What does a home inspection cover? A paid walkthrough by a professional who reports the condition of the house, before you are committed to it.
A home inspection is a visual examination of a house by an inspector you hire, usually in the first days after an offer is accepted. It covers the roof, the structure, the foundation, the exterior, plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, insulation, ventilation, and the appliances that stay. In the Las Vegas valley the cooling system deserves particular attention, because a failed unit is a summer emergency and a five-figure one.
It is visual and non-invasive. An inspector does not open walls, dig up a sewer line or take a roof apart, so the report tells you the condition of what can be seen and points at what needs a specialist. Sewer scopes, roof certifications, pool inspections and structural engineers are separate appointments and are worth their fees when the report hints at them.
What you get is a long list, and most of it is small. The purpose is not a perfect house, it is knowing which items are worth reopening the price over and which are a Saturday. Bring the report to the seller's disclosure and read them against each other: a condition on one and not the other is the question worth asking.
A worked example
A $450,000 valley home inspects for about $400 to $600. The report runs sixty pages, most of it minor, with three items worth reopening: a cooling system at eighteen years, a water heater past its warranty, and staining under a bathroom sink. Those three, not the sixty pages, are the conversation with the seller.
Questions people ask
How much does a home inspection cost?
Usually a few hundred dollars for a typical single-family home, more for a larger or older one. Sewer scopes, roof certifications and pool inspections are separate and separately priced.
Can you back out after a home inspection?
With an inspection contingency in the contract, yes, within the period it allows, normally with the earnest money returned. Once that period passes the right is gone, which is why the dates in the contract matter as much as the report.