About Your Inspection

What to expect from your inspection.

During Your Inspection

Whether you are buying, selling or maintaining your home, Bonafide Home Inspections provides professional and quality service from the moment you call us. Our certified home inspectors will walk through your home with you and teach you as much as you want to learn. We strictly follow the Standards of Practice for home inspectors established by InterNACHI, the leading home inspection association.

After Your Inspection

After we walk through the home together, we will explain the general condition of the home and systems with you and your agent. We will talk through any major issues that need to be addressed sooner rather than later. We will also mention the items that you will want to keep an eye on for deferred maintenance. All of this will be detailed in our easy-to-read Spectora report, which will be delivered in HTML and/or PDF format. From that report, you will be able to see the items we discussed, with images for reference.

Included Components

Bonafide Home Inspections thoroughly inspects and reports on the following:

Structural Systems

Foundations, grading and drainage, basements, walkways, and floor, and wall and ceiling structures.

Roofing

Roof coverings, drainage systems, flashings and skylights, chimneys, and other roof penetrations.

Electrical Systems

Service entrance and panels, branch circuits, connected devices and fixtures, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and ensuring your outlets are GFCI-protected.

Plumbing

Fixtures and faucets, water supply systems, drain, waste and vent systems, water heater, flues and chimneys, and any sump pumps or fuel storage and distribution systems.

Heating, Vents, HVAC

Heating and cooling equipment, ducts, vents, and flues.

Built-in Appliances

Dishwasher, garbage disposal, range hood, range or oven, cooktop, microwave, trash compactor, bathroom exhaust fans, garage door operator, and other built-in appliances.

Frequently Asked Questions

Buying or selling a home can be a stressful experience, but we’re here to ensure you know what to expect during your home inspection.

A home inspection includes checking for any structural issues such as foundation cracks, roof leaks, plumbing issues, electrical wiring, heating/cooling systems, insulation, windows, doors, chimneys, etc. Depending on how big the property is, a home inspection typically takes 2-3 hours.

Ensure all inspection points are free from clutter, including any closets that might lead to a crawlspace or attic, and clearing some space around your home’s perimeter. It’s also important to check the functionality of all built-in appliances, electric, and gas. If you don’t plan to attend the inspection, make sure your inspector has access to the home, and all pets are properly contained or moved.

A home doesn’t pass or fail an inspection. Instead, a home inspection is a thorough audit of your home’s components. In most cases, there will be concerns marked on your home inspection report, but these are strictly informative.

While you can legally skip a home inspection in many cases, doing so could mean  you may end up buying a home that has major issues that need to be fixed.

While a home inspector may recommend some minor repairs, they are not qualified to make major repairs. He or she can provide information about what needs to be repaired — and it might be helpful to know that information — but the decision to actually do the work lies solely with the homeowner. Not only does this give you the freedom to choose your contractors, but it also helps prevent a conflict of interest.

A home inspection can affect appraisals for two reasons: 1) The inspector may find something wrong with the property that would lower the value of the home, 2) The inspector may find things that need repair which could increase the value of the home. If the inspection finds issues that require repairs, then the seller has to decide whether they want to fix them themselves, or hire someone else to do it. If the buyer wants to purchase the home, he/she must be willing to pay for those repairs.