It's time for another "Tuesday Tip," and we are talking about home inspections. So you've just purchased a home, you've opened escrow, and you're so excited. Now comes a very important part of the process, which is doing your home inspections. And we recommend performing home inspections, particularly on the most important parts of a house. So you're buying a $500,000 or $1,000,000 home and spending $1,000 on home inspections to ensure you're familiar with the property.

As part of a general inspection, they'll check the windows, the plumbing, and the electrical. So they'll make sure, in a general inspection, that the house is generally in good condition. The important parts to inspect are the things you can't see. So, up on the fortified walls, on the roof. So here are some recommendations: Spend the money and hire specialists. On a roof, you want to know the condition of it unless they just replaced it and you have a receipt for it. So the roof is very important. It's an expensive part of the house. heating and air conditioning. What's the age of the heating and air conditioning system? How's the ductwork? so very important, and again, very expensive to repair. The sewer line is underneath the house. You want to know: Are there any tree roots? What's going on in the sewer line? Because again, if that's clogged, it's very expensive to fix. And last, a chimney—really, you can't see up a chimney. Are there cracks? Is there anything that's happened in the chimney? especially if you're going to start a fire.

Remember, when you go to sell a home, that next buyer is probably going to be doing these inspections. So you want to know, very clearly, that you bought a home. "What can I expect to have to replace or repair in the next couple of years?" So go ahead, find the inspector, spend the time, and do the inspection. You have the time; get familiar with the house. So I hope that helps you, saves you some money in the future, and makes you sleep better at night with the home you purchased. Enjoy it. We'll talk to you next week. Thanks.