What happens after a home inspection
After a home inspection, the inspector sends you a written report of the defects they saw. You read it with your agent, ask contractors to look at the items that matter, and decide what to ask the seller for. Your purchase contract sets the deadline for that request, so ask your agent for the date first.
After a home inspection what happens next?
You get the report, and from then on the inspection deadline in your purchase contract is the clock. If your contract is contingent on a satisfactory inspection, the CFPB says you can cancel the sale without penalty if you aren't satisfied with the results. Before that deadline, you can ask the seller to make or pay for repairs, or you can take the home as it is.
The steps usually run in this order. Your agent can tell you the dates that apply to your contract.
- Read the report with your agent and mark the items that worry you.
- Call the inspector about anything in the report you don't understand.
- Ask contractors to look at the big items and give you written quotes.
- Decide with your agent what to ask the seller for.
- Your agent sends the request, and the seller agrees, counters or says no.
- Before closing, you check that every agreed repair was made.
For the quotes, see getting contractor quotes for home inspection repairs. For the request itself, see how to negotiate repairs after a home inspection.
What fixes are mandatory after a home inspection?
The inspection report doesn't make any repair mandatory. ASHI says a home inspector won't pass or fail a house, and instead describes its condition and which systems may need major repair or replacement. What actually gets fixed comes from your purchase contract and from what you and the seller agree to.
Your lender can add to that list. The CFPB says that if major repairs are needed, like a new roof, the lender can require them before closing as a condition of the loan. Ask your agent and your lender early whether anything in your report falls into that group.
Should the inspector have mentioned this to us?
Maybe, but only if the inspector could see it on the day of the inspection. The InterNACHI standards of practice say the inspection is based on what the inspector observed on that date, and that the inspector isn't required to offer guarantees or warranties. A problem behind a wall, under flooring or behind stored boxes can be missed.
If you find something the report doesn't mention, send the inspector a photo and ask about it. Then read the inspection agreement you signed, because it sets out what the inspector agreed to do. If the problem changes what you want from the seller, tell your agent before the deadline.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Contracts differ, so confirm the details with your agent and your purchase contract.
Sources
- CFPB: Schedule a home inspection
- ASHI: What is a home inspection?
- InterNACHI: Home Inspection Standards of Practice
Your agent's list has people who can quote the repairs
If your agent uses Proferral, they can send you their go-to list, and it opens on your phone with no app and no login. Nobody pays to be on the list, and Proferral takes no referral fee. Proferral doesn't check anyone's work, so get written quotes and look up each contractor's license yourself. Here's how your agent's go-to list works.
Your agent sends you the link, and you open it on your phone without installing anything.