Your new house has an adjustment period
We all have habits and routines and ways of living in our space. The popular couch cushion sits a little low. The preferred vanity sink shows a little more wear. The cabinet door on the side with the garbage disposal switch is just a tad looser in the hinges.
Even more personal: each occupant of a house uses things a certain way, reaches with a certain hand, nudges with a foot in a certain corner of the door. A house settles in to these habits; it knows them and expects them. The boiler is used to kicking in at 6:30 on a cold morning when you bump the thermostat up quick while you head for a shower. When an outsider comes in—whether new owners AFTER a sale or new buyers BEFORE—the house is used in a new way. And honestly, sometimes it kind of freaks out.
This is part of why home inspections turn up issues that the seller truly may not have noticed.
These days, I’m almost always using my right hand in the kitchen, no matter which hand makes ergonomic sense for running the garbage disposal, opening the fridge, or closing the oven. When I open the freezer, everything stays in place; when Jack does, banana muffins and steak come flying out. Why? I have no idea. Things seem fine when I use it my way, but all hell breaks loose for him.
An inspector runs the garbage disposal with their left hand since a flashlight is in the right; the connection was loose and didn’t work from that angle. Who knew? A new owner wants it warmer overnight and the aging circulator pump on the boiler can’t keep up with the demand. Who could have expected? The left side vanity cabinet falls off its hinges during a showing; the seller never opened that side in the guest bath, so they never noticed. You’re used to soft close, so you slam the drawer and the hardware comes loose. It just wasn’t how it was used to being used!
At our listing this past weekend in Somerville, we felt the full power of the spring market turning on: busy open houses, private showings, multiple offers. Pre-offer inspections, partial inspection waivers, fully waived inspections. For a seller, this is good news! For a buyer, in my opinion, skipping home inspection entirely is not the place to compete.
If you’re worried about home inspection as a seller, dig in to why: repair anything you know is not working properly, instead of spending resources on upgrades that buyers might not value. Replace a garbage disposal before selling? Yes. A failed expansion tank? Sure thing. Add new wallpaper and swap all the cabinet hardware for gold? Maybe save it for your next place.
Home inspections are a learning opportunity, inspection reports are a maintenance resource, and outside of California, most states place the responsibility of due diligence on the buyer. Good reasons not to skip the step of inspection, but even beyond all of that: home inspections are a shock to the house’s systems, and sometimes that shock is what you need to get the fullest possible picture.
Oh, and: my next, free, first-time buyer webinar is this coming Saturday, March 9th, with nine spots left. See you there? Invite a friend!