Should you get a new construction home inspection?
If you’re buying a new construction home, you might assume that a home inspection isn’t necessary. After all, you had the house built from scratch and customized to your exact needs. Wouldn’t a home inspection waste your limited time and money?
That depends on how you look at it. For many, a home inspection can provide valuable insights into their property’s construction, as well as the chance to prevent costly repairs on the home later on down the line—after all, new houses aren’t always without flaws. For others, a new home inspection may seem like just an extra cost in an already very expensive time.
Here’s guide to protecting your investment and forever home!
Is a new construction home inspection standard?
With a new construction sale, your contract will include a final walkthrough, but it might or might not include an inspection. Either way, you would be wise to include an inspection contingency and plan on scheduling an independent inspection.
Why should you get your new home inspected?
One reason a buyer might decide to buy a new construction home is the expectation that it will be free from issues found in aging houses — like outdated plumbing or electrical, and even cosmetic flaws. Even though a home is brand new, it can still have issues; in fact, sometimes issues in a home are because it is brand new construction.
In some cases, contractors work fast. Even though they are building to code, they’re subcontracting out projects to a wide array of vendors, whose competence and diligence might range significantly. On top of all that, sometimes mistakes just happen. Inspectors say they also often find incomplete projects. This could include insufficient insulation, half-installed handrails or fixtures, or missing pieces of hardware.
So the main takeaway is this: Just because your home is new doesn’t always mean it is perfect, or couldn’t be better. Code is only a baseline expectation
Let’s take a look at some of the common problems that new construction homes might face, and areas that an inspector should plan to specifically scour as part of the comprehensive process.
What could go wrong?
- Structural defects, like foundation cracks, improper grading, and poor framing
- Drainage and grading issues, which could cause water and structural damage later on
- Window leaks
- HVAC issues, including malfunctioning thermostats and loose connections
- Electrical problems, such as improperly wired outlets, open grounds, and missing switch plates
- Plumbing issues, including reversed hot/cold in faucets, improper piping, leaks, and more
- Appliances (often the last to go in) might not be installed correctly, and should also be inspected
Even though these new construction projects are approved by the city engineers and they have their own inspection process, they’re looking for things like whether the wiring is done properly, whether it’s safe, but a lot of times, they’re not looking at the details.
Even if the cost of an inspection feels like a stretch, and even if you’re eager to wrap up the whole home buying process asap, you won’t want to cheat yourself out of an inspection. You want to know about any issues, large or small, before you pay for the home. Even if you have a builder’s warranty, you’d probably rather avoid a situation where repairs are being done after you have moved in, that’s a hassle. If the property has health or safety issues, you’ll definitely want to know about those before you and your family are exposed.
Why is a new home inspection a potentially bad idea?
If this question keeps you up at night…it shouldn’t. That’s because the decision to get an inspection on a new construction project is fairly straight forward.
The only drawback here is that you have to pay out of your own pocket. At an average cost of $300 – $600, home inspections are typically well worth the expense and peace of mind they provide.
New home buyers can certainly skip the home inspection stage, as can any other homebuyer. The risk in this is that unknown issues with the home could show up after move-in, when it’s too late for the builder to fix it (and pay for it).
If you do skip a home inspection on your new property, make sure your builder has a warranty in place. This can protect you in the event something goes wrong after you’ve closed. These warranties usually last from one to ten years, depending on the type of workmanship or materials in use. You can also have a warranty inspection conducted before it expires to catch any repairs needed at that time.
When can you get your new construction home inspected?
You can arrange to get your home inspected at any point, and it might be smart to even arrange two inspections: one before the drywall is up (which gives the inspector a chance to take a close look at all of the electrical/plumbing and framing) and once afterward.
The pre-possession inspection is best done once the city has done their final approvals. Just be sure it is not scheduled so late that it could potentially cause a delay in closing. Maybe there is some painting that still needs to be done, or minor details to finish, but as a general rule, as late as possible without causing a delay.
Of course, if your builder is resistant to bringing in an independent inspector, that sends up a big red flag. Why would they want to mask their work, instead of allowing a close look at the quality of the project? Most times, builders are going to welcome an inspector because they stand by their product and want happy home owners.
As the buyer of a new construction home, you want to make sure that responsibility falls on the builder to rectify, and not on you. If you skip a new construction home inspection, you miss out on the chance for the builders to make it right before it becomes your problem alone.
Building a new home in Boise?
Bundle & Save!
When booking your new construction inspection, let us also pre-schedule your Builder’s Warranty Inspection at 11 months to ensure any issues that come up during the first year in your new home are submitted to your builder for repairs.
You worked hard to build your dream home, let us help you protect your investment!
