A Licensed Inspector Is a Great Resourced in Your Home Purchase — Whether Before an Offer or After (Even for Informational Purposes Only)
When it comes to identifying your next home, you may find yourself making the decision to submit an offer after only 15-30 minutes in the property (or, sometimes, without even stepping foot inside).
As an agent-buyer team, our shared goal is to find a home that fits your needs and wants — near and longer term. While a general home inspection and/or other inspections may be a part of your process (before an offer or after its accepted), we have to use our combined experience and knowledge to look out for any dealbreakers.
Often what a buyer’s eyes focus on upon the first visit is different than what an experienced agent who has seen thousands of homes may be looking for. With buyers, some of the top areas of attention include:
Kitchen: The adage is true. Kitchens sell homes, as they can be among the more costly renovations and updating a kitchen while living in a home is not ideal (ask anyone who has done it).
Primary Bedroom & Bath: If you’re paying the mortgage, you want your personal retreat to feel like just that. En suite bathrooms are preferred by most buyers who are purchasing a home with more than one bathroom, too.
Bathrooms: Like kitchens, bathroom renovations are a little more involved and, if you only have one, you want it to be perfect.
Curb Appeal: You want to walk or drive up to a lovely looking home, even if the inside is much nicer than what’s on the outside (it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?)
Flooring, Paint Colors, etc.: If the tone ans/or width of the floors are “on trend” or the wall color is neutral, it’s easier to picture making it your own. I have yet to hear a buyer say, “Oooh, I LOVE that orange wall!”
While these features of a home are all important, most have the common theme of being more cosmetic than not (all of which can be changed when you’re ready and at a range of budgets, usually). For example, sometimes simply painting walls, trim or a vanity can be transformative and cost effective. However, as a buyer’s agent, I strive to make sure we also focus on the “less sexy” features that can turn into projects that don’t give you the same level of satisfaction as a new bathroom or quartz countertops but can drain your wallet as much or more:
Gutters, Grading and Drainage: Water is the enemy of any home. We’ll look at where it may travel when there’s a storm or otherwise (and hopefully it’s away from your home). With increasingly heavy downpours in the DC area, features like larger gutters with guards, sump pumps with battery backups, etc. are always nice to see.
Foundation Issues: While I am not a structural engineer (and you likely aren’t, as well), we can look for visible cracks or feel for sloping in floors (just pull out that handy marble). If something seems off to us, you’ll want to bring in an expert to do an assessment.
Basement Condition: This ties in with the first two, as basements can help reveal underlying/larger problems. Does it feel moist or smell musty or moldy? Do you see evidence of work — from re-poured sections of concrete to new paint and flooring? As much as we all love a finished basement, sometimes it’s great to have one with exposed ceilings and cinder block walls.
Major Systems: While a garbage disposal can be replaced for under $100, a water heater or HVAC will cost much more. Older systems shouldn’t be a non-starter if your budget and homeownership plan allows for updating them or, at the least, a comprehensive home warranty.
“The Bones": As much as possible, we want to look past the stylish finishes and pay attention to what you can’t change easily/cheaply or at all — think location, layout and underlying construction quality. If you want that brick house (right, Carolyn?), it may be better built and require less maintenance than another material.
So, does this mean we can’t look for, admire and place value in items on the first list? Of course not. But by prioritizing the second list you may find yourself considering a wider range of properties…and avoiding headache down the road!
Amber Harris is the owner of At Home DC, an interior decorator and a licensed real estate agent with Keller Williams Capital Properties working with clients in DC, Maryland and Virginia.
