If you want to avoid having major expenses to pay for after buying a house, you may want to consider getting a home inspection completed. A home inspection can reveal issues with a house you may not have thought of; however, home inspections can also be costly. Instead of paying for a home inspection, you may just want to inspect the house yourself. As you do this, here are three areas you should thoroughly investigate. If there are issues with these areas, you can expect to have large repair expenses if you buy this house.
The Roof
The average cost to replace a roof on a house is $6,594, which is a lot of money to spend if you just purchased a house. If you inspect the roof on the house you are thinking about buying, you might be able to avoid this expense. Inspecting a roof can be dangerous, though, because it requires getting on the roof to see its condition.
If you prefer not to get on the roof, you might be able to see it good enough simply by climbing a ladder to the top of the roof. If you see missing shingles, holes, or shingles that are not securely tied down, this roof may need some work.
Another way to check the condition of a roof is to find out its age. Asphalt shingles typically last for around 20 years. If the roof is only a few years old, it will probably have a lot of life left. If it is 15 years old, it might be ready to be replaced.
The Plumbing System
While it is hard to inspect the entire plumbing system in a house, there are several things you can look for as you inspect a house you are considering buying. The first thing is water pressure. To inspect this, turn on a faucet in the house and see how much pressure it has. You can also turn on multiple faucets at one time to see how the plumbing system handles the demand of more than one faucet.
The second thing to look at with the plumbing system is the drains. As you turn on each faucet, watch how the water drains. If you notice that the drains are moving slow, it could be due to clogged lines.
Finally, inspect each sink, tub, and toilet to look for signs of discoloration. Discoloration in plumbing fixtures typically means the house has hard water. Hard water can damage pipes and fixtures, and it can taste bad or be unsafe for use as drinking water.
The HVAC System
Finally, you should thoroughly inspect the heating and cooling system in the house. A heating and cooling system can be extremely costly if you have to replace it, and you can find out a lot by asking about the age of the system. If the system is over 10 years old, it might not have a lot of life left in it. In addition, older systems are not usually as efficient as newer systems. Most furnaces last 16 to 20 years, but they lose efficiency as they age.
To learn more about the efficiency of the system, you can ask the homeowner to see current utility bills. You may want to look over the bills from the last year to see how much the homeowner is paying for utilities. This will help you determine how efficient the system is and whether or not the system may need to be replaced in the near future.
Buying a house is a good investment, but it is always important to plan for expenses the house may need in the near future. If you are interested in buying a house, you may want to talk to a real estate agent today. He or she can help you find homes for sale in the area you are interested in moving to.
