by JD Russell

Created on: March 26, 2007   Last Updated: October 17, 2010

You've found the house you love and want to buy it right now without hesitation. The search has been a long and arduous task that has occupied all of your free time. You looked at over twenty homes that seemed to blend together as you listened to the real estate agent tell you for the hundredth time how her little Johnny is the best kid in the world and will be the next president.

You have survived the gauntlet and are now smiling because you fell in love with the perfect house. The seller has accepted your offer and you are ready to close the deal.

STOP smiling and dampen your enthusiasm for the moment. Treat this as a major business transaction and Don't Fall in Love with the perfect home until you have ordered and completed the Home Inspection which is one of the most important parts of the home buying process. If you can't afford to pay for a home inspection, you should not be buying a house at this time. A Home Inspection is that important to you, the buyer.

Home Inspections while usually a voluntary process for the home buyer should be a mandatory requirement in your pursuit for the perfect home. Unless you are a specialist in many trades, you need that home inspector to find the faults that you are missing because you are blinded by the love for the house.

A Home Inspector should be hired to inspect the purchases of older homes and even new homes. The home may be brand new but that doesn't mean problems will not be found. A home inspector should also be hired to inspect renovations and repairs of existing homes.

One home owner who purchased her home in the winter declined to get a home inspection and a swimming pool inspection. After signing the loan papers, the pool liner was later discovered to be damaged beyond repair when the buyer removed the pool cover after moving into the house. She was unexpectedly out thousands of dollars to replace the pool liner because she had already accepted the property and closed the deal on the house. Home inspectors typically do not inspect swimming pools so anticipate paying extra to have the pool inspected by a swimming pool contractor.

Examples of problems found in exiting homes by a Home Inspector:

1.The air conditioning unit was found to be twenty years old and never maintained properly. The heat exchanger in the unit was rusted out and needed immediate replacement. This issue alone could have cost the new buyer thousands of dollars.

2.A visual inspection of the crawl space under the house revealed rotten

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