Here's What Happens During a Home Inspection

The path to buying a home is fraught with hurdles. But few are quite as harrowing as the dreaded home inspection. This is when you learn if your dream home is actually full of nightmares.

As intimidating as it can be, however, the inspection is a very important part of buying property. If you're going to be taking out a six-figure mortgage loan, you really do need to know what you're getting yourself into.

To take some of the mystery out of the process, let's take a look at what goes on during -- and after -- a home inspection.

Inspection day

If at all possible, try to be present for the inspection. I suggest tagging along behind the inspector -- a good inspector will even encourage this! -- so you can get their impressions as they work. This also gives you the opportunity to ask questions as they come to you.

The order in which the inspector, well, inspects things may vary, but they'll likely start outside. They'll look at everything, from the power lines coming to the house to the grading of the lot to the condition of the siding. The inspector will also probably have what amounts to a camera on a long stick so they can take photos of the roof.

After the outside inspection is done, they'll move inside. Every (accessible) inch will be covered, from the attic to the basement. They'll look for microbial growth (i.e., mold), potential pests, leaks or holes in the roof, cracks from settling, the plumbing, the HVAC -- everything.

Throughout the entire process, the inspector will take pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. These will be used to create the inspection report.

The inspection report

Once the inspection has been completed, you'll get a verbal summary from the inspector at the site. They'll go over any major red flags they spotted. But this is just the initial report. By the next day (in most cases), you'll be sent the complete written report.

The written report will have everything, and ideally, it will be color-coded for ease of reading. It will first list the areas of immediate concern, such as major defects or safety hazards. This might be mold, water leaks, electrical hazards, and so on.

Then it will break down the property by area. For instance, there will likely be sections on grading/drainage, the exterior finishes, the windows, the roof, and so on. On the inside, you'll see sections for all the major systems, including electrical, plumbing, and air conditioning and/or heating.

Each room, including each bathroom, will also get a section showing what was inspected, as well as highlighting any issues. Ideally, you want to see lots of green "Functional" tags.

Fixes and negotiations

Once you've gone over the inspection report, it's time to make some choices about what you can -- and can't -- live with and/or fix yourself. Some items you may want to ask the seller to fix before closing. This might include major safety hazards, such as treating mold.

If the seller doesn't want to take the time to fix things, you can ask for a credit towards the cost of repair. Credits will be taken out of the purchase price of the home at closing, meaning the credits will come out of the check the seller gets at closing.

Many of the things that come up during an inspection are simply for your information. (And this goes double for properties that are specifically sold "as is.") You won't get repairs done for you or credits from the seller -- you'll need to figure out how to fix them on your own time and on your own dime.

Knowing is half the battle

An inspection can be scary. Someone is going to walk through your dream home and give you a list of all the things that are wrong with it. But it's always better to know what you're getting yourself into, rather than have these things crop up as "fun" surprises later. (There will still be plenty of those even with a thorough inspection.)

In other words, it's perfectly all right to be worried that an inspection will uncover some major issues. However, you don't need to be afraid of an inspection. Getting to know your future home in this way is absolutely vital.