Preparing your home for an inspection is easy and it makes a difference. Below are 9 easy steps.
- Turn off alarms. Your agent should have the alarm code to be safe. Because, trips to re-inspect home are not free.
- Be sure all utilities are on. Water, electricity, and gas need to be working for the inspection. Otherwise, the report will just say it could not be inspected. Now that turns off buyers and banks. It’s against the rules for home inspectors to turn on valves or water supplies. It’s actually against their Standards Of Practice. It might be safe 99% of the time, but they cannot damage 1% of homes! Just be sure everything is working.
- Make attics accessible. Home inspectors have to check attics. For instance, if an attic hatch is screwed closed, unscrew it. Inspectors will not risk damaging your property. For example, if the only access is with a closet hatch above piles of linens or stacks of clothes, clear them out of the way. Otherwise, the inspector probably has to say the attic could not be inspected. That can mean an extra charge to come back. The alternative is for the inspector to try getting a peep, and insulation spilling out all over the closet and clothes will not be a happy site.
- Why leave the dishwasher full? Same for the clothes washer and dryer. Above all, please empty these appliances.
- Put the garage remote out. While you’re at it, please be sure the garage door is unlocked, otherwise leave a door key with the remote. Because all buyers want the garage inspected. It’s always part of the deal.
- Be sure all the keys needed are available. Unlock padlocks on electric panels, hatches, sheds and garage doors. After that, leave a note to the location of the key. Inspectors and buyers do not want to perform a search in your home.
- Keep pets out of sight and safe. Crates are OK, but the back yard is not. Inspectors have to walk all around the home. The answer is to take your pets with you or board them for a few hours with a friend. Leaving them inside with a note not to let them out is risky. Once the buyers arrive, there are often a lot of people in and out of the house. Keeping an eye on your best friend is a big job for an inspector who is trying to do a thorough home inspection. No inspector wants to be responsible for anyone loosing their animal. Animals get spooked by strangers and are unpredictable.
- Minimize Stored items. In other words; make sure stored items are not in an inspectors way. Inspections are a “visual analysis.” Inspector need to access outlets, walls, floors, windows and doors.
- Leave notes for anything unusual. It just keeps everybody waiting if the inspector has to find things. If the crawl space hatch is under a rug or in a closet, leave a note. If the thermostat is behind a picture or in a bookcase, leave a note. In conclusion, return trips for this is not something you want to be responsible for since it costs money!
Call us for a full brochure with other helpful information such as, How To Find a Five Star Home Inspector, Radon Testing, What a Home Inspection Report should Include and Look Like, plus even more. 502-894-8644
