How a home inspector will inspect a vacant home
Abandoned and vacant market hit the property market occasionally. While the frequency of these homes in the real estate business isn’t as high as homes that have people living in it with well-maintained rooms, furniture and walls, they still exist in the marketplace.
If you have your eyes set on buying a house that has been vacated for years, here are some things you should know what your prospective home inspector will do while assessing the status of the abandoned house.
The inspector will check for the utility services
An important element in a home inspection is the utility service. Without electricity and water, there are tons of aspects in the house that your home inspector won’t be able to inspect. Before starting the job, your home inspector will ask you to make sure if the utility services in the vacant home are active. If they’re not active, you’ll have to talk to the owner of the property to get them fixed.
Once the home inspector arrives and the utility services are still not functioning, it will go into the inspection report and many important elements of the home inspection will have to be skipped. So a prerequisite for getting an abandoned home inspected is to make sure the power is working in it.
The inspector will check for any pest infestation
A vacant home is an ideal habitat for animals and pests to make a nest inside. These pests not only include spiders, cockroaches, rodents and ants but other larger animals like raccoons, cats and dogs may also be living inside. The home inspector will inspect for any and all animals inside and may ask to call the animal control or a shelter for the animals living inside.
The inspector will check for anyone who has moved in
Sometimes people who have been struck by a disaster or those who don’t have a home of their own find shelter in an abandoned home. You home inspector will cautiously check for anyone who has moved in or if there is any evidence of someone living inside. In an event that there is evidence, the property owner or the local police is called for help.
If you are looking for an affordable and professional home inspector that serves the Des Moines area, please consider scheduling with Rightway Home Inspections Inc.