Central New York Realtors – Share with your sellers: 5 Tips to prepare for the home Inspection.

All home inspectors will “pick the low hanging fruit” in a home inspection. That’s the easy stuff to call out as a defect in almost every home out there. A lot of it can be avoided and the home inspection can go smoothly if you do a few simple things to prepare and pave the way for the inspector:

1. Make sure there is unobstructed access to the electrical service panel. At least 3 feet in front of the panel must be clear space so the inspector can pull the cover safely and inspect the wiring in the box. If he can’t get to it, he can’t inspect it, and its written as “condition unknown”.
2. A lot of homes have attic access through a hatch in a closet. Getting up in there is impossible if there are clothes hanging on a rod and items stored on the shelf. Clean it out so the attic can be inspected, otherwise it’s another “condition unknown”. The buyers may accept that, but not likely.
3. Check the sump pump. Make sure it’s working, an easy task.
4. Make sure the gutter downspouts have extensions on them to channel water at least 4 feet away from the foundation. A quick trip to Home Depot fixes this.
5. Trim back any landscaping that has grown up alongside the house and is touching the siding, any contact is considered “adversely affecting” and is cited in a report.

If you’re more ambitious and you really want to prep for the inspection, we will send you our complete home inspection checklist that complies with NYS Standards of Practice so you can go through all the items and get a good jump on inspection day. Go to our website, click on “Contact us”, scroll down and fill in the request form, we’ll send it over. www.havenenvironmental.com

Be safe, don’t get on your roof, don’t remove your electrical panel box cover, don’t go in crawlspaces, don’t try to take things apart and try to fix things you are not experienced and trained to fix. Haven Environmental assumes no liability for property damage, injury, or death resulting from you playing home inspector.