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What To Expect When You’re Closing On A House

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Closing on a house is one of the more tedious steps in the home buying process, even more so for a first time homebuyer. However, if you know what to expect and manage your expectations you will have a better experience. I’m sure your mortgage loan office or your real estate agent has told you what to expect when you’re closing on your home. But I thought a view from a home inspector might shed a unique light that you could benefit from.

The Home Inspection Process

Your home inspection is one of the bigger obstacles you will overcome to get to your closing. While many argue that a home inspection can make or break a deal, I encourage not to look at it that way. As your home inspector, our goal is to educate you as much as we can about your home before you buy it. The last thing you want to do is find a major repair that you have to address soon after you’ve spent all that money buying the house. And that’s what we want to avoid too. So, we will point out a bunch of little things. In fact, we’ll point out as much little things as we can because we just want to cover everything. But more importantly, we’ll point out any major concerns or issues that we find. How you address them with the seller is completely up to you.

The Closing Documents

I won’t bore you by talking about or breaking down your closing documents. Instead, I will warn you of all the documents you should be prepared to gather. Closing is a term used for the day you sign on your house. Essentially, you “close” on the home and it’s yours. However, the process itself starts much earlier. You’ll be asked to pull many documents from all over the place. If you have a good mortgage loan officer, they will provide you with a list of documents the lender will need way ahead of time. Hopefully, you’ll have more than enough time to get everything together. Because the more prepared you are, the faster you can close.

All The Signing

The statement “You’ll sign your life away” comes from this specific day. Unlike borrowing money for just about any other loan, this one in particular requires many, many signatures. So, on your actual day of closing, you’ll sit down with the title officer. Sometimes your real estate agent or mortgage officer will join you to help walk you through all the paperwork and answer any questions you might have. And as they walk you through what you’re signing, you just keep signing. And signing. And signing. And finally, when they have all the signatures they need and verify your deposit, notarize the documents, file them, etc. then you’re finally done! And you should walk out of there with the keys.

If you’ve purchased a house before then this information may seem mundane. But think back to the very first home you purchased. Did you know to this level of detail what would be happening? Do you wish you did? Sometimes having more detail can help turn down the anxiety that naturally comes with buying a home. So can having a great home inspector!

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Does Your Property Inspector Know What You Need?

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Do you feel confident your property inspector knows what you need even if you don’t? I have a great story about a client who had to pay twice for his property inspection. Thankfully this story has a good ending. In fact, it also had a good beginning, but the middle part got a little rough.

This gentleman chose his property inspector based on the price of the inspection. He was in a rush to have the space inspected in order to meet his deadlines. And while this inspector was good, he didn’t concern himself with what the client needed. Only with what he was asked to do.

A few days later I receive a call from the gentleman in a bit of a panic. He needs another inspection and he needs it as soon as possible. As it turns out, while the other property inspector costed him less, he did not do a four point inspection or a wind mitigation inspection. It is possible that might be why his prices were lower. The client was in such a rush to have the inspection done that he didn’t confirm exactly what was getting done.

Divinity inspection does more than home and property inspections. We do it all and we can do it all in one inspection. This includes wind mitigation, four point inspection, pool leak inspection and new construction inspections. Our prices may not be the lowest, but they are fair and they are reasonable.

More importantly, we make sure all of your needs are being met. All of our inspectors are trained and certified. And because we have so much experience, we know exactly what kind of inspection you need. Even if you don’t. And we’ll make sure you have all the information you need so you don’t end up paying for a property inspection twice. We want to make the process as easy and as comfortable as possible. We want you to feel informed, confident, and most of all comfortable.

You can find two very important things on our website that speak to both our credibility and standards. As you search for and interview property inspectors, feel free to use these as standards. First, our certifications. Here on our website you can see a list of all of our certificates and you can see that we find education and proper training very important. Second, you will find our Standards of Practice. These are company standards that we’ve created for ourselves and abide by. We expect all of our inspectors to follow the same standards of practice to ensure excellent service across the board.

You can schedule an inspection directly through our website but we also love phone calls. Please feel free to call us with any questions you have. We try to accommodate our clients by being accessible for inspections needed as soon as possible. We even work on the weekends.

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How to Show your home during the Holiday Season

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If you are showing your home during the holiday season it can be a little tricky. Between holiday decorations, parties, and deterring home theft, the holidays can make it all that much harder. Have no fear, we are here to help! Follow some of these tips to show your home during the holiday season and also have peace of mind.

