Are you getting your home inspected soon?
Wondering how you can make sure your house is inspection ready?
If you’re selling your house, a potential buyer will often want to have your home inspected before they close on it. When this is the case, it’s absolutely necessary that you prepare well for the home inspection. You should ensure that a home inspector can do their job right and will like what they see.
Luckily, we’ve got you covered. Below we’ll list a few home inspection tips that can help you prepare for your next home inspection.
1. Start Cleaning
One of the best things you can do to prepare for a home inspection is to make sure your home is spotless. You need to clean your home from top to bottom and make sure it looks appealing to inspectors.
Cleaning your home creates a great first impression and makes it seem like you’ve taken great care of your home. It will make it easier for them to focus on the other aspects of your home and its condition.
2. Check the Outside of Your Home
While cleaning the inside of your home is important, don’t forget that the outside of your house can leave just as much of a lasting impression. Just a little bit of curb appeal can go a long way.
You’ll want to ensure you’ve checked, cleaned, and repaired all blemishes on the outside of your house including those on the roof, the doors, the siding, and the trim. You should also ensure your grass is mowed and that any plants or garden areas are well-maintained as well.
3. Make Necessary Replacements and Repairs
To get the best results from a home inspection, it’s important that you make any repairs and replacements that you can before the inspector shows up.
You’ll want to ensure you replace any light bulbs that have gone out and cleaned or replaced any HVAC filters as necessary. You should also ensure that your home has working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
Finally, make sure that all equipment or hardware in your home works. Check for water damage and leaks and ensure that toilets and any other plumbing fixtures are doing their job properly.
4. Watch Out For Pests
Before a home inspection, you should ensure that any pest problems have been taken care of. The presence of pests can be a problem, and if left unchecked, may scare home buyers away.
It’s not a bad idea to have a pest control expert come by before you have a home inspection. They can help you ensure that there are aren’t any signs of termites, rodents, or other creatures that can cause problems in your home.
5. Keep Your Utilities On
Before a home inspection, you should also ensure that all of your utilities are turned on and functioning properly. Water, gas, and electric services should all be available when an inspector is in your home.
Additionally, it’s also important that you keep your pilot lights on and ignited as well. This will allow the inspector to check the functioning of your gas fireplace, gas stove, and furnace.
6. Make It Accessible
When preparing your home for an inspection you need to make sure that all areas of your home can be easily accessed by inspectors. You need to make sure all paths are clear to attics, garages, and storage buildings and that a home inspector can get into any room as needed.
Additionally, make sure the electrical box, the furnace, and HVAC equipment are easy to access as well.
7. Label the Electrical Panel
Another way that you can prepare for a home inspection is to label your home’s electrical panel. Each switch that is on the fuse box should be labeled properly and it should be very clear what each one does.
Clear labeling will make things much easier for inspectors who are in your home and can make the home inspection process go smoothly if the electrical panel needs to be used at any point.
8. Have a Plan For Your Pets
Another thing to do when preparing your home for inspection is to make sure that your pets aren’t in the way. Ideally, you should make sure that your pets aren’t on the property while your home is inspected and are instead kept offsite.
Letting them stay with a friend or at a nearby pet daycare facility can be less stressful on your pets as well as on the inspector.
9. Gather Your Documents
When getting your home inspected, it can also help quite a bit to have any relevant documents ready for them to look at.
If you have had any recent remodeling done or if any appliances or equipment have been added, the invoices related to this can be a big help for an inspector. It can also help to have any relevant warranty information ready as well.
10. Be Ready On the Big Day
One last step to remember when preparing your home for inspection is to make sure that you’re prepared for their arrival. Make sure that you know exactly when they’ll be showing up and make sure that you’re ready to let them in right away.
You’ll likely want to have your home prepared for inspection 1-2 hours before the inspector shows up. Once they’re there, plan to be away from the home for around 3 hours, as this is how long an inspection will usually take.
Using These Tips to Become Inspection Ready
If you want to have a smooth closing process, you need to make sure that your home is inspection ready. By following the steps above you’ll help the inspection go as smoothly as possible and will prevent any problems from occurring that could delay your home sale.
Looking for great home inspectors? Contact us today to schedule an inspection and to learn more about what we can do for you.