Overall
Most home sellers provide the buyer with a full set of disclosures and these two inspection reports before or after the buyer tours the home: (1) general home inspection report, and (2) pest inspection report.
For real estate agent-assisted sales, normally the seller provides these two reports upfront (at the time of the home tour). FSBOs are the same, except many FSBO sellers often find/know the buyer first, so the buyer simply hires his own home inspection contractors of choice, and therefore the buyer pays for the reports directly.
When
Inspections can be completed anytime before close of escrow, but the two main inspections (home inspection and pest inspection) are usually completed before the purchase contract is signed. And then any additional inspections are completed during the inspection contingency period (typical is up to 17-days after the purchase contract is signed).
Cost
On a $600,000 home, a home inspection report costs about $400, and a pest inspection $250. The more expensive the home, the more expensive the reports, but a home inspection tends to cap off around $900 and pest inspection around $500, except for large multimillion dollar homes.
Find Inspectors on Yelp
Whether you’re a buyer or seller, you can easily find good inspectors using Yelp.com, because Yelp shows customer reviews (and keeps contractors accountable for good service). For a home inspection report, type “home inspection” and add your city/area. And for a pest inspection report, type “pest inspection” and add your city/area. Notably, a pest inspection is often called, Wood Destroying Pests and Organisms Report.
Local Inspections
Here’s another article that I wrote on inspections, which also goes into some additional required inspections by certain local governments (such as San Francisco requires a water and energy inspection; and some cities require a sewer lateral inspection):
Other Inspection Options
The standard CAR form “Buyer’s Investigation Elections” (BIE) identifies 39 separate inspection reports that a buyer is invited to consider before closing escrow! Most buyers ignore this list for good reason, because it’s ridiculously long — you can read the list at the end of this post if you like. As stated above, most buyers only do two inspections: home inspection and pest inspection. However, here is my short list of additional situations where it’s wise to consider paying for additional inspections:
- Water well: if the property has its own water well, it’s a good idea to test the productivity (i.e., gallons per minute) and also the water quality (i.e., bacteria). This report costs about $500. You can hire any local well contractor to provide the report.
- Survey: if the property has a disputed boundary line (i.e., if you suspect the fences don’t match the property line) it’s a good idea to hire a local surveyor to measure the property boundaries, and verify those measurements against the title records. This report costs about $400.
- Square footage: if the home has a disputed square footage (i.e., if you suspect the MLS square footage doesn’t match reality because of an unpermitted addition), consider hiring a professional appraiser (or measurement company) to take measurements. This report costs about $400.
- Roof: replacing a roof is a costly item (upwards of $50,000), and many general home inspection contractors don’t go up on the roof to inspect it in detail to look for evidence of leaks. So if you want a thorough roof report, you need to hire a roof contractor to give you those details. This report costs about $400.
- Pool/spa: fixing a pool or spa is an inconvenient item. Some buyers like to have the peace of mind that the pool and spa are in good condition. Because pools are built by specialty contractors, you might want to hire one of those pros to give you details on your pool’s condition. This report costs about $300.
- Environmental: If you have a specific reason to suspect something is wrong with the air quality in the home, or the soil quality in the yard, you can hire an environmental inspection. The cost of these reports vary even into the thousands of dollars, depending on what you’re looking for.
Here is the full ridiculously long list of 39 available inspections:
1. GENERAL HOME INSPECTION
2. WOOD DESTROYING PESTS
3. CHIMNEY
4. ELECTRICAL
5. HEATING/AIR CONDITIONING
6. LEAD PAINT
7. PLUMBING
8. SQUARE FOOTAGE
9. STRUCTURAL
10. EASEMENTS/ENCROACHMENTS
11. FOUNDATION/SLAB
12. LOT SIZE
13. BOUNDARIES
14. POOL/SPA
15. ROOF
16. SEWER
17. SEPTIC SYSTEM
18. SOIL STABILITY
19. SURVEY
20. TREE/ARBORIST
21. WELL
22. WATER SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS
23. RADON GAS
24. FORMALDEHYDE
25. ASBESTOS
26. METHANE GAS
27. MOLD
28. PERMITS
29. PUBLIC RECORDS
30. ZONING
31. GOVERNMENT REQUIREMENTS
32. VACANT LAND/CONSTRUCTION FINANCING
33. CONSTRUCTION COSTS
34. AVAILABILITY OF UTILITIES
35. ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEY
36. NATURAL HAZARDS REPORTS
37. SUBDIVISION OF PROPERTY
38. USAGE (INCLUDING ADUs)
39. INSURABILITY
—
Greg Glaser, Attorney at Law
I help home buyers & sellers throughout California
209-785-8998 — greg@gregglaser.com
Flat Fee Packages Available (no commission) for Buyers and Sellers Without a Realtor
http://www.GregGlaser.com
NorCal FSBO 