Pre Purchase Home Inspection Prior to finalizing your house purchase you must be sure the house you intent to buy is in adequate condition. Your best alternative is to call a professional inspector who will prepare a detailed home inspection report for your property. The Inspection of the physical condition of a house, components and appliances is one of the most important stages of the home-buying process. In fact, in Toronto and the GTA area, buyers are regularly strongly suggested by their lawyers to get their new property inspected. Often, sellers avoid disclosing essentials and considerable information about the property itself that might be considered as a hazard to the house. House Inspection - Before you buy As a buyer, you should not solely rely on the information provided by the seller thus you need your own third party objective home inspection performed by a professional and experienced home inspector to look for any major defects in the structure, malfunctioning appliances and hazards. Hiring a professional home inspector A professional home inspector has the skills and knowledge to inspect all major house components and systems. Typically, the inspection procedures cover everything from the roof to the basement (if applicable) and include the roof, plumbing, electrical and heating systems, foundation, and drainage. For an average size house, the home inspection process takes about two hours, but this can vary and depends on the size, age, complexity, number of stories etc. When it is right time to have your home inspected The majority of buyers hire a professional home inspector when the seller accepts their offer on the property purchase. Typically the buyer's offer has a clause that legally allows them to walk away from the deal once the inspection results are not satisfactory. You may indeed arrange a professional home inspection before giving out your written offer, however most buyers prefer to initially have it approved before they spent money on home inspection that they might not need in case their offer is not accepted. After the Inspection According to the home inspection results, you can decide on your next step. If the report shows that the property is adequate to your expectations, you can continue with the purchasing process knowing you are getting what you are paying for. On the other hand, if the inspection results show that there are significant defects in the property or with appliances it comes with, you can either try to negotiate to reduce the purchasing price or back out of the deal assuming you have a clause in your offer that allows you to do so.