Buying a house is a beautiful and exciting moment in everyone’s life. It is usually a big step and a very important event. You’ve found a place that looks perfect, you love the neighborhood, the price is acceptable, but it’s important to keep your feet back on the ground for a couple of more details. In all that euphoria, make sure not to forget a few basic, yet crucial things when it comes to acquiring a new property.
It’s easy to get carried away in all the excitement, so if you’re planning to start looking for a house, first check out these obligatory steps and keep them in mind, before you make the final decision. Even better, if it’s the first time you’re buying a house, and you simple don’t have much experience or time for it, you can always hire a reliable inspection company. Either way, these are the details you need to have before making the final step.
Start from the Bottom
Out sight, out of mind – so it’s often easy to forget about the basement. Still, it is literally in the foundation of the house, and therefore it’s really important to make sure it’s in a good condition. The thing that can cause the biggest problems is the potential basement moisture, so that’s the factors to pay attention to.
If you hire home inspectors like https://theinspectorscompany.com/, they will definitely check this one for you, but you can still see for yourself as well. Pay attention to the smell of dampness and the potential wetness of the walls. But if there is no such visible trace, pay attention to things like dehumidifiers, silica or buck which serve to absorb the dampness from the air and can thus point out to the possible problem.
Check the Drains and Plumbing
Make sure to turn on all the faucets. It may not be such a big expense and bother, but still, why not have all the facts and potential expenses on the table. You can also taste the water and make sure the pipes are okay and don’t throw some unwanted extras into your glass. It’s also good to know in advance if you’ll need to do something about them, get water filters and things like that.
Furthermore, don’t be lazy and flush all the toilets in the house. All these might seem like small, irrelevant items, but if more than of them don’t function, they can turn into a serious expense which can bring the purchase in question, and possibly lower the price. Finally, check the drains as well, as this has been known to cause problems as well. There may be a blockage in some point between the sewer line and the house, which is difficult to spot.
Check the Electrical Panel
Again, don’t be lazy to check this one as well, either personally, via inspecting company or both. The electrical panel should be neat and clean with no signs of amess. Any loose wires, or worse, the ones that just seem to hang free, not connected to anything, can be a signal that something is seriously wrong.
It could actually mean you can even expect to find live wiresinside the walls, which can definitely be a serious problem. Electricity is not something to play with, it can be really dangerous and cause significant damage, and thus expenses, if not functioning properly, so make sure to double check on this one.
These inspections may seem like an unnecessary expense, but when you think that they can potentially save you a lot of money on unexpected repairs, they start making sense.
