Buying a home is often a long and stressful task. There are many options that you, and the seller, must navigate through. Deciding on location, finding the house, financing a huge investment – all of it leaves you with questions, including, what steps are actually required in home buying process?

            Even though there are a lot of necessary steps to home buying, an optional one that you should take is getting the home inspected before buying. Even though a home inspection is not required, it could save you thousands of dollars by finding any issues in the house before closing. On top of potentially uncovering any safety issues, a home inspection can give the buyer reassurance and peace-of-mind that they know they’re purchasing a safe home. For the buyer, if you do get the house inspected and there are issues, this provides leverage and brings you negotiating power. The average cost of a home inspection is $328 according to homeadvisor.com, which is a small investment compared to potential issues that could result in thousands you have to spend.

            Even though there is no downside to a home inspection, people are still hesitant about getting one. People assume an inspection will delay the sale process but it can be done any time after the buyer has accepted the seller’s offer, and it only takes a couple of hours, depending on the size of the house. Usually home inspections go from 3-6 hours and the inspector looks at over 1,600 things in, and around, the house. Another misconception about getting the house inspected is that it’s only needed for older houses. Even though older houses do have a higher chance of having problems, newer houses can have problems due to mistakes made in the original construction, or just lack of maintenance to the property. Home inspections can be a great tool to save both sides money, as well as future headaches from having to deal with unexpected problems. Make sure you ask your realtor for a recommendation during your home buying process.