It’s hot and muggy, the kids are going back to school, and we’re coming to the end of peak home inspection season. So, you may ask, why are there so many warm-weather and summer home inspections? Well, the reasons are pretty simple.
Home Buying Season
Firstly, any real estate agent will tell you that summer is peak home-buying season. One of the most significant factors in where people choose to live is the school district. With parents putting so much focus on their kids’ education, it’s no surprise they wouldn’t want to disrupt it to move in the middle of the school year, especially if it would require a change in school district!
With such a busy home-buying season, naturally, summer home inspections are also flying off the metaphorical shelves.
Another reason why people buy more often in the summer is the weather. As humans, we have a natural tendency to hunker down in the cold, making winter less than optimal, even for non-parents.
Finally, home buyers know that summer is a good time to list a home, so that’s also when the most homes are available, making home buying season a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Summer Home Inspections – The Benefits
There are also good reasons to get a summer home inspection, outside of it being a common time to buy a home.
With summer being a wetter time of the year in Southwest Virginia, summer home inspections are the best time to check for leaks and potential water damage. Even the best certified home inspectors can have difficulty finding leaks when there is no water flowing!
With a lack of snow, it’s also much easier for us to get around the whole property and inspect the entire property line without anything blocking areas of the home.
Finally, another reason for a summer home inspection is to assess how well the AC is functioning and whether the home is adequately insulated. You definitely notice cracks in the walls during a 90-degree day!
Summer Home Inspections – Potential Issues
Conversely, with every good reason for summer home inspections, there are also reasons why winter home inspections would be more helpful.
Most obviously, you will see how the house operates in cold weather. That means noticing where snow and ice accumulate (which also lets you know where it will flow when it melts).
You will also be able to identify ice dams – places on your roof where melted ice refreezes. They can eventually cause water to back up and leak back into the home.
And while you can turn on the furnace at any time of the year, during the winter, you can see how it operates under actual normal operating conditions, helping you learn how well it works and where in your house it faces cold spots.
To Everything There Is a Season?
In short, summer home inspections are common due to several factors related to the market and more. There are many positives to summer home inspections, but there are also some items that are harder to detect.
Unfortunately, you rarely have the luxury of several months to decide whether to buy a house, so getting the right inspector who knows how best to identify potential problems regardless of the weather is crucial. Luckily, even if you’ve already bought a home, you can still get a second inspection to learn if there are any problems the first inspector missed during the initial home buying.