Home Inspection Reveals Hidden Access Panel and Missing Rail

Many people wonder, especially in today’s tight real estate market, “why get a home inspection?”  Mike Vakos, owner and lead home inspector at Tri-County Inspections started making quick videos to help answer this question for new home buyers.

Myth: Home Inspections Kill Deals

Unfortunately, some home inspectors can make even the small minutia seem like a deal breaker to a new home buyer. At Tri-County Inspections we train all our home inspectors to avoid being alarmists. Every home has small issues, and some have big issues. We believe it's a home inspector’s job to do a thorough home inspection, point out all the issues and give a home buyer some confidence in whether it’s a small issue or a bigger one - and 90% of the time it's just something to be aware of.

In this post Mike was performing a home inspection in Parma, Ohio and found two things to make the home owner aware of – both are minor, but a home inspection is critical for learning more about your home before you buy it, or before you sell it – if you’re getting a pre-listing home inspection.

This Parma, Ohio home had a really nice finished attic - equipped with bedroom, office space, walk in closet and bathroom - a real selling point for the prospective home buyers! Without a home inspection, these home buyers would not have likely gone into the closet, moved the clothes out of the way and found this hidden access panel. In this case the access panel lead to the unfinished portion of the attic and some plumbing access for the bathroom.  Mike went in, checked the plumbing for visible leaks, made sure their were no fire hazards or sign of mold in the attic crawl space, and made note of his findings in the home inspection report. However, in some cases home sellers can purposely "hide" known issues and it's up to the home inspector to find them - a big reason to get a home inspection!

Another easy fix found in this Parma, Ohio home inspection - and one that is very helpful to point out in a pre-listing home inspection is this missing handrail. It's common for home owners that have narrow stairways like this to remove a handrail in order to either splash a new coat of paint on the stairway, or to make room for a washer or dryer, desk, couch or other furniture to be moved into the basement.But before you list the home to sell, an FHA home inspection (done by an appraiser for acquisition of an FHA mortgage), will write-up if it is a safety hazard.

Read our post about the difference between a home inspection and a home appraisal: "Why Pay for a Home Inspection When I’m Already Getting a Home Appraisal?"