 2,600 in Summit County. A septic system is your very own
self-contained sewage treatment system. Over the years, many types of
septic systems have come and gone, they are pricey to install and devastating
if it backs up. At the septic inspection, the inspector will do a
hydraulic load, dye test, visual inspection, and check the clean water, grey
water and black water routing. In Stark and Summit Counties a septic
inspection is required for property transfer.
House can also have their own water source, which
means the water comes from a well, cistern or natural spring. With a water
system evaluation, we will check the performance of the system and then
test the water for bacteria and Ecoli. A water system evaluation is
required in Summit County.
Another test you can get is an indoor air quality
test which checks for mold spores in the air. We can do a swab test for mold if
we see a mold like substance.
Be smart
and don’t take short cuts. Know your home and the potential repairs that
come with it. It’s a seller’s market and you must make decisions fast.
Don’t risk your financial future by skipping on the inspections. You need to
know the outlay your future home requires from your budget. And everyone agrees
it’s worth several hundred dollars to find out if you will have to pay tens of
thousands later.
We
offer the best service at the best prices in NE Ohio so give TK Home Inspection
a call at 330.361.5505 and schedule your inspections today.