Keep decorations to a minimum

If you love to saturate your home in decorations during the holidays, you will want to hold off on it. A lot of decorations can be overwhelming and distracting for any person interested in viewing your home. Decorating also means leaving out some of your potentially valuable stuff for grabs. Avoid all of this by decorating very little. You can even wait until a week before Christmas to stop showing the home, decorate, and enjoy the season. You still have control and what you do should be what works best for you.

Curb Appeal vs. Curb Safety

You may never have thought about it, but decorations can also be a hazard. This wire lines, extension chords, and decorations across your walk-way can actually be a tripping hazard. The last thing you want is someone who is viewing your home to trip over things as they walk in.

Selling during the Holiday Season

Many sites claim selling your home through the holiday is great timing! But this also means you need to have excellent pictures and videos of your home. As home-buyers start their process doing online searches, you will want your home’s pictures to stand out! Don’t skimp on this area. Make sure your home is immaculate before taking any pictures.

Comfy and Cozy

Have you ever stepped into a home that just feels cozy? The house makes you want to wrap up in a blanket and sit in front of the fireplace? This is the feeling you want to evoke, especially during the winter and holiday season. Light the fireplace, light some candles, bake some cookies, and decorate a Christmas tree. Create that comfy cozy feeling people will enjoy!

We hope this little tips help as you work your way through the holiday season. Don’t forget Divinity Inspections is still working too so give us a call when you are ready to schedule your pre-listing home inspection or your pre-purchasing home inspection!

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What happens if your Home Inspector misses something?

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Finally you are in the last stage of purchasing your home and you are jumping through the last hoop: a home inspection. Many home-buyers find the home inspection process very stressful. The idea of finding something wrong with your new home that could potentially hinder the buying process is not fun. Even worse, what happens if your home inspector misses something?

Start with the right home inspector

Getting through the process calmly has a lot to do with trusting your home inspector. Remember he’s on your side! Not only is Divinity home inspectors going to find and explain any issues in detail, we’re going to do everything we can to offer you advice or guidance in how to fix your home issues. Either way, make sure you choose a home inspector that has a lot of good recommendations and a good reputation.

Attend your home inspection

Attending your home inspection is really important. Not only might it calm your nerves, but attending will also allow your inspector to point out anything they come across that is concerning. If you notice an inspector hesitate at the idea of your presence during the inspection, that is a big red flag! Any inspector should be very comfortable with the home buyer or home owner present during their inspection. Remember, it’s your job to make the most our of your home inspection.

What if your home inspector misses something?

Most home inspectors are not going to miss any major issues with your home, however it could happen. Sellers are required to disclose any major issues with the home before they sell it. If they don’t, proving they did would be more costly than it’s worth. You can bring the issue up to the home inspector. As long as you used one with decent liability insurance that covers more than just the cost of the inspection, odds are decent you’ll be compensated for any damages. Again, you’ll have to prove it. For example, if the inspector said the roof was in good condition, but there was a leak months later during a big storm, you would have to prove that nothing happened in the intervening time that damaged the roof.

Divinity Inspection service not only are fully licensed, but our inspectors are trained not to miss anything. We encourage you to attend your home inspection and we take the time to walk you through everything we do. You can schedule your inspection right here on our site!

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The Face Value of a Home Inspection

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What is the face value of a home inspection? Instinctively you might say the answer depends on who you ask. What you may not realize is the real face value of a home inspection depends on your home and you! Not only that, but your home inspector plays a huge role in the value of your home inspection.

What if I asked you how much your car was worth, retail? Now if I asked you how much you would sell it for, that answer will probably be different. What you are willing to sell for vs. what you know your car is worth are two different numbers. This is the case for most things in life, and a home inspection is no exception. So, what is the real face value of a home inspection?

For any home buyer, the purchase of the home is highly dependent on the home inspection report. A good home inspection can save you from having to replace the roof, replace the water heater or another appliance. It can also help you avoid purchasing a home with potentially disastrous issues, like replacing all of the electrical or plumbing. We are talking tens of thousands of dollars in repairs! You may pay $500 (or less, or more depending on the size of the home) and it could save you thousands and thousands of dollars. Now that is a return on your investment.

Home buyers want the home inspection to report no major issues. Because the goal is to make sure no major issues exist in the home, this somehow has become a reason to expect home inspections to cost less. You get what you pay for and that goes for your inspection. Why would you pay less for a home inspection when the risk is so big? So we come back around to the important question – what is the face value of a home inspection? Now that you have all of this information you may find that your answer has changed.