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Alright, congratulations are in order. You’ve been looking for your dream home, you have
found it, and you’re now under contract. So, now the inspection period begins, which
is ten days after you have signed the contract. First up, is the seller is going to provide you
with their seller’s property disclosure statement, also called the spuds - you’ll probably
hear me say that a few times. So, the spuds are gonna tell you anything the seller has
done to improve, fix, or maintain the home. It just gives you a history of everything
that they’ve done there. You’re also going to receive a copy of their insurance history
report - also sometimes called the clue report. On that, you’re gonna want to verify if
there was ever any major damage to the home such as a flood or fire, or perhaps burglary.
Basically, you just want to know the history of the house. Then you’re also going to
be scheduling your home inspection - this is critical. You want the home inspector to come
out and review the home, perform a termite inspection, and inspect the pool if there
is one. Again, this is critical, because you want to ensure that the home is in good working
order and meets your expectations. Remember - not all homes are perfect, there’s always
gonna be something. And there’s gonna be something that maybe you’ll fix or maybe
you’re gonna want the seller to fix, but what we want to confirm is that the house
meets or exceeds your expectations. In addition to these items, you’re gonna want to review
your buyer advisory packet. Remember this? You signed this when you went under contract,
and it gave you a list of things to consider regarding your home. Maybe you want to verify
the school district, make sure that it is what you thought it was going to be. We can’t read
your mind and know everything that you want to know about the house, so this buyer advisory
is a good memory jogger if you will - to think about all the things that might
be important to you, and help you look up online history about the house or history
about the neighborhood. Whatever it might be, this is a good place to start. Another
great thing to do while you’re in your inspection period is visit the home. I suggest going
on different days of the week and different times of day. And the best advice is meet
some neighbors! They give you the best information about the neighborhood and what’s going
on over there. It’s also nice if you can go to the grocery store, a restaurant, or
maybe a coffee shop that is maybe a place you would end up frequently once you live
there. You want to make sure the neighborhood is your vibe, and it’s somewhere you’re
gonna want to live. And if you’re gonna have children that are attending schools,
visit the schools. See how you like them, and try and meet some of the staff. Even better
than all of these ideas, I have a great suggestion for you. I have a client that just bought
a home, and the first thing they did was went to a local manicure shop. In the manicure
shop, they met some of the neighbors in the area, they also met the people that worked there,
and they learned a lot of great information about the neighborhood. So whatever works
for you. Go to a restaurant, go get your nails done. Whatever you can do, meet people
in the neighborhood, experience the neighborhood, make sure it’s where you’re gonna want
to live.