Why it is Important to Find a Non-Alarmist Home Inspector

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! We’re all familiar with this classic fairytale about a chicken who riles up an entire barnyard full of animals with fears of a pending apocalypse after an acorn drops on his head. This type of false alarm makes for a charming children’s story but is no fun at all if it’s your home inspector sounding the warning.

The truth is, it’s not the home inspector’s job to scare you out of buying a home.

The Job of an Inspector

The best home inspectors in Philadelphia provide an objective, third-party assessment of a home and its major systems. A good inspector will do the following:

• Present the facts about the house
• Explain any problems they find accurately and understandably
• Provide insights into possible remedies when reasonable
• Raise red flags about potential safety issues
• Contribute objective perspective and balanced explanations

With a quality inspection report in hand, buyers have a “user’s manual” for their new home. They’ll know if an outlet needs to be replaced, if the chimney is allowing gas to backflow into the house, or if the roof is leaking. They’ll also know that the outlet and chimney problems can be fixed with inexpensive parts from the hardware store and that the roof needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. That’s information you need and can use.

What buyers don’t need is a telephone-book thick report full of nit-picky details that fills their hearts and minds with dread and contributes to the general unease about the home. No home is perfect; every house has problems. Savvy buyers know this. Smart buyers have also probably seen many of those unimportant problems themselves as they’ve walked through the home.

Critical Info for Buyers

What buyers need to know is this:

• Are there any safety issues? Is the foundation sinking?
• Are there expensive problems that might affect the purchase price or cause second thoughts about the deal? A home that needs a new roof, foundation repairs, all new appliances, or a new HVAC system certainly deserves extra consideration.
• Are there unseen problems? Home inspectors look beneath the surface to uncover invisible problems. If the house has insufficient insulation, water leaking into the crawl space, or electrical wiring that’s not up to code, the inspector will find out.
• What matters and what doesn’t? Houses are complicated and there’s always something that needs to be done. Good home inspectors educate buyers about what’s important and what isn’t, a perspective that’s often helpful, especially to new home buyers who might think every problem is a sign that the “sky is falling.”
• What’s it going to cost to own this home in the short and long term? You might not have thought about this, but a quality home inspection report is an invaluable tool for homeowners. Buying a home is expensive, but so is owning one. Home inspectors give buyers a good idea about maintenance needs on the home going forward so they can plan and budget accordingly.

Information, Not Fear

At Eagle Inspections, we’re all about providing our clients with accurate, instructive, non-alarmist home inspections. We believe that quality, accurate home inspections in Philadelphia lead to wiser, more informed decisions. And, when savvy buyers have the information they need to make good decisions, they sleep better at night. We’re not here to sound the alarm, we’re here to assess, inform, and educate. For peace of mind, schedule your home inspection with Eagle Inspections today.