When you buy your own home, it is the buyer’s option to complete an inspection. We highly recommend you obtain a professional inspection so that you are aware of the properties condition prior to purchase. A professional will come into the space, evaluate major structural components, find any potential problems and report them.

An inspection can impact the purchase by incurring repair or price reduction requests and could completely stop a purchase if issues are too severe. The inspection gives the buyer more knowledge about the property to make negotiations with the seller. If you’re the seller, this can hurt your profits if you’re caught off guard by a pricey repair. If you’re the buyer, it can save you a lot of frustration from unforeseen expenses.

But what about once you have already purchased the home – maybe even 10 years ago? Why would you bother getting an inspection then? What it comes down to is proper planning for all eventualities. These are five reasons to get yourself a proper inspection after you have owned a home.

An Updated Home Inspection Is Your Best Planning Tool

1. You Are Planning To Sell – Not everyone buys a house for keeps. If you are planning a move in the future, it is important that you have a clear understanding of the condition of your home. For example, what if you put it on the market and an inspector ends up letting you know that there are newly formed cracks in the foundation that will set the selling price down by thousands of dollars?
2. You Are Planning a Remodel In The Near Future – A remodel is a common time for finding troubles in a house. You are opening up walls, pulling up floors, and preparing for additions. If you were to knock out the wrong rafter or found some rotting boards, you could be in for a world of trouble.
3. You Are Planning On Purchasing New Real Estate – Real estate is an interesting investment model, as it isn’t a good idea if you already have real estate that is depreciating quickly in value. Before purchasing more real estate, make sure you can manage what you already have. If your home is in need of a new roof or if your foundation was damaged during rough weather, you’ll need to plan on repairing your current home before putting possibly all of your extra cash into additional real estate.
4. You Are Planning Ahead For Potential Problems – The future could bring plenty of repairs that will be necessary for your home to retain (or increase) value. An inspection first gives you some forward focused attention on areas that are going to break down over time. You can reinforce or improve them now before it falls apart and costs you more time and money.
5. You Are Planning For a Major Life Event – Are you planning on having a baby? Retiring? Moving for a job? An inspection is a great idea, to give you a better foundation for future financial planning and major life events.

Discover more helpful home ownership tips with Brad Jensen at Jensen and Company.