IMPORTANCE OF A PEST INSPECTION
The excitement of buying a new home and the desire to save money can lead the potential homeowner down a dark, crumbling drywall road. Some people think that a pest inspection is an unnecessary and costly step in the home buying process, especially if neighboring houses don’t have a problem or the owner swears upon the sanctity of their mother’s grave that there are no bug problems. However, I believe that it is a lot more costly to pay to evict two million tiny squatters and repair the damage they cost you.
Like the home inspection, the pest inspection should be part of your paperwork. Your offer to purchase the home should be conditional upon the home meeting a standard that you have determined that you can live with. Sometimes a small nest of nasties can be eradicated with a small outlay of time and noxious chemicals. However, if the supports of the house resemble birds’ bones, you should take your down payment and back slowly away.
A good pest inspector is going to take their time to thoroughly inspect your house. Since a lot of pests don’t always go out of their way to yell, HI! I’m HERE!” to the concerned home buyer, pest inspectors have to crawl into out-of-the-way spots, like the attic or basement, to check for signs. It’s sometimes a dusty and dirty job, but most pest inspectors are prepared for this.