Home Inspector Reveals What First-Time Homeowners MUST Know

Pete: Hi, I'm Pete Jones, Peter Jones Realty. I wanted to get a perspective for first-time homebuyers buying their first home and getting it on the market. It's a big commitment, and the inspection process is something that they've never done. So, I thought I'd contact my buddy, Matt Gibson, with Forever Home Inspections of Iowa.

Who is an expert in the space; he does it for a living. And, I don't know, Matt, if I'm a first-time homebuyer, What do I need to look at, or what do I need to consider that I haven't done before, having never bought a home? 

Matt: Sure. Yeah, it's a big decision. A home is going to be probably the biggest purchase of your life, I think the first thing you have to determine is, what are you willing to do for repairs? If you're in a specific price range, will that price range get you what you want? As far as a home that doesn't need repairs or a home that's going to have some necessary repairs. And understand that if you buy a home with essential maintenance. You need to understand what those repairs are and what they will cost. A big part of that for most first-time home buyers is understanding the home—components itself. The roof system, the structure, the foundation, the HVAC system, the plumbing, and all of these different components come together to create the home.

Many first-time homebuyers don't understand some of these more essential components. So, during the home inspection process, one of the big things that I like to do is at the end of it is walk through that whole process with them and walk through all of the different things that I find. So that they not only see the defects on a sheet of paper but understand those defects better.

Pete: One thing we talked about the first time we got together was Having a conversation or seeing the information on a report. You mentioned it's a lot better, especially for a first-time home buyer, to not just see all the information about the home on a report in detail but to go through it and talk it through and have you walk through the house with them.

Matt: Yeah, that's correct. That's how you do it. Absolutely. I think we don't do it every time some buyers feel comfortable with not coming. And that's perfectly fine, too. It's entirely up to the buyer. But when you are a first-time home buyer, I think it's an excellent idea to be at the inspection.

Not necessarily for the whole thing, but towards the end, because I might be able to call out a crack in a foundation, but if it's a poured concrete foundation, you'll have cracks. They're going to happen. So, just saying, Hey, there's a crack in the foundation as opposed to, all right, this is the crack.

Here it is. This is the type of crack it is. And this is why it's normal. Or this is why it's abnormal, which, I would think, helps a home buyer. Make more informed decisions.

Pete: Yeah, that's the analogy you mentioned before when we met. I saw a crack in the foundation on a piece of paper. It would throw me into a panic, but the way we explain it would undoubtedly be from a different perspective.

Matt: Yeah, sure.

Pete: Are there certain things you come across that are most common in a first-time homebuyer-sized home? First-time homebuyers need to be cognizant ahead of time.

Matt: Yeah, I would say it's pigeonholing, but most first-time home buyers are at that lower price range.

And, younger folks that don't have that career that's built them up to the point where they can buy the big expensive house yet. So, if we're looking at it, it will typically be an older, smaller home. One of the biggest things I run into most frequently is probably electrical.

It's going to be an older panel. It's going to be the older wiring that may not be grounded. And so again, walking through that with them so they can understand what that means. Cause yeah, I can tell somebody. You have an ungrounded outlet, and they go, okay, cool. What's that? Explaining why that's a problem and then the different fixes for that can help them determine whether or not that's something that they're comfortable with.

Because they might not be comfortable with electrical upgrades, those can get fairly expensive quickly.

Pete: Yeah, and it can definitely be a big ball of wax. 

Okay, Matt. If I'm a first-time home buyer and have a question about the information we just reviewed today, How can I contact you?

Matt: You can contact us in several different ways. Our website is ForeverHomeInspectionIowa.com, and our Facebook page is Forever Home Inspection Iowa. We can certainly communicate via email, phone number, Facebook message, or whatever. My admin can connect you to me, and I can talk to you guys directly.

I do that pretty regularly. Appreciate it.

Pete: Thank you very much for your time.

Matt: Thank you.

Pete: And for any first-time home buyer out there, both Matt and I are willing to be your guys in getting you into a house and doing the inspections.

Matt: Absolutely.