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Who’s On Your Team When You’re Buying A House For The First Time?

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Buying a house for the first time can seem like a daunting process. And if you don’t think so, just wait for everyone to tell you so. However, the closing process always seems to be the most trivial part of the entire journey. Even after your real estate agent or mortgage officer warns you on what to expect, it still might seem confusing. Here are some tips and information to help clear up those muddy waters.

Choose Your Team Carefully

Before we even get into the details of what to expect when you’re closing, let’s first talk about your team. Your team will include your real estate agent, your mortgage office, your home inspector, and sometimes your title agent. I say sometimes because most times the seller chooses the title company and you have no say, but ideally they act like their on your team too.

Your Mortgage Officer

You may not realize how important these people are until you’re knee-deep in the process. If your mortgage officer does their job right, you’ll know ahead of time what documents and information you’ll need to have on hand. Not just when the lending company needs it, but much further in advance. You will have to search for, pull, print, save, etc. all the various documents, which takes time. And life goes on, which means you don’t always have a lot of time. A good mortgage office will give you all this information as soon as she can so you can have as much time as possible getting it all together.

Your Real Estate Agent

Your real estate agent isn’t just the person showing you the houses. This is the person walking you through every piece of document you sign from beginning to end. The real estate agent sets the expectations and highly impacts your experience. You need someone you know, like, and trust on your team so choose wisely.

Your Home Inspector

Lastly, your home inspector is also on your team. Some will definitely want to argue this point. Some will say the home inspector is on the seller’s team to get the house sold. Some will say their on your team to find issues with the house before you buy it. Some will say the home inspector is just there to kill the deal. The truth is, the home inspector really is on your team. At least a good one will be. The goal is to give you as much information as possible about your home before you buy it. This includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. But in the end, a good home inspector will leave you feeling confident about your knowledge in the home you want to purchase as they walk you through their findings.

You would be hard-pressed to find a home inspector whose work actually reflects these notions. However, here at Divinity Inspection Services, we believe our customer feedback speaks for itself. Our five-star reviews on Google say more than we ever could, so make sure you take a look!

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Who Should Attend The Home Inspection?

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As a home inspector, I often get asked who should attend the home inspection? The answer is fairly simple. Anyone who is involved in the transaction of the home for sale should attend the home inspection. This includes the real estate agents, the buyer, and the seller.

What you will learn at a home inspection

During a home inspection, the inspector will inspect the entire home. The inspector will record the condition of everything in the house and also detail any issues or concerns that might arise. A good inspector will educate you on the home and give you guidance on the condition.

Why the real estate agents should be there

Both real estate agents have a client to represent. Both agents should be there to record the findings of the inspection, ask any questions that might arise, and guide their clients in which questions they can ask.

Why the seller and the buyer should be there

If you find a seller doesn’t want the buyers to attend the inspection, that’s a big red flag. Every buyer has the right to learn about the house from the expertise of a home inspection. And since most buyers are the ones paying for the home inspection, it doesn’t really make sense that you wouldn’t attend.

During our home inspections, the more the merrier! We want everyone to feel comfortable attending, asking questions, and learning about the home. We inspect absolutely everything, including attics, crawl spaces, and the roof. Book your home inspection anytime with us online or by giving us a call!

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How To Prevent Flooding In Your House

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We thought the rainy season was over, but we were wrong! Tampa is still in for quite a bit more, and already it seems we have a pretty active hurricane season. If you haven’t already noticed the flooding all over the area, you certainly will soon. Here are a few things you can do to prevent flooding in your house.

Elevate your important things in the garage

If flooding occurs around your home, likely the first place the water will get into is your garage. Even if your garage is unorganized, get the important things off the ground.If water does enter, at the very least, you won’t have to worry about anything important getting ruined.

Keep sandbags on hand

If water is already at your door then you may have lost the battle. However, if you’ve noticed an influx in the rain and a potential for flooding, having sandbags on hand can make all the difference. Before the rain, put the sandbags out around the house where the flooding would occur.

Dig a trench

This is certainly going the extra mile but might be necessary. If you find your yard is completely saturated and more rain is headed your way, a trench would help your lawn drain and could prevent flooding into your home.

Depending on how much rain and the potential for flooding, extreme action could be necessary. The idea is to prevent flooding in your home from happening instead of having to deal with the after-damage. Don’t forget that during our home inspections we’ll be able to tell you if the house has had any flood damage.

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Do I need a Prelisting Home Inspection?

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During the process of selling a home the purchasers will require a home inspection. If your home will eventually have a home inspection done, why do you need a prelisting home inspection? How do you know when you should be considering paying for a home inspection before you put your house up for sale? These are common questions we run into with home owners. What many don’t know is the time, money, and headache a prelisting home inspection can save.

