Integra's Home Inspection Services
Buyer’s Inspection
The home buyer’s inspection service is what most people think of when they hear the term home inspection. Nearly all real estate contracts have clauses that require the seller to permit an independent inspection of the home by an third party of the buyer’s own choosing. The buyer can request repair of any major defects discovered, defined as having a substantial detriment to health, safety, or function. Such defects include things like foundation problems, undisclosed prior fire damage, malfunctioning furnaces, widespread mold infestations, and rotted subflooring.
Home inspections are first and foremost concerned with finding this class of severe problem. They are the problems with the greatest potential to cause harm to health or pocketbook.
See this helpful resource: TIPS FOR HOMEBUYERS
Existing Homes
Inspection of established homes (over a year old) focused on finding significant problems that can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars after the sale. There are three goals.
- Arm you with information you need to make an informed purchase decision with confidence and peace of mind–the highest priority of a home inspection. You and your agent use my prioritized report to create a formal Repair Request for the seller to respond to. Typically this contains the most expensive defects to repair as well as those affecting health or safety.
- Create a prioritized to-do list of repairs not listed in the Repair Request. You can attack these defects and maintenance items after moving in and having the time and money to deal with.
- Help you understand the home better, its maintenance needs, and components that could use improvement down the road. Attending the inspection gives you exclusive access to additional information beyond the report’s contents.
New Construction
This kind of buyer’s inspection is intended for brand-new homes and is typically scheduled right before your final walk-through. There are two primary goals.
- Find defects and deficiencies in construction and installation so the builder can quickly address them. A surprising number of defects turn up during these inspections. Many of these things were forgotten or overlooked during construction, such as a window missing sealant or unconnected plumbing. While I don’t typically find major or dangerous problems, builders grudgingly appreciate an independent inspection. This saves them expensive warranty claims later and you much headache and inconvenience. Some defects, such as roof issues, can turn into significant problems down the road unless caught and corrected early.
- Help you understand the home better, its maintenance needs, and components that could use improvement down the road.
Older Homes
Although inspecting old homes is essentially the same as with newer homes, extra care and time are needed to inspect older homes. Unless properly upgraded, electrical and plumbing systems are often out-of-date and require significant expense to modernize. Many older homes in our area are well-built but suffer from deterioration of obsolete or neglected exterior materials such as fiberboard or even asbestos siding. Other issues include lack of attic insulation or ventilation and outdated windows.
I can help identify these issues for you to form a more accurate idea of the future costs of upgrading and modernizing the home.
Contact Information
Business Hours
Mon-Sat: 6am-11pm
Sun: 2pm-7pm
Address
600 Boulevard South Sw Suite 104
Huntsville, AL 35802
