The offer is in. The vendor accepted. Both parties have signed your home purchase agreement. Now comes a house inspection, including a pest inspection to check for termites and other home pest problems. Your buyer’s contract provides a certain timeframe so you can get these issues covered. The scheduling starts immediately.
Say What? A house inspection isn’t part of the property appraisal process?
Not necessarily. Sensible home purchase agreements include a delay clause wherein the ultimate buy agreement is contingent to the home passing a thorough home inspection by a team of unbiased state approved professional home inspectors. However, there’s a distinction between a house appraisal, a house inspection, and a house pest inspection. When buying a home, Kelowna residents should take care to fully protect their prospective investment.
In this information, Natural Pest Solutions in Kelowna, BC. details a few of the top things you should look for when buying a new home.
Distinctions – Appraisal, Inspection, and Pest Prevention
Home appraisal and price negotiation come at the beginning of the property buying process. Inspections come just before finalizing your home purchasing agreement. But there’s an important distinction between a general home inspection and a pest inspection.The particular differences are as follows:
Home Appraisal –
Ordered by the lender to establish the fair market value of the given selection of real estate, a house appraisal is usually carried out via agreement between appraiser, lender and real estate agent. Although the seller may demand a higher selling price, he or she has no say in the appraisal process. The house appraisal process includes neither a house inspection nor a house pest inspection.
All home inspection reports must certainly be delivered to the homeowner within a specified timeframe as detailed by law or by an agreement between buyer and inspector. Home inspection reports typically involve the following items:
- Cooling and/or Heating System
- Electrical System
- Foundation Integrity
- Masonry Composition and Integrity
- Plumbing Components
- Roofing Materials and Roofing Integrity
- Structural Components, Both Interior and Exterior
- Home Pest Inspection –
Whereas a general home inspection seeks to make certain to anyone buying a home that the home is hazard free, in good repair, and is relatively energy-efficient, a house pest inspection determines the presence and/or the chance factor of:
- Termites and termite-related structural damage
- Ants and ant-related structural damage
- Bed bugs, fleas, rats, mice, roaches and other home pest problems
Please note that the termite-specific home pest inspection won’t necessarily include a check for additional possible home pest infestations. Take care to ensure your real estate inspection process includes not just a thorough inspection for wood destroying insects, but additionally an always check for: - Cockroaches
- Earwigs
- Fleas and Ticks
- Silverfish
- Spiders
- Stinging Insects
And other common Okanagan household pests
Home Pest Inspection – Final Call Before Closing Your Home Purchasing Agreement
If you really want to take advantage of an effective home purchasing agreement, consider asking the inspectors for permission to go to the inspection. Doing so serves as a shock call. There is no reason you should not be allowed the opportunity to see your prospective new house through the eyes of a professional home inspector or pest inspector.
Contributed by: Greg Clarke – Top Kelowna Realtor and Foremost expert in buying and selling homes in Kelowna and Vernon.