What does a home inspector look for?  I have no real reason to think our home wont pass but over the years I've partially finished the basement, intalled a utility sink, etc.  I'd like to make sure ahead of time that things go smoothly.

rot, roof condition, plumbing age, water damage, here in florida, hurricane anchors on trusses, probably more.  he works for the buyer

Home inspectors are always gonna find something bad to justify their fees.
Whatever he finds it is to make the buyer aware of any problems but they try to make you fix it or subtract money. Just say no, as is, where is.

yep and -
Depends what the buyer is paying them for. Many have different tier inspections.
Mold
Insulation
water temp
May Flir furnace vents for heat and cooling temps
Fir the walls for insulation
Electrical
Foundation issues
Moisture in Crawlspace
Water intrusion
Plumbing
Dripping faucets
Running toilets
Dead hookers
etc.

I’m not real familiar with how things work. However, your title says “house sold.” At that point, the buyer can inspect the hell out of it all he wants lmao. Typically, an inspection should be done before anything is sold.

We had 2 inspections done when we bought our place and the inspectors both missed stuff but of course the contracrt says the inspectors are not liable for missed things

I bought my house as is, but still had a home inspection done so I could budget for any repairs and plan intelligently.

Inspection is the buyer’s responsibility. As the seller, you just need to allow reasonable access to the property. The inspector will not cause damage to your property… ie can’t look behind drywall etc, they are there to verify the condition of home’s systems for the buyer.

They will find things that the buyer will try to get you to fix on your dime or get you to reduce your price.  If you are in an area with a tight market you can always tell them it is where is, as is, and if they don't like it they can go find another house.

You'd think so.....

We were moving across the country, so we hired an inspector.
Yup, he found some minor stuff....

The list of big stuff he missed would fill a paragraph.

Radon can be a big one.  If you live in a rocky area it can be a pain to pass.  It is a BS thing also.  It is nothing more than normal background radiation that rocky areas have normally.

He gets paid by the buyer, but he almost always works for the realtor.  His job for the Realtor is to find a couple things but not anything that will kill the deal.

“Sold our house” = too late for an inspection. That’s to be done before papers signed and money transferred.

This.  

OP, did you go to a CLOSING where you and the buyer signed a lot of stuff?  Usually on CLOSING you are out of the house and keys are turned over

You have an OFFER in which case you are still dealing with the buyer's comfort and they can back out.  Refusing an inspection may be worse than letting one in. Just make sure you get a copy of whatever the report says.

The inspector is supposed to catch what people might not have noticed (or hidden) so the buyer doesn't get a nasty surprise the first time it rains or something.

We had a home inspector look at our place in Florida before we sold.   He said it needed a new roof, and it did.
Buyers wanted 20k knocked off.  I said as is.  They paid full price.

Who buys a house without first having it inspected?

When I put our house on the market in 1995, I told the buyer there’s a water issue with underground springs, and the crawl space had a lot of water, and there was pooling in the backyard due to bad grading.

They got the home inspected (buyer’s brother).

She didn’t say anything and I got full price. I guess they didn’t find anything else to complain about.

Home inspection is for the buyers peace of mind.  I always clearly state sold as is/where is.

In a buyers market sometimes the inspection is used as a point to lower price or have seller fix something. It is not a buyers market.

People that can inspect it themselves?

Is it the signed contract?  As long as it’s non binding, buyer has that right.  Yep they are going to find something, otherwise tough to justify their fees.  We had one and a lot of weasel words, but missed roof leaks and flooding basement.

Unless in contract "pending satisfactory home inspection". That would give the buyer an out.

Yours too, huh? Our guy sucked, but being new to home buying, we had no idea he sucked until a year later when all the shit he shouldve caught needed to be repaired

Desperate buyers.

We sold our house last year and the buyer offered asking and no requirement for inspection. Glad they did because it turns out they were nitpiking SOBs. A week after the transfer of possession, we're in our new state and get a text from our realtor. The agent of the buyer sent her a "your sellers are in a breach of contract as they left stuff in the house and removed shelves that came with the house." Uh, those wire kitchen racks weren't part of the house, nor were the decorative baskets that are $10 at Hobby Lobby. And I left the collection of paints/home repair stuff. We left torch lamps because the bedrooms didn't have lights (stupid practice), a sitting chair, and our adjustable bed frame (that weighs 300#). Not like we left 10 bags of s**t in the middle of the room. Plus they wanted to "buy" our furniture, too, until they realized we weren't going to give it to them for free.

