Appraisal vs. Home Inspection

Appraisal vs. Inspection

Sometimes it is confusing to the Escondido real estate buyer whether they should have an appraisal or an inspection of their potential Escondido home. Actually, they need to have both. What is an appraisal? Who pays for an appraisal? What is an inspection? 

Escondido Home Appraisal

An appraisal is ordered by your lender. You, the buyer pay. The appraisal is used to determine that the value of the home is adaquate to cover the terms in your loan agreement. An appraiser, picked from a pool of appraisers, goes out to the Escondido home for sale to determine its value. Appraisers provide their opinion of fair market value. It is usually an estimate based on their physical inspection of the property and a review of sales of similar Escondido homes in the area. If the appraisal does not come in high enough, the buyer can cancel the contract depending on the terms, or the buyer can negoiate with the seller for a new lower price. The seller does not have to agree to a lower price.

 Escondido Home Inspection

A home inspection is not the same thing as an appraisal. The buyer hires an independant home inspector to evaluate the home for any major potential defects.

The appraiser was working for the lender, but the Escondido home inspector is working for you, the Escondido home buyer. The home inspector checks out the physical structure and systems in the home. This usually takes 2 to 3 hours. At the end of their detailed inspection they will go over any potential problems with you and give you a very detailed report on what they found. You can then ask you Escondido Realtor, Gary Harmon, to prepare a “Request for Repairs” to be sent to the seller. Buyers should keep their request to important items, and not cosmetic items. The “Request for Repairs” is a new form of negoiation with the seller. Sellers will usually fix important items, but sellers do not have to agree to anything. The buyer, according to the purchase contract, may be able to cancel the purchase agreement if sellers won’t fix major problem. Contact Gary Harmon, who has been through hundreds of home inspections, to help you evaluate the results of a home inspection. Remember, it is the inspectors job to find the problems, but many are not important enough to take to the seller. In most cases, you are buying a used Escondido home.