I know that most of you have probably heard of a home inspection. Almost everyone, from the For Sale By Owner’s who don’t use an agent on either side, to those who don’t cough without a contract perpetuated by their agent, hire someone to do a general inspection of the property they are purchasing. Unfortunately, I think that most buyers do not receive a clear explanation of the ‘inspection period’ and the rights it affords them from their agent.

In the current Arizona Association of Realtors approved purchase contract, the standard period of inspection is 10 days. This, of course, can be altered before an offer is made to reflect the needs of a particular buyer (shortening the inspection period to 7 days or lengthening it to 15, for instance). During those 10 (or 7 or 15) days the buyer has the right to perform any inspections in, around or about the house. During the inspection period, the buyer also has the right to cancel the contract (and have earnest money returned) for anything discovered in the inspections.

Something else I don’t think is always clearly explained to buyers is that the ‘home inspector’ is not all knowing. Their title is a little bit misleading. You might think if they’re called the ‘home inspector’ he or she surely must be able to inspect just about anything about the house with reasonable authority. This is not true. In general, a home inspector will do a broad overview of the house and carefully inspect some particular aspects like the A/C unit. The home inspector should check things like the roof, the electrical outlets and the general physical appearance of the house. It is their job to point out things that you would have found in the first few weeks of actually living in the house anyway, but wouldn’t even think to check out when you are looking to buy. I attended a home inspection earlier this week in which the inspector determined that the garage door sensor that won’t let the garage door shut if there is something in the way wasn’t working. It is a good example of a home inspector’s find. It’s not brain surgery and they can’t predict the future to tell you when the A/C unit will die, but they can give you a good idea of what is and what is not currently working in the home.

There are, however, several things about a home that the home inspector will not check at all that you may want to think about having looked at by an expert in that field. Examples of these would be the pool and spa, the alarm system and the sprinkler system. These are complex systems that a home inspector would not be trained or qualified to check to see if they are working correctly or at optimum efficiency. Just always remember if you have any worry or curiosity about something in or around the house isn’t working, you are completely within your rights during the inspection period to hire someone to come out and check it out.