Are Home Inspections Mandatory?

| Buying

There’s a handy little two-word adage that we tend to fall back on when it comes to home inspections: Buyer beware.

Short and sweet, these words have served our clients well when it comes to buying a home in Toronto. But are home inspections mandatory? Nope.

However, buyers owe it to themselves to include a home inspection in their offer or at least consider the pros and cons of getting one before they decide to waive it.

Let’s take a look at the advantages and rare disadvantages of home inspections along with some arguments for sellers to arrange a pre-listing inspection for a quicker sale.

Home Inspection 101

Home inspections are a thorough visual assessment performed by an experienced (hopefully!) home inspector who provides a report listing their findings. The report identifies potential issues that can turn into nightmares either immediately or in the near future to help inform a buyer’s decision.

How do you get a home inspection?

While home inspector certifications and licenses are not mandatory in Ontario, selecting an insured and experienced inspector with Voluntary Certification from the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors is the best approach. We can recommend a trusted expert we’ve worked with in the past.

When do you get a home inspection?

Home inspections are a common condition included in offers to help protect home buyers from costly or unsafe conditions. However, we also recommend that our seller clients arrange a pre-listing home inspection.

What is a pre-listing home inspection?

The pre-listing home inspection is arranged by the seller to identify issues before putting their home on the market.

How much does a home inspection cost?

Cost depends on home size and type, so it would be unfair of us to provide a stab-in-the-dark average. However, regardless of the cost, the benefits far outweigh the reasonable fee, making it a worthwhile spend.

What do home inspections look for?

The key areas inspected include:

  • Exterior features like driveways, fences, stairs, and decks
  • Structural components including the foundation, walls, and roof
  • The home’s envelope, such as windows, doors, siding, masonry, chimneys, and insulation
  • Interior finishes, especially things like floors, built-in cabinets, and drywall
  • The HVAC system
  • Fire and safety requirements
  • Plumbing and electrical systems
  • Health hazards such as mould or asbestos

Learn more about your rights as a buyer or seller with these posts next: 

Buyers’ Pros & Cons of Getting a Home Inspection

In the buyer-beware world of real estate, we always highly recommend home inspections to our clients to take full advantage of the following pros:

  • Although an inspector doesn’t knock out walls, they have the expertise to spot structural and system issues to save you money and reduce stress
  • The results can provide further negotiating power on the listing price
  • You can choose to include completed repairs as part of your conditions (or simply cancel the offer with no strings attached)
  • Assessments help avoid unhealthy living conditions
  • You’ll have the lowdown on future repairs and upgrades required, such as a new roof, windows, or HVAC
  • Confirms the home is sound to reduce financial risks

On the negative side:

  • There is a minimal cost BUT it’s not worth squabbling over
  • Inspections don’t necessarily catch every detail, as they are a non-invasive assessment

Here are even more buying and selling resources to check out next:

Seller’s Pros & Cons of Home Inspections

First, sellers are legally obligated to disclose known issues to buyers, even if it could cost them offers. Pre-listing inspections provide a thorough list of unknown issues, helping us set a fair price and avoiding the stress of awaiting the findings of a buyer’s inspector.

Common Home Inspection Deal Breakers

We’ve found that deal breakers quickly fly out the faulty, energy-inefficient window when a buyer falls in love with a home at first sight.

But there are several major headaches we encourage buyers to walk away from, including:

  • Foundation and structural issues: Signs of structural issues, such as sloped floors, cracks, and doors/windows that are wonky and a pain to operate, can be red flags for tens of thousands of dollars in repairs and replacements.
  • Bad roof: Roofs are another big-ticket item when it comes to replacements, so avoiding a home with a failing roof is usually a safe bet.
  • Major systems: Bad plumbing or damaged, old water heaters can lead to a world of woes, including leaks and clogs that cause everything from flooding to hidden water damage. Faulty electrical is a scary prospect that can present a fire hazard. So it’s a big no to both. However, HVAC systems are also a concern as they can impact energy efficiency, break down and require costly replacement, and even put your family at risk for CO₂ leaks
  • Water damage: Signs of unresolved or past water damage are also major red flags that can indicate plumbing issues as well as possible water intrusion related to the roof or foundation. Moisture also increases risks of mould growth and structural issues due to wood rot.
  • Major icks: Pest infestations, black mould, asbestos, radon gas, buried oil tanks, and lead-based materials all require costly remediation processes to ensure your home is safe.

While you can walk away from the above deal breakers, we can also negotiate deducting the projected costs from the asking price or arrange for repairs covered by the seller before closing. Another option is calling in an expert such as a plumber, roofer, engineer, etc. to help get a firm estimate on repairs or replacement before proceeding with the offer if the seller is okay with it.

Still have questions? Here are a few more posts you might find helpful:

Thinking about a purchase or sale in the near future? Get in touch with The Christine Cowern Team today to see how we can help! Reach out today by calling us or sending us an email directly.