Home inspections are essential during a real estate transaction to make an educated decision and for homeowners to maintain their home. Whether you are buying, selling, or maintaining, you need to know the condition of the home and its components. This is where a home inspector comes in.

We talked with Jeff Rockburn, a Registered Home Inspector from Rockburn Home Inspection, to talk about the different types of home inspections. After 30 years of experience in the construction and property management industry, Rockburn knows how to help homebuyers make a smart decision about their purchase and what homeowners need to do to care for their home.

What is a home inspector?

A professional home inspector is another set of eyes and unbiased opinion in your home buying team. They help you see the house in a technical or physical aspect instead of concentrating on colours or how many bedrooms or bathrooms it has. With their help, you can be sure that your dream home is not a nightmare in disguise. And once you are a homeowner, they can help you see how your house is keeping up and help you maintain it. Rockburn says:

“A properly trained home inspector can identify the ages of the systems, the current condition and usually the expected remaining life of these components. I like to leave the client with enough information for them to understand their home.”

Having a history of the systems and components of the properties is helpful to make informed decisions. If you understand your property, you can decide on the budget and timeline for the replacements.

Home buyers should get a home inspection as early as possible. With more time in your hands, you can obtain, review and understand information about the home you plan to purchase. There won’t be any rash or hurried decisions.

To choose a good inspector, Rockburn recommends checking for background and work experience. “In an unregulated industry is important that the home inspector has experience in the construction or home building industry.” Remember to check qualifications or associations they belong to.

The cost of a home inspection varies depending on the age, size, and configuration of the property. Usually, the recommended budget is between $300 and $600.

Types of home inspections

There are different types of home inspections. Each one has the same format, but the information found is perceived and handled differently depending on the type of transaction. In every home inspection, they will look at eight components: structural, plumbing, roofing, exterior, interior, heating, cooling and electrical.

Rockburn mentions four types of home inspections:

1. Pre-purchase inspection: The most popular type of home inspection happens before the home purchase. When you are buying, this type of inspection helps you understand the current conditions of the major components of your new purchase.
2. Tarion Home Warranty Inspection: After buying a new home, you might be suspicious of the property’s condition. A Tarion Home Warranty Inspection can happen at 30 days, 1, 2 or 7 years after your purchase. “It can help you navigate through deficient items a builder may have overlooked or conditions that have not performed as intended,” says Rockburn. Defects, oversights, and incomplete work will come to light, giving you a chance to fix them.
3. Pre-listing inspection: A pre-listing home inspection is equally important and often overlooked. Before you sell your home, you need to know about issues to repair according to Rockburn. As an experienced home inspector, he says that many people forget that whatever issue isn’t addressed before selling will still be found by in a future inspection by the purchaser.
4. Maintenance inspection: Rockburn recommends a maintenance inspection if you decide to settle in the property. “Many years of homeownership can cause one to overlook issues or simply live with them. The maintenance inspection refreshes the homeowner’s perspective about the items that need attention”, says Rockburn.

A home inspection can ensure you are making the right move for your home purchase. If you haven’t started your house hunt, start today searching for a home today.