Why Hire a Calgary Home Inspector Before You Sell?

Why should you hire a Calgary home inspector before selling your home? Simply put, a home inspection saves you money, protects you, and gives you a powerful bargaining chip when it comes time for negotiations.

A professional home inspector’s job is to look for any hidden defects or flaws in a home, and make recommendations on how to get them repaired. They will go through a checklist of any possible problems a house could face. They will run tests, examine roofs, crawlspaces, wiring, foundations, and report on any possible hazards. As well, a home inspector can help suggest ways to fix problems yourself, and point the way to experts for larger jobs. They can also rank and prioritize what needs to be corrected immediately versus what can wait.

Things a qualified Calgary Home Inspector will look for, while also including in their inspection report are:

• The roof, including tiles, vents, skylights, flashings, and chimneys.
• Water heating systems, pipes, drainage pumps, water shut off valves, and other parts of your plumbing system.
• Exterior portions of the home, including walls, doors, windows, stucco, and trim, as well as exterior structures like driveways, fences, vegetation, decks and porches.
• Electrical systems, such as wiring, breakers, service lines and meter boxes.
• Basements, foundations, and crawlspaces.
• Heating and cooling systems, as well as appliances like stoves and refrigerators.
• Fireplaces, insulation, as well as smoke detectors and CO detectors.

A home inspection report should include a comprehensive guide of all areas inspected, rate how severe any damage they find is, and suggest how these can be fixed. Many will also include how they made these observations (such as if they climbed up on the roof or used binoculars), and the weather and other conditions at the time of observation. Most will also include pictures in their report, pointing out exactly where the problem is.

Having a home inspection done by a qualified Calgary home inspector before listing your house is a smart move. You’ll know ahead of time what things need to be fixed, potentially saving you thousands during negotiations. You’ll be able to improve your home’s appearance and raise the property value significantly. It’ll protect you from liability if there are any safety issues you need to get repaired, as well as give you someone on your side when you can hand over a report showing the functionality of your home.