So we're like, contract's closed. You accepted the keys. It's yours, not mine. We have the money in our bank account. You chose not to do a final walkthrough with the buyer. Pound sand. Welcome to America!

When we bought the house, the sellers accepted our offer contingent on not nickel-and-diming the inspection. Anything serious they'd remediate. The inspection found issues like the outdoor outlet didn't work, nor did the back porch light. Bathroom cabinet door loose. It was a basic 10-12 item punchlist for me. The outlet didn't work because the GFI in the garage was tripped. Reset it and everything worked. Replaced the bulb. Screwed in the hinge.

I just checked our old neighborhood. In the 7 years we lived there, there were usually a couple houses for sale at any given time. There's nothing for sale now. Nothing in the immediate area, either. Out of 102 homes just in our development, since 2021 there have been 20 homes sold. The last sale was 9/23.

We started finding problems in the first week.....

AS IS

They can inspect all they want as far as I'm concerned. But after almost 2 dozen real estate transactions over the years   AS IS




ETA: from a seller's perspective

It's for the buyer, and up to the buyer.  
The inspector will look at major systems for functionality and any potential issues.  Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, roof, doors, slab, insulation.  
Their report is a good "to-do list" for the buyer.  
The buyer can use that as negotiation with the seller, if they want.  And it is a negotiation.  

The water heater in my place was about 25 years old.  Homeowner didn't want to replace it, so we negotiated a discount on the price of the house for approximate replacement value.  
There were some electrical issues identified.  I was able to fix that on my own.  (And other issues that the inspector couldn't have checked for.)

Buyer could take that inspection and toss it, taking the house for what it is.  Seller can take those negotiations and say "No", at the risk of the contract falling through.

The inspector my buyer went with on my condo was retarded.  Popped the dishwasher open mid-cycle then said the dishwasher leaks.  LOL, no.  He also detrailed my garage door (didn't unlock it before hitting the opener button), said the garage door was broken.  Again, no, you're retarded, and that one I have on camera...
Cost me about $100 to have the cheapest handyman company come out and give the furnace a clean bill of health and tell them the dishwasher and garage door were fine.

OP has abandoned the thread apparently.

Still hasn't clarified if he has sold the house or the house is under contract with contingencies he may have agreed to.

If the former, then tough shit.

If the latter, the buyer was smart and a normal buyer.

OP hasn't sold anything. He has an offer, contingent on an inspection.
Big difference.

No way would I purchase a home without thoroughly inspecting it. If I was not able to do the inspection myself I would hire some to do it for me.

The seller might or might not be willing to do anything about any issues found but I would always have the option to not purchase the house.

When I've sold or bought houses, it was always contingent on appraisal and home inspection. Both are needed to approve a loan. It's really "sale pending".

The credit union requested a home inspection for a loan when I bought my house.

Typically the contract will state "contingent on a passing a home inspection" somewhere in there.

In the process of selling my late father's house in Las Vegas. House is listed AS IS, with detailed information on every system and contact info for the maintenance people my Dad used over the years.  Everything works and is in decent shape, but is all original to the house, built in 1997.

It's list at $100k under local comps, because it needs probably $75k (at least) worth of updates.

Had a dozen offers the first week. Took the best offer (asking price, cash).  They do their inspection. and come back with a list of things they want done.  Told them to take a hike and put the house back on the market.

3 days later we had another dozen offers, up to $50k over asking.  Took that one (also cash).  Their offer basically said they would pay for everything, including things that are normally charged to the seller (about $10k worth of stuff, according to the broker).  That sale is in process now.

Glad the first people got stupid.

When we bought the house we are in now, inspection showed a bunch of dumb nitpicky stuff, as well as very old ac/furnace, chimney totally shot, and a major electrical problem. We spoke to the seller and asked that they cover half of a new chimney and the electrical issue (their half was about $9,000) and that we weren't at all worried about the lesser issues. They initially refused, so we told them we were out. Within an hour they called our realtor and agreed. We were fully prepared to walk away because the house was already $9k more than we planned.

That's a lot of guns! Or a 2012 Tacoma!!