Attending Your Inspection

Your offer on a gorgeous new home has been accepted and things are moving FAST! The pre-approval letter is in hand, contracts are signed, due diligence and earnest money checks are written, and the inspection is scheduled. As the prospective buyer of this home, you are all in and want to be informed and involved in the whole process – including being present at the inspection. That’s good! Now, pause here for a second.

Should You Attend Your Inspection?

The short answer is yes, but when to show up and how to attend an inspection is something to consider. Coming out on the day of the inspection has the added benefit of seeing the home again, and seeing it through a more investigative lens as guided by the third-party inspector and your agent.

As a first-time buyer, it’s especially important to attend the inspection so you can walk through and see with your own eyes where certain key components are (water shut-off, electrical panel, etc.) as well as items that are in need of correction or maintenance. Since you are in an emotionally vulnerable state, if you simply rely on pictures and narratives without professional human mediation, things may come across as more scary than they really are, or just result in confusion.

Another danger is to see something serious on the home inspection report, but gloss over it in the exhaustion of the buying process while simultaneously trying to juggle the rest of your busy life. Attending in person can really help you focus, and can put you at ease since you are seeing all of the inspector’s observations within the whole context of the home.

Even if this your fourth home purchase, this is not something you do with enough regularity to be fluent in inspector language. Attending gives you a chance to ask questions while you are on the property and get up close and personal with various parts of the home.

What Time To Show Up

The best practice is to arrive at the end of the inspection. This will provide a solid time window to ask questions and do a walk-through of the property which is plenty of time.

It is generally NOT recommended to attend the entire inspection. Most home inspections take between 3-4 hours with the inspector looking at literally over 400 different items.

Not only is there no extra benefit to shadowing your inspector and asking questions as you go, but it is an enormous distraction to the inspector who has not only a lot to report on, but a lot of professional liability. Inspectors rely heavily on a strict procedure in order to do a 400-point inspection within a relatively limited timeframe, and any distractions not only prolong the process, but add to the risk of the inspector forgetting or missing something. You are paying many hundreds of dollars to have a professional investigate the largest purchase of your life. Distracting them is quite counterproductive!

Buyers must also consider their real estate agent’s time. Most states require the buyer’s agent to present if the buyers are going to be on the property. This is for the obvious reason of this still being someone else’s house! Real estate agents are very busy people and it is usually not practical for the agent to take up their entire day chaperoning an inspection, nor is it always possible for sellers to vacate the home for an extended period to give the necessary privacy to discuss sensitive matters.

Who To Bring

Just you and your agent! No one else needs to be there. If you are doing this transaction without representation, you may want to bring a trusted friend or family member to help you ask the questions you can’t think of because you are overwhelmed by the fog of war.

For a couple, I recommend the both of you attending with your agent. If both can’t make it, I recommend whoever can come out in person have the other half on speaker or video phone so everyone has the opportunity to listen and ask their questions.

Do NOT bring outside family. This is not a good time for a family reunion or to “show off” the house. Remember: this is still someone else’s home. How might you feel if a crowd of 6 or 7 total strangers came trapsing through your house ignoring the signs of “please remove shoes” while looking through your closets and opening your drawers. If you think I’m being over the top, I see it every time a buyer brings extended family. It happens 100% of the time without exception and it’s incredibly rude to the sellers.

You may think your father who is a retired HVAC contractor is helpful in this transaction, but the reality is he is not a reliable source at this time for the simple reason that he is not unbiased. One of the key reasons that home inspectors are so valuable is they are unbiased and emotionally detached from the purchase. You want facts, not speculation. Professional family members, although usually quite well-meaning, can actually hinder this process, have a negative influence on your decision making, and even undermine your agent.

What If I Can’t Attend The Inspection?

That is no worry at all! Video calls from the property are always an option. We deal with out-of-state and busy buyers all the time in the Charlotte area and frequently do Google Meet calls later that evening or the next day while presenting the report and going over all of the details and photos.

Although lacking the tangible benefits of being physically present, there is the added benefit of not being rushed to get out of the house before the Showingtime appointment expires and the sellers have to come back home.

You still have the inspector at your disposal to ask all the questions, and this actually may be a better time to ask said questions since by this time you have had a chance to read through some, if not all, of the report.

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