One of the many benefits of a home inspection is balance. A good home inspection will provide a balance between what you are spending on the home today and what you can anticipate spending on the home immediately, in the short term, and on a reserve-term basis. When the offer is well above asking and inspections are waived the balance is gone. Let’s say the buyer “won” by offering $100,000+ over asking.  This likely caused the down payment to increase and the mortgage payment to increase by $500+/month or an additional $6000/year. What if a big-ticket item needs replacement shortly after moving in, where do you get the money?  

Some big-ticket items: 

New roof $5,000-$20,000+ 

New furnace $4,000-$8,000 

New air conditioning $3,000- $8,000 

New boiler $5,000-$10,000 

New water heater $900-$1,500 

Foundation repair $500 – $10,000+ 

Structural damage, plumbing issues, electrical issues, water damage, and wood-destroying insect damage can all run into thousands of dollars. Unless the buyer is prepared, these repairs can present a financial disaster. 

You may not be able to negotiate repairs as we did in other markets, however, the home inspection will provide you with balance by allowing you to prepare for the possible failure of a component or system by turning a surprise into an anticipated event. The inspection will also allow you to prioritize what repairs or upgrades you wish to address first. 

Remember, home inspections were created to let buyers know what they were buying and were not originally intended as a means to renegotiate the purchase price.