Who needs a Prelisting Home Inspection

Not everyone needs to have their home inspected before listing their home for sale. In fact, you could argue that most people don’t. We won’t argue that most people do, but we want you to be able to make an informed decision before bypassing this option. Here are some indications to consider before deciding:

  • You doubt the condition of your home, whether it be the home’s entirety or something specific
  • If you need to identify and fix major problems before listing the home for sale / uncover any potential “deal breakers”
  • You want ease of mind by knowing what any home inspection might uncover before entering the selling process
  • If you want to speed up the sales process

 

As you can see the list is long and we can go into more detail. Give us a call if you are considering getting a prelisting home inspection done and we are happy to offer our guidance.

Benefits of a Prelisting Home Inspection

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions above then it’s time to seriously consider getting a prelisting home inspection. Let us explain how it works and some of the direct benefits you can expect, both for you personally and for the purchaser, as a result of a home inspection.

First, a home inspector will inspect your home from top to bottom before you list your home on the market. The inspector will write up a full report of any minor or major issues with your home. You then have the option to address these issues before listing your house or leave everything as is. No matter what, the decision is yours to make. Either way you can work your decision into the listing price. If you choose not to repair any major issues you will have to compensate this into the listing price. If you do choose to repair any major issues then you might be able to increase the listing price of the home. Ask your agent to help you determine what is best for your situation. Both the report and overview can be made available to real estate professionals and prospective buyers.

With a home inspection report, you have now completed a major step in the home buying process. Prospective buyers can have ease of mind because they already reviewed your inspection report. Some buyers, if they are satisfied with the report, will choose not to have the home inspected a second time. This makes the entire process faster. If buyers decide to have a second inspection done you can rest easy knowing you already have all of the information.

Share or not, you cannot hide

That being said, keep in mind that you do not have to share the prelisting inspection report with anyone. Especially if you have addressed or repaired any issues, there may be no benefit to sharing these previous flaws with prospective buyers. To clarify – you should never try to hide major issues in the home from any agents or prospective buyers. Being upfront about the condition of the home will help to eliminate conditional offers or issues with negotiations, resulting in the seller having to sell the home more than once because the buyer has changed their mind.

If you are interested in scheduling a prelisting home inspection today, start by scheduling your inspection directly on our website! Please call us with any specific questions you might have.

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The 5 Best Home Updates

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You’re looking around your home and wondering, “What should I update?”. Better yet – what do you need to update? Maybe it feels like everything or maybe it feels like nothing, either way we’ve got a simple guide of the some of the best home updates. These are especially effective if your goal is to increase your home’s value. Whether you plan to put your home into this current seller’s market or potentially sell your home down the road, these updates will only be beneficial.

Minor Bathroom Remodel

Not every remodel has to be a complete gut and replace. In fact, very minor but effective touches can make all the difference in the world! Update your fixtures such as the hardware. A new toilet seat can go a very long way. If you want to do something a little bigger, add a window. Bathrooms with windows are significantly more appealing to buyers. Re-caulking your bathtub is also an easy DIY project that can put a finishing touch on an old bathroom.

Landscaping

If you watch Flip or Flop on HGTV you will notice how they always talk about the importance of good landscaping. Women, it’s like putting on lipstick. It’s a finishing touch but one that is most noticeable. Men, it’s like getting the right TV stand or mount. It’s just necessary to support an already valuable piece of property. Landscaping has a 100% return at resale every single time.

New Paint

Oh what a fresh coat of paint will do! Do not use the pain to hide any major repairs, such a water leaks. They will be discovered during inspection anyways and trying to make it look like a cover-up will only reflect poorly on you. However, a fresh coat of paint can make any room feel updated almost instantly. Consider painting the exterior of the home as well to increase the curb-appeal.

Replacement Windows

If eyes are the windows to the soul then the same goes for your home. Windows do so much for a house! Sunlight, especially in Tampa bay where we have plenty of sunlight, can make your home look bigger and feel more inviting. The warmth of the sunlight adds a warmth to the home. So make sure the next time you leave your home so your agent can do a showing, open up all the shades. Updating your windows can be expensive but the investment will yield a return during resale.

Updating Perception

Selling a home has a lot to do with perception. When a person steps into a house they start imaging what it would look like for them if they lived there. This is very hard to do if the house is already filled with what it looks like while you live there. In other words, you need to de-clutter and organize. Pack some of your belongings away and clear some of the space around the home.

Don’t forget you also have the option to do a pre-listing inspection. Our pre-listing inspections will inform you of any issues about your home before you list it and also shows home-buyers that you are serious about selling. Call us today to schedule one!