Do You Have A Termite Inspection Done When You Buy A Home?

When we purchase a home it is the largest single investment we are going to make in our lifetime. regardless if it our first home, and upgrade or a downsize from our existing home; you still will not invest financially in any greater investment in your lifetime. So, a lot is always mentioned about having the home inspected. When we hire a home inspector, they are checking for leaks, faulty electrical, structural damage, and functionality of the equipment in the home and overall condition of the house. We tend to base whether we are going to follow through on the purchase of the home based on that report. But what about termites? Do you have the home inspected for them? Should you have the home inspected for termites?

Without any doubt YES. Just becuase a home may look structurally fine from the naked eye; it may not be. Termites tend to eat at wood from the inside and go out. So, the extent of damage they cause is not necessarily known right away to the homeowner. What if there were termites found and treated? Was the wood damaged? Or was it found and treated in enough time? These little creatures can cause extensive amount of damage without anyone knowing it.

recently had a house that was bank owned. The buyer elected to have a termite inspection. the inspector found that there were previous termite treatment to the house. But also located newer termite tubes that were active in the ground of the crawl space that were not treated. Upon further testing found that the termites had eaten away at the floor joists and band sill on the home to a point that the structural integrity of the wood had been compromised. My buyer elected to not pursue this house based on that information. The home was already in need of minor repairs and updates prior to the knolwedge of this...

Without having the termite report done she would have never known and would have been faced with a larger financial burden down the road that was not anticipated... So, if you are looking to purchase a home, have it checked for termites....that small expense could save you thousands of dollars down the road.....

Dave diCecco
Realtor/Broker
www.davedicecco.com