If you are in the midst of buying a house or contemplating buying a home sometime in the near future the topic of a home inspection will come up. Do you need one? Are you required to have the home inspected? Are you required to have a home inspected. In some cases the answer is yes. Some cities require that a home be inspected if it is being purchased through land contract. However in most cases that answer is no, it is not required.
Financial organizations may require certain inspections not covered by a basic home inspection. These often required inspections are, well and septic, gas line inspection and warranty and of course a termite inspection.
There tends to be the belief that if a home is brand new or newer that there is no need to have a home inspection done. I admit that there are usually fewer issues with newer homes. There area however always some issues. Some issues can be very serious.
Several years ago I did a home inspection of a newly constructed home that had gone through and passed the final county inspection 3 months before I was contacted to do the inspection on it for the buyer. While in the home I noticed a low spot in the floor in the kitchen area of this property. I save looking at the crawl space last when I do inspections because these areas are often dirty and I would rather not bring dirt into a home. Because of the low spot in the floor I knew there was something to look at below. When I got into the crawl space the issue was very obvious.
The cause for the low spot was that someone had cut away a three foot section of the main support beam in crawl space under that area. The section of support was removed to make room for heating duct work. This was the cause of the floor sag. In this same house the cross bracing for the floor joists were not connected. Not a single one was installed completely. Sloppy lazy work by the builder and also by the county or city inspector who missed it.
In other brand new homes I have found missing insulation and damaged roof vents, I have also found gas leaks and water leaks in a home that was the model home for a building development. Always have a home inspection.
Builders and county inspectors are human and therefore not perfect. It is always to good idea to have another person take a look and help you determine if there are problems and where they are.