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The Home Inspection Report: How to Utilize the Homebuyer’s Playbook

THE HOME INSPECTION REPORT: HOW TO UTILIZE THE HOMEBUYER'S PLAYBOOK
 August 12, 2024 |  Home Maintenance, Home Inspection, Just For Fun |  new homeowner, first-time homeowner, home seller, real estate

As we enter into the fall, the college football and NFL seasons are finally underway. Practice is over, and the time for speculation and prognostication has ended. Now it’s time for players to make plays, and for all of the hours put in during the offseason to lead to some tangible results.

In other words, it’s game time.

Success at any level of football ultimately goes back to the playbook: both the team’s knowledge of the plays and whether those plays fit the team’s personnel. The right playbook really can be the difference between just another mediocre season and taking home some hardware, so you can bet that fans everywhere are hoping their teams did their homework heading into this season.

In our everyday lives, we usually do not have the benefit of a playbook to help us make our decisions. We don’t have a personalized guide we can follow to file our taxes, no coaches telling us which car to buy, and no scouting report that outlines how we should raise our kids. But when it comes to buying and maintaining a home (shockingly), we sort of do.

When purchasing a house, buyers order a home inspection from a certified, third-party home inspector and the buyer then receives a powerful tool: something sometimes called a home inspection report a.k.a. the homebuyer’s playbook. For buying and maintaining a home, there is no tool as important or valuable as an inspection report. Today, let’s discuss how you can use your report for every step of the homeownership journey!

Read the Scouting Report
In football, players receive a scouting report from their coaches so that they can have an understanding of who they will be playing that week and which plays they’ll be focusing on for the game plan. In this respect, the home inspection report is a great parallel for a scouting report.

A good home inspection report will contain pictures of the home’s exterior, interior, basement, attic, and any elements that may be of concern to the homebuyer. A really good home inspection will even emphasize areas that may require more costly or time-sensitive repair work, along with any safety concerns. In short, the inspection report is a tool for buyers to gain a broad understanding of the house that they’ve placed an offer on.

With a home inspection report, buyers can then make a few informed decisions. First, if no major repairs are needed the buyer can proceed with their initial offer with a bit more confidence and say hello to their new home! If needed repairs were discovered during the inspection, the buyer can negotiate a lower price with the seller, or the seller can make the repairs themselves. Finally, in the case where the buyer and seller can’t come to an agreement, the buyer always has the option to walk away from the deal.

Buying a house without a home inspection is kind of like walking into a game without scouting the other team. You’re likely in for some surprises.

Dive in to Strength and Conditioning
After closing and moving in, a home’s inspection report turns into the home-owner’s playbook by acting as a guide for ongoing maintenance needs, needed repairs, and upgrades or renovations. Whether you’re looking to flip, planning to raise your kids there, or thinking about spending your twilight years in your new home, it’s a wise move to develop a maintenance and improvement plan.

According to the Census Bureau, it is estimated that the average American will move to a new home 11.7 times throughout their lives. Whatever your plans, life has a habit of tossing in a few twists and turns to keep things interesting, which is why it’s always a good idea to plan on leaving your home in better shape than you found it.

This can be compared to how players put in work during the off-season in their strength and condition regimen. Players work hard in the weight room so that they can succeed once Week 1 arrives. In the same way, homeowners can expect a better experience when it comes time to sell if they kept up with preventative repairs and maintenance, and made appropriate repairs and upgrades as outlined in their home inspection report.

Once you’re ready to say goodbye to your home, your inspection report will be the perfect time capsule that shows just how far your property has come. Any team that ignores strength and conditioning will be in a world of hurt once the season finally comes around. As a homeowner, use your inspection report as a starting guide for improvements that will bring a strong ROI down the road.

Study the Playbook with Your Coach
As a final point, the home inspection report is too often looked at as the final step of a homebuyer’s relationship with their inspector - but this does not have to be the case! Home inspectors see new houses every week and can become well acquainted with local builders, learning both their strengths and their weaknesses. For any questions that they encounter in their “playbook,” or any oddities they discover in the home, a good home inspector will be available long after closing to provide additional insights and guidance.

To stay up-to-date on maintenance concerns, homeowners may want to contact their inspector for subsequent inspections, and if their inspection was on a brand new home, they should definitely contact their inspector for a builder’s warranty inspection after a year has passed. Your inspector can be an ongoing source of knowledge and advice if you want them to be! Use your resources to their fullest. You’ll thank yourself come gameday.

For championship-level quality, stick with National Property Inspections for all your residential, commercial, or specialty inspection service needs! Call NPI before you buy