You’ve found a buyer for your house, and now it’s time for the inspection to find out the current condition of your home. Don’t worry though, this isn’t a pass or fail type of situation.

According to the American Society of Home Inspectors, a home can’t fail an inspection. “A professional home inspection is an examination of the current condition of a house. It is not an appraisal, which determines market value. It is not a municipal inspection, which verifies local code compliance. A home inspector, therefore, will not pass or fail a house, but rather describe its physical condition and indicate what components and systems may need major repair or replacement.” Sometimes inspectors will call out different items that are not meeting current codes, just for the buyer’s knowledge, which can possibly be used when they negotiate repairs.

A home inspection can either run smoothly or be a headache for everyone involved. The best way to have a smooth inspection is to prepare beforehand. When you have everything ready for the inspection, you could avoid unnecessary delays. To find out if you’re ready for your inspection, read the list below.

• Are the Lake Arrowhead utilities on?

Make sure you don’t turn off your utilities before the inspection. Lake Arrowhead home inspectors examine the electrical, heating, and plumbing systems. For electrical, do all the switches work properly? Is the electrical working properly or are there issues? Are the outlets grounded?

Don’t forget to have your water turned on at your stop and waste valve. If it’s during the winter, make sure your temperature is set, to at least, 55. Hopefully, the inspector won’t find any water leaks! That can be a huge problem when it comes to the foundation and condition of the house. Leaks can destroy walls and even cause your ceiling to collapse if the water has built up enough. To test this, they will turn on the faucets in your house and let them run to see if any leaks appear.

A good idea is to double check that your water heaters and furnaces are accessible to the inspector. A water heater must be strapped to pass inspection. It requires one strap 3 inches from the top and 3 inches from the bottom to pass this portion of the inspection.

Without having your utilities on, it’s easy to see that they wouldn’t be able to go through this part of the process. You would end up having to re-do the inspection after turning on all your utilities. It’s an unnecessary hassle that can be bypassed but keeping the utilities on until after you’ve officially sold the home. Your local Lake Arrowhead real estate agent can advise you more on this topic!

• Make sure any items or areas that are going to be inspected are easily accessible.

To have the process be as easy as possible, clean the areas that are going to be inspected. For example, your built-in appliances should be free of any items and able to turn on. In an inspection, they check to see if the appliances work properly. If an oven has pots and pans inside, it can create more work for the inspector.

Clear all the areas including the sinks, showers, and bathtubs of personal items or dishes. Electrical panels need to be unlocked. When it comes to electrical sub-panels that are inside the home, they’re often painted. Removing the cover will mar the finish. The seller has to give permission to the inspector to remove the panel cover in order to inspect it for safety issues.

One area that is often overlooked is the build up underneath the home. Most of the time, these are locked and inaccessible for the inspector. However, the inspector needs access to check the insulation, floor joists, and all the under workings of the house. Most often there is the heating unit underneath there as well, that needs to be inspected. Make sure to get the keys to the inspector to have access to this location.

For liability reasons, home inspectors don’t move any of your personal belongings. They can charge an additional fee if they have to return to the property to inspect an area or item that wasn’t accessible to them during the first trip. To save yourself the hassle, take a walk throughout the Lake Arrowhead home to see what might get in the way and move it aside.

• Pets are placed in a different area that won’t be inspected.

Before the inspector comes over, put your pets away where they won’t interfere with the inspection. Even if your pet is friendly, it’s best to put them away because you never know how they will react to a stranger in your home. A great idea is to have a friend or family member watch your pets until after the inspection!

You may be wondering who pays for the Lake Arrowhead home inspection. Typically, the buyers pay since it is in their best interest to know the true condition of the house they are buying. Yet, there is a chance that the price is negotiated with the seller, but it’s a very small and unlikely one.

What happens after this stage? Well, it’s time to figure out who will pay for the repairs, if any are needed. Every purchase agreement has the home being sold as is. However, it is not uncommon to have safety issues addressed but that conversation is best left for you and your local Realtor.

As the seller, you can either agree to make the repairs before the transaction is finished or offer a credit to the buyers. Last but not least, you may also lower the price. When the seller reduces the cost of the sale, the buyers can use that extra money they save to put it towards improving the condition of their home.

Congratulations, you are one step closer to selling your Lake Arrowhead home!