How Can You Avoid Buying a Home with Serious Problems?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report If you find a home you really like, and you put earnest money down on it, is there any way to get your money back if you end up finding out something you don’t like about it? This is a question buyers ask us all the time, and the answer is yes! Once your offer on a home has been accepted, you have a 10-day due diligence period. During that time, you have the opportunity to bring in an inspector to look for big problems, such as termites, roof leaks, plumbing issues, and a sinking foundation, among many other possible problems. You can hire as many inspectors to come in and take a look at the home as you want during this time! During this 10-day period, no one else can make an offer on the home. This allows you to take your time and bring in whoever you feel is necessary to ensure the home is in great shape. You can back out of the transaction and get your money back if you find anything you don’t like during the inspection phase. If an inspector finds defects with the home, but you still want to buy it, the next step is to make a list of the things that you want fixed. At the end of the 10 days, you need to fill out a form requesting those changes and give it to the seller. The seller then has five days to either fix everything that is requested, fix some things and have the buyers fix others, or choose not to fix anything and end negotiations. You have a right to do your due diligence when buying, but you have to make an offer first. If you have any questions about this process, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!