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What To Expect During A Home Inspection|Buyer & Seller Tips - YouTube
Channel: Living in Western Washington
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- Are you buying or selling your home
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and wondering to yourself,
what is a home inspection?
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Why is it even important?
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Well then this is the video for you.
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(upbeat music)
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Hey everyone, welcome back to my channel.
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I'm Ledeana Strand with Homes by Strand
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and Remax Town and Country
in Port Orchard, Washington.
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Now again, if this is
your first time here,
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don't forget to hit that
subscribe button down below
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and the little bell icon
to be notified about
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my future videos, to stay
up to date on all things
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real estate in Kitsap County, Washington.
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And you're definitely
going to wanna stick around
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to the very end, as I'll
be giving you access
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to my free ultimate home
buyer's guide, so stay tuned.
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Now in today's video, I'm
gonna be talking to you about
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what a home inspection is
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and why it might be important to you,
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whether you're buying or selling.
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Now, what is a home inspection?
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Well, a home inspection is
when a home inspector comes
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into the home and looks at
everything from the top down.
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They're going to look at, you know,
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it from an objective point of view.
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They have no preconceived notions on how
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the sellers been living in the home.
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They have no preconceived notions
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on what work has or hasn't
been done on the home.
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They're just looking at it
as an outsiders perspective.
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Now, here in Washington
State, inspectors do not have
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to be licensed, which in my
opinion, is not a good thing.
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Now, a lot of other states require it,
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but here, you know, here we don't,
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and I think it's very
important that they are.
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So, you wanna confirm
that the inspector you're,
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you know, you're gonna hire is licensed.
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Now, a licensed home inspector
has all the proper training,
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knowledge, and expertise, and experience
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to look at many different
aspect of the home.
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Now, according to the American
Society of Home Inspectors,
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these are the key factors in a home,
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that a home inspectors gonna check.
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They're going to check your
heating system, your furnace,
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they're gonna check your
central air conditioning,
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if you have one, they're
also going to be checking
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all the interior plumbing and electrical,
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the crawl space if the home
has one, and the attic as well.
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Now, you'll wanna keep in
mind that they can't see
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what's behind the walls,
they're gonna be checking
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what they can see visually,
they're gonna check the roof,
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they may even be able to
estimate how old the roof is,
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if the seller has not disclosed how old,
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or maybe doesn't know how old the roof is.
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The inspector can't
give you an exact date,
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but they'll sometimes
give you an estimate.
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This way you'll know
whether or not the roof
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will be expected to be
replaced in a few years.
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Now, they're also gonna check
the walls, the ceilings,
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and the floors for any
obvious damages or defects.
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They're gonna check the
windows and the doors,
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do they all open and close
and function properly.
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They're also gonna check
the foundation make sure
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it's nice and solid and
that there's no cracks
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that you should be concerned about.
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They're also gonna go
down and check everything
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in the crawl space, this
includes any plumbing,
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electrical, finished or
unfinished work, the foundation,
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and if, you know, there's a basement,
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whether or not there's
any water intrusions.
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Now as I said earlier, you know,
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clearly the home inspector's
not going to come
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into the home and start
tearing out the walls
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and the flooring and all that kinda stuff.
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They're just gonna go on
their visual inspection.
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So, a lot of times a home inspector,
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if they see something
that's a possible defect
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that they're a little bit concerned about,
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they're certainly going to alert you,
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and then you can bring in
somebody that's licensed
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in that area, to investigate it further.
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Now, you might be asking yourself,
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well, who pays for the home inspection?
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So, here in my local area,
it is typically the buyer
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who pays for the inspection.
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Now, in the case where
the sellers have done
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the home inspection prior
to listing, you know,
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they can certainly offer
you the report and then
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they can also tell you
everything that they repaired.
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But I'm always gonna
recommend, as a buyer,
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that you have your own
inspection done, you know,
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you didn't vet the
inspector that they used,
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so you wanna be able to
pick an inspector yourself.
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The other good thing about
having a home inspection,
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is that you want to be able
to walk through the home
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with the inspector and ask questions,
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and really get to know the
home that you're buying.
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A lot of times, once you go
under contract, you know,
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you've only visited the home,
you know, once, maybe twice.
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So, this is gonna give you
another chance to really
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dive deep into the home and
spend some time in the home.
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Now, another question I get asked a lot,
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is how much is a home inspection?
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Well, that cost really can vary
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a great deal depending on a few things.
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Number one, where are you located?
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Now, here in Kitsap
County, the average cost
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of home inspection, can range anywhere
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from 350 to about 750 dollars.
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Now, that big range, you might be saying,
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"well my goodness, it's a difference
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"of 500 dollars, why is that?"
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The other aspect of it,
it's going to be the size
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and the age of your
home, and the location,
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but 350 to 750 is about
what you can expect
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to spend on a home inspection.
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So whether you're buying or selling,
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I suggest calling the
home inspection companies.
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Vetting them, and asking them, you know,
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what they're gonna charge,
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and what is included in that cost.
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Now, some additional cost in addition
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to the main home inspection
might be further investigation
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into other areas or possible
defects in the home.
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You know, those might include, lead paint
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or lead piping testing, mold testing,
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or if it has an oil tank
that is still being used
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to heat the furnace, you
might wanna have it inspected,
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to make sure that there are no leaks.
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And other item that's common to inspect,
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both here in Washington State,
and I know in other parts
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of the country, is the drain
field for the septic system.
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If you're purchasing a
home with a septic system,
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you wanna bring in a company
that can scope the drain field,
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as those can be quite costly to repair.
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Or if the home is hooked up to city sewer,
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you may wanna have a
sewer company to scope out
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the sewer line to make
sure that it's clear,
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and that no repairs need to be made.
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Now the last question I get asked a lot,
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is how long will the home inspection take?
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Now, the average is two to four hours,
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and that's going to
depend on several factors.
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Number one, the size and age of the home.
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Again, larger homes are gonna take longer.
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It's also going to depend
on how many questions
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the buyer or the seller ask,
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while they're going through the home.
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Now, if you're person
has a lot of questions,
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which is fine, you're
allowed to ask any questions
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that you'd like, that's certainly going to
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add time to the home inspection.
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The number of defects in the home
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is also going to affect how long it takes.
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Now certainly, the more defects you find,
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the longer it's gonna take,
because a lot of times,
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a home inspector will be
explaining those defects to you
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as you're following them through the home,
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you know, through the home inspection.
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And the last thing that's
gonna affect the timing,
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is how prepared the home is by the seller
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for the home inspection.
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I hope this has shed some light for you on
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the home inspection process
when buying or selling a home.
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If you have any questions
or if there's anything
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I can help you with, please
don't hesitate to ask.
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Even if you're not in
Kitsap County, Washington,
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feel free to shoot me
a message and I'll get
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you connected with a
great agent in your area.
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Now as promised, there is link
down below in the description
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to this video, to my
ultimate home buyers guide.
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Now, don't forget to click the
link to get your free copy.
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And don't forget to like this video
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and share it with your family and friends.
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Thank you for watching and make it
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a great home buying and selling day.
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See ya next time.
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