The purpose of a home inspection report is to convey in writing and in pictures the problems that were discovered in the home. The home inspection report is used both as a negotiation tool and as a long-term helpful documentation of the problems in the home that should be addressed. Not all issues are going to be addressed during negotiation. However, as you live in the home you will have to correct some of these inspection items that are documented in the home inspection report.
A good home inspection report is going to be narrative and not a checklist style. A narrative report will be a complete written report of the issues that are found in the home. These reports are longer, comprehensive, and detailed. You as the buyer of a home should acquire a couple of report samples from the home inspectors you are considering hiring so you understand what type of reporting system the home inspector uses and so you can be familiar with how the report is structured and written. Checklist reporting is often vague and nondescriptive in terms of the problems that exist in the home. Checklist reports are quick to create and are often used by lower-cost home inspectors so they can do multiple home inspections in a day. Quality, experienced, and comprehensive home inspectors will create a detailed narrative report, so you have complete documentation regarding the problems that exist in the home that you are thinking about buying.
The narrative home inspection report should include many photos of the problems found in the home. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this is very true also in home inspection reporting. You want the report to have a picture of the defect and a complete description of the problem, so you fully understand the issues at hand. Pictures are hard to refute. So, if the issues are documented fully in photos, you will likely be able to negotiate more efficiently and effectively than having a report without photos. Photos tell the story of the problems in the house. A home inspection report is not complete without plenty of pictures of the defects found. As a buyer you should hire a home inspector who includes many photos in a home inspection report. When I say many photos, I am talking about 100 photos and documentation in a home inspection report. This is very important regarding adequate documentation.
The home inspection report should be easy to understand. It should not be written in industry jargon it should not be challenging to figure out what the problems are. It shouldn’t have a key that you have to decipher, and it shouldn’t use vague language. You should see a picture of the problem and a description of it, so you fully understand the issue.
The home inspection report should also include a summary. A summary is the highlights of the main issues found during the home inspection. A summary is an important piece of documentation because it allows you, the buyer, to understand in one section of the report what the main issues are. Of course, it is very important to read the entire report from beginning to end, however summary pages are very useful in narrowing down the main issues. They also can be used in helping you, the buyer, understand what issues you should think about bringing to the negotiation table.
The home inspection report should be delivered quickly after the home inspection. Reputable home inspectors will provide reports within 24 hours of the inspection. You as a buyer have an inspection contingency period. This is the time frame when you must have the home inspection performed and get the report back and create a list of requests back to the selling party. If a report is not written in a timely manner, then you will not be able to negotiate effectively because you will be pressed for time. Home inspectors should deliver high quality reporting in a timely fashion so the buyer can have adequate time to negotiate with the seller.
The home inspection report should be easy to navigate and easy to understand. All the areas and rooms of the home, for example the exterior, roof, attic, basement, kitchen, laundry, bedrooms, utility room, all have their specific section in the home inspection report. Having a home inspection report broken down into these various sections makes the reporting easier to digest and understand. Reports that are challenging to navigate which are just a narrative continuous list of problems are difficult to understand and to use. Checklist style reports are too vague and do not convey adequate amounts of information. A home inspection report should be easy to read, navigate and understand. This will save you significant time, heartache, and aggravation when it comes time to negotiation.
The photos in the home inspection report should not be included at the front of the report or the end of the report. If pictures are just splashed at the front or the back of the report without any description or documentation regarding what the photos are it will be very challenging for you, the buyer, to understand what the picture is for. If you are looking at 50 pictures at the end of a home inspection report, you may not understand what each of those pictures represents. However, if you hire a New Jersey home inspector who takes a photo and then creates a report with a description of that photo next to it so you see the photo and then a description of the problem the report will be clear and make more sense. Photos that are just dumped in a home inspection report that are not labeled are easy for the home inspector to create and allow the home inspector to write reports fast. Good home inspectors will take their time creating a report. In fact, good home inspectors will create a rapport in three or four hours whereby the average home inspector will create just an average or below average report in an hour. It’s up to you, the buyer, to ask for several sample reports so you can differentiate the good reporting from the average reporting from the below average reporting. You are paying a lot of money for a home. You must make sure that the home inspector that you hire is skilled in communication both oral and verbal and creates reports that are useful and not just filled with fluff and nonsense.
Home inspection reports should also be easy for your attorney to understand. The report is easy for you to understand they are likely to be easy for your attorney to understand. If your attorney cannot understand the home inspection report, he or she is not going to be able to create your list of requests that depict the major problems in the home. If your attorney is struggling trying to decipher a very poorly written home inspection report, you are wasting time in the negotiation process. Hire a home inspector who understands the importance of writing in plain language and simply explains the problems that exist in the home.
It is just not enough to hire a NJ home inspector. You must hire a home inspector who is skilled and capable of writing a report that is useful to you and one that is easy to understand. I have seen hundreds of home inspection reports and many of them are close to useless. It is to your advantage as a buyer to acquire several examples of home inspection reports, so you understand exactly what you are purchasing. It is not just enough to hire a good home inspector you must also hire a home inspector who is going to deliver a detailed comprehensive fully narrative report full of photos, so you are in a good position to fully understand the issues at hand and to properly negotiate for corrections or credits.