For everyone who is not a multimillionaire, buying a house is a significant investment. Because of this, prior to making a purchase, you need to make sure that money you are investing is not wasted. Sometimes, if a price of a property seems too good to be true, it probably is. What is the use of paying less for a home only to waste a fortune on repairs and maintenance of the faulty power grid. Therefore, the inspection of your home prior to purchase becomes paramount, and here are a few things you need to look out for.

A Walk Around the Neighbourhood

As soon as you see an ad for a house for sale, you need to check out the neighbourhood it is in. Sure, the real-estate agent is going to talk all praises, but you simply cannot hide the truth from the online community. A home in a sketchy neighbourhood is a safety risk, but also a perilous investment. While cheaper to buy, it is impossible to get a decent resale price if you ever decide to move. However, crime rate is not the only thing you should be looking for. A home in the vicinity of an industrial zone or airport is also a problem and something that can significantly lower your lifestyle quality. On the other hand, the vicinity of schools, stores, cinemas and similar venues is always a good sign.

Check Out the Plumbing

Once you get to the place, your first task should be to check out the conditions of the plumbing. According to people from Your Choice Plumbers, the first thing you need to look at is the shut off valve to the home’s water supply. Even with the working plumbing system, you never know when you will need this safety measure, so it is optimal for it to be in a working order. Next, if the home is more than a few decades old, there is a chance that its pipes are made of lead. Finally check the water-heater and the sewage system in order to make sure that the home is move-in ready.

Electrical System

Seeing how this particular inspection affects both your household budget and your safety, it is vital that you don’t miss out on anything. For this reason, you need to be systematic, but you also want to have a decent checklist. The first thing you need to check is the home’s electrical meter. This device measures how much electricity your household spent each month, so if it malfunctions (and this happens quite often), it can make your power bill reach astronomical heights. The inspection of meter is simple, you just turn off all the electrical devices in your home and see if the numbers move and how fast. After this you should hire someone to check the boxes, conduit bodies, switches, receptacles as well as the wiring methods in general.

Look out for pests

Another thing you need to look out for when buying a home are pests. Big or small, they can make your life significantly more difficult and in some cases even cause a health hazard. Fighting them off naturally is nearly impossible and hiring exterminators means moving out of your home for several days or more. All in all, the safest course of action is to look for them before even making a purchase. Luckily, the signs of infestation are pretty clear from the very start. Dead bugs indoors, pest droppings and evidence of nesting are self-explanatory, but why not play a bit of a detective and deduce their presence based on the pest control products on the shelf.

Conclusion

While some of these inspections are quite simple, others require patience, expertise and even professional help. Still, a mistake while buying a home can be an extremely costly one which is why each and every one of these checkups are more than worth all the trouble.