A home purchase is likely the most significant investment you'll make in your lifetime. But as excited as you may be, don't let the excitement blind you to overlook an essential step in the home-buying process: a sewer line inspection. Otherwise, you could be in for some nasty and expensive surprises.
Sewer lines are typically out of sight and out of mind. But a sewer line inspection is critical to ensure that you don’t buy a home with a faulty or damaged sewer line.
A reliable plumber will use a state-of-the-art sewer line video camera to inspect the sewer line thoroughly. This step will allow them to identify potential problems, such as cracks, leaks, blockages, or tree root intrusion. Discover other benefits of a sewer inspection before you buy a house.
Allows You to Detect Problems Early
You cannot quickly tell that a sewer line is problematic with a glance. Sewer line inspection with a video camera can help you detect problems early on and request the property seller to cater to the repair cost before you close the deal, so you won't spend money you hadn't planned for.
Additionally, while a sewer line inspection may cost a few hundred dollars, the cost of an inspection is likely to pale compared to the cost to repair a damaged sewer line. Sewer line problems can be costly to fix, and the costs will only continue to increase the longer you wait to address the issue.
As such, a sewer line inspection helps you to be proactive and solve problems in their initial stage, which will help you save more than you will spend on the inspection.
Gives You Peace of Mind
The last thing you want is to move into a house with so much excitement, only for the plumbing system to fail a few days, weeks, or months later.
A sewer line issue makes your house unwelcoming and uninhabitable. The worst part is that the problems happen when you least expect them. A sewer inspection is one way to help ensure that the home you're buying is in good condition and won't give you any headaches down the road.
Furthermore, a sewer line inspection gives insights into the system's life expectancy. Sewer lines typically have a lifespan of 50 to 100 years. However, if the sewer line is in poor condition, you may need to replace the sewer line sooner. Therefore, the sewer inspection report helps you to start to plan and budget for this expense now.
Helps You With Negotiations
In some cases, you may leverage the results of a sewer line inspection in negotiations with the home seller. For example, suppose the video inspection reveals that the sewer line needs significant repairs or a replacement. In that case, you can use this information to negotiate a lower purchase price for the home.
You can also use the report to request the seller to pay for all or part of the repair cost. Sewer line inspection can give you the information you need to make informed decisions and negotiate the best possible deal on your new home.
A sewer line inspection is a critical part of due diligence when you buy a house. Sewer line problems can be expensive to fix and often go undetected until they cause significant damage to your home. Therefore, sewer line inspection is an integral part of protecting your investment and can save you a lot of money.
Michigan Plumbing offers video inspection of sewer lines. If you wish to have a sewer line inspection on the home you're buying, contact us
to schedule an appointment.
