
Buying a home is one of the biggest investments, if not the very biggest, that you'll make during your lifetime. It's an exciting time and one that many more Americans have moved towards during the past year and change. If you're about to make this leap yourself, there's a lot of work to be done and many things to understand.
While you likely will have a proper home inspection before buying or selling a property, a pest inspection will actually be an event that occurs separately. Depending on where you live, this pest inspection will search for signs of all kinds of creatures.
How much is a pest inspection? If the cost of this inspection is coming out of your own pocket, you'll certainly want to know. Read on and we'll walk you through the basics of what a pest inspection entails and how much it might cost you.
What Is a Pest Inspection?
If you've never gone through the process before, you might be uncertain of what to expect from a pest inspection. When you hire pest inspection services, what actually occurs?
It's a good question and an easy answer to provide.
When an inspection occurs, a professional from a pest management company is sent to your home. They will take a good amount of time to check both the interior and exterior of your home for any signs of damage from pests and critters. They will also look for potential problem areas that might attract pests in the future.
For example, a pest inspector might look for signs of excessive moisture around your home, which often attracts insects such as termites, which can provoke big problems for the structure of your home later on.
They'll also look for signs of current pest infestation by looking for droppings, tunnels, and other such clues.
While termites are often the pest that comes to mind for most homeowners, pest inspectors are actually looking for signs of a very wide array of bugs, insects, and pests. They'll be able to say if there's a need for concern about ants, bedbugs, cockroaches, moths, rodents, scorpions, and much more.
This can be valuable information if you're about to purchase a property and want to know what kind of challenges you might be up against. At the end of an inspection, the professional will provide a report that details any and all problems areas and suggests solutions of treatments.
In some situations, a one-time treatment might be all that is needed. In others, the professional might suggest that some sort of long-term care would be more advisable.
Buyers vs Sellers
When it comes to pest inspections, there is sometimes confusion over who should be requesting and paying for this kind of work. The seller of the home or the person who is about to purchase it?
In most cases, it will be the buyer of the home that requests the pest inspection, though the seller will likely cover the costs of fixing any problems that do reveal themselves.
That being said, as a home seller, it might not be a bad idea to consider a pest inspection prior to putting your home on the market. Having a clear report can help to bring a lot more confidence in the property to potential buyers.
You can also speed up the sale process, as the buyer might decide that they don't need to do their own pest inspection as part of the closing process. You can also take care of any potential pest issues early on, avoiding the time it might take to resolve said issues closer to closing.
How Much Is a Pest Inspection?
Now, to the real question at hand. If you're about to buy a property, how much more do you need to budget to handle the costs of said inspection? The pest inspection itself shouldn't be too costly, though it will vary depending on the provider, the home, and the geographic area in which you live.
In most cases, a pest inspection can cost anywhere from about $75 to $500. As you might imagine, the larger a home is, the more ground an inspector will need to cover in order to do their job. The larger a home is, the more you'll likely need to pay for the inspection to occur.
This explains the wide range in prices that you may come to expect.
It's also important to note that this cost is just for the inspection itself. You're just paying for the time of the inspector. If the home does end up needing additional services or treatments, those will come at an additional cost. They are not baked into the inspection price.
Who ends up paying for this pest inspection between the buyer and the seller? It's negotiable, and some buyers might be able to successfully request that the seller pays for both the inspection and the treatment. You can speak to a real estate professional in your area to see what the standard or norm is. for your neighborhood.
Understanding Local Pest Inspection Costs
If you're about to move into a brand new property, it's an exciting time in your life. However, there are a few more challenges you'll need to get through before you can call yourself the happy owner of a new home. A pest inspection is one of them. Knowing the answer to the question—how much is a pest inspection?—can help make the process run much smoother.
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