ventilation and plumbing. Kitchen appliances (if part of the purchase): Properly working devices and correct installation. Fire safety: Smoke detectors, fireplaces, and stoves are in place and operating. Pest inspection. Presence of wood-boring and other insects, molds, and fungi. If you live in certain high-risk areas, ordering an additional service — for example, earthquake, tornado, or flood inspection is wise. The specialist will help you estimate the property's resistance during natural disasters. Your inspector may recommend that you seek a specialized opinion, such as a structural engineer, in case weakness is suspected in bearing walls. Don’t procrastinate and wait to get this done. There have been situations in which the closing meeting had to be postponed because of failure to properly address discovered inspection issues in time. A good expert is hard to find. Choosing the right inspector is the key to a thorough report. You may search online, paying attention to reviews of that inspector. Many real estate websites have a list of professionals with ratings and reviews. Could you ask your friends and family for a recommendation? An excellent source of recommendations is the real estate agent with whom you’re working — your buyer’s agent, not the seller’s agent. Some buyers don’t attend the inspection along with the inspector, looking only at the inspection company's report. This is a common mistake during the home-buying process. This is one of your first opportunities to tour the house fully with a house inspection expert and see its features and condition up close. The second most common mistake is to go to the inspection and be too afraid to ask questions about what you see. Some
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