Definition of "Home Inspection"

The basic home inspection definition is well-known for everyone, right?

However, when it comes to real estate, the term “inspection” can serve a bunch of purposes – but the basic meaning is always the same: to analyze something with a purpose of approving or disapproving it.

Home inspection is the name of an on-site examination of a structure and its materials to ensure all safety measures are met, and that the dwelling in question is in a satisfactory condition. Often a real estate purchase contract will be contingent on a positive site inspection. A valid home inspection can only be performed by a professional home inspector.

In property or liability insurance, the home inspection is a right retained by the company to make the inspection in the insured premises as well as its operations in order to detect inherent structural defects and other hidden hazards that could activate the claim. They do it to calculate the risk of damage to the insured and determine the principal of its policy.


But an inspection can also be performed to help reduce loss frequency and severity through recommended safety engineering loss prevention and reduction procedures. In workers compensation insurance, for instance, the insurance company must make inspections to the company's payroll record since premiums are based on the business's gross payroll. In life insurance, the company may obtain verification of statements by an applicant and other information to determine its ensured value and more.

 

Real Estate Tips:

 A home inspection is one of the first steps when you decide to sell your house. Do not overlook it, otherwise, it can cost you a deal later on! Have the home inspection done as soon as you can!

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Also called interim financing. A mortgage that provides the funds necessary for the building or construction of a real estate project. The project can be a residential subdivision, a ...

Real estate business owned by one person having all the rights and obligations. ...

The units are used as commercial offices. The purchaser of an office condominium owns the title to the individual office unit and not to the property. Maintenance fees are assessed to each ...

Situation in which very few prospective buyers of real estate are rejected by lenders. This may be due to ample money supply, lower interest rates, and/or relaxed credit standards. See also ...

Landowner's legal right to the water found on his property. For example, there might be a stream of water adjacent to the land. The water might be used for irrigation or other purposes. ...

Agreement to exchange real estate upon specific terms. ...

A mortgage requiring a substantial down payment. It is usually only available to those having good credit, and has fixed monthly payments for the life of the loan. It usually has a 30 year ...

Real rate of interest on a loan. It is the coupon rate divided by the net proceeds of the loan. Assume Sharon took out a $1,000,000, on year, 10% discounted loan to buy real estate. The ...

Same as term annuity: Equal period payments or receipts. Examples of an annuity are annual rental receipts from a real estate investment and cash dividends from a real estate firm's ...

Popular Real Estate Questions