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Portland Home Inspection: What it Covers

by | Jun 10, 2019 | Buyer Tips | 0 comments

The home buying process isn’t complete without a home inspection. Your real estate agent will mention it. The lender will ask about it. Even your closer will make sure the Portland modern home you’re purchasing had an inspection.

Home inspections are important. No matter how much you trust the seller, there are some things you need to know about your Portland home before you purchase it.  While you’re not required to attend the inspection, it’s an excellent idea to do so.

So you’ll know what to expect, here are the basics that a typical home inspection covers:

  • Appliances. You will know if the appliances are in working order.
  • Electrical. The inspector makes sure the main panel, circuit breakers, lights, and outlets are working.
  • Exterior. An inspector looks for defects on the outside of the home, like problems with the wall covering, landscaping, trim, and exterior electrical outlets.
  • Garage. You don’t have to worry about what the garage is hiding. You will know if the slab, walls, vents, and entries have any problems that need to be addressed.
  • Home structure. The inspector checks the foundation, ceilings, floors, roof, and wall construction for any defects.
  • Plumbing inspection. Although inspectors do not check sewer systems, they can tell you if you need to do any work to toilets, showers, sinks, and faucets.  As an add on a sewer scope can be performed for extra peace of mind to make sure the line is not cracked or broken.
  • Roof and attic. The roof inspection is not a guarantee of its condition, but you will know what type of roof you have and what condition the roof covering, flashing, vents, and gutters are in.
  • Systems. They will also check the effectiveness of your air conditioner, duct work, fireplace, and heating system.
  • Radon.  Radon testing has become part of the norm in most areas.  This is typically an add on to the main inspection that measures your risk to the potentially hazardous exposure to radon gases.

A quality home inspector will look at every nook and cranny to gauge structure stability, present and potential dangers. But remember, a home inspection is not a guarantee or a warranty – it may not find everything.

No house is perfect, so you should expect your inspector to find some issues with the Portland home.  If significant problems are discovered, you can ask the seller to repair them, reduce the sale price or you can even back out of the deal without consequences, as long as your contract includes this contingency.  Just as a point of reference for both buyers and sellers, the typical repair concession during the transaction is about 1% of the sales price of the home.