Detroit Real Estate

Livonia, Plymouth, Wayne County Homes for Sale

Northville Home Inspection tips

Next week one of my clients is having an inspection on a Livonia home and here are my Northville Home inspection tips for any first time home buyer.

Northville home inspections

Follow the home inspector around and listen to them. The home inspector usually has some great tips for future maintenance and care of your home.
Look yourself and point out your concerns. Home inspectors do miss things. So talk about things that concern you so the Northville home inspector will look for those items
Don't take everything for absolute truth. I have had some home inspectors do get things wrong. I have had home inspectors say something is mold and it is not after testing.
Just because it is now a building code, means that it has to be done immediately or that the seller should pay for it. Building codes are constantly changing and most homes are not up to code. For example smoke detectors are now supposed to be wired in. Does that mean that the old ones don't protect you? Another example, the amount of insulation recommended is much higher than it was years ago. The seller sometimes has lived with it that way for years. So if they haven't invested the money to improve the house by putting more insulation in, they may not do that for you as a new home buyer.
I don't go to your home inspection. I want it to be between you and the home inspector. I never want it to be said that I influenced the home inspector. I want you to get all the information from the home inspector and then tell me what you want to get fixed.
When doing a home inspection you are looking for items that can cause you serious health, structural, and safety issues. Along with anything that is going to cost you a lot of money to fix. A lot of money is subjective. So sometimes we may ask a seller to fix something that cost $300 or sometimes $1000. If you can do that $300 repair yourself for $75 you may not want to ask the seller for it. It's up to you.
Don't ask for simple stuff like getting a door stop fixed. I almost had a Northville home buyer lose a house over a GFI plug. It would have cost a $100 to put in. It became a major issue and the buyers almost lost the house. So the key is to pick your battles.
It boils down to how much money you have, how handy you are, and how serious or what is the level of repair. The question you ask yourself is it worth fighting over?