Who Controls the Home Inspection?

You’re getting ready for the home inspection. Who is in charge? Who pays? Who gets to see the report? We have the answers. Since the home inspection is for your benefit, the person in charge of it is you. Here’s everything you need to know about ordering the home inspection. 

Why do you need a home inspection?

A home inspection can help keep you from buying a money pit, and if you have a home inspection contingency, it lets you walk away from a potential home purchase and get your earnest money back. 

Who schedules the home inspection?

The home inspection is for your benefit, not that of the seller or your lender. You are responsible for scheduling it, although your agent or lawyer might help. You’ll also be the one paying for it. It’s not advisable to skip the home inspection. 

Paying for a home inspection gives you protection from buying a house with lots of problems that would be expensive to fix, and gives you some leverage over the homeowner even if there are smaller issues.  

Who sees the home inspection report?

You are the client who ordered the home inspection, so the report belongs to you. You don’t have to show it to anyone. In fact, you probably shouldn’t, unless there are issues you want the home seller to address.

In that case, you can use the report to potentially get the seller to drop the purchase price to reflect how much you’ll have to spend to fix the issues. Alternately, you can demand the seller fix the problems before closing, although this can be problematic if there isn’t much time left.

What you don’t want to do is bring your lender into the mix. If they see the home inspection, they have to take everything in it into account during underwriting, and this can stall out your home purchase.  

What to do if a seller tries to get you to waive a home inspection

If the seller tries to pressure you into skipping the hoe inspection, there is usually something they don’t want you to see. This is a huge red flag, and should make you think twice about buying the home.