11th Month Warranty Inspection
During the home buying process there are two specific times when it's important to have your house inspected. The first is the pre-delivery inspection, a mandatory walk-through for all new homes under warranty. This inspection takes place with your builder shortly before you officially take possession of your home. The second inspection should be scheduled for about one month before your home warranty expires. Generally, the fist and broadest portion of your warranty expires 12 months after your possession date.
During the pre-delivery inspection, you probably don't need to pay for a professional Inspector, but you might want to take along a friend who is wise about construction. If you don't document a deficiency then the builder isn't obligated to fix the problem.
Most builders offer a one-year warranty on a new home. Hiring a professional Home Inspector to do a second walk through before your warranty expires is a must. This will allow your home to go through all four seasons, which is enough time for major defects to start showing up. This ensures you will still be able to get them fixed under the first stage of the standard warranty, which covers against material and labor defects.
It is important to be proactive and understand that there are strict time limits on making claims. To ensure you understand how long you have, carefully read the contract before the pre-inspection, as there are different deadlines for different types of warranty claims. It is a good idea to mark on a calendar the deadlines, and then make sure you get the claim in at least five days before the deadline. You should familiarize yourself with the maintenance you have to do to ensure your warranty remains valid. For instance, if you forget to change your furnace filters or fail to clean out your gutters you could find a claim regarding deficient heating or water penetration into your basement is deemed to be invalid.
During the pre-delivery inspection, you probably don't need to pay for a professional Inspector, but you might want to take along a friend who is wise about construction. If you don't document a deficiency then the builder isn't obligated to fix the problem.
Most builders offer a one-year warranty on a new home. Hiring a professional Home Inspector to do a second walk through before your warranty expires is a must. This will allow your home to go through all four seasons, which is enough time for major defects to start showing up. This ensures you will still be able to get them fixed under the first stage of the standard warranty, which covers against material and labor defects.
It is important to be proactive and understand that there are strict time limits on making claims. To ensure you understand how long you have, carefully read the contract before the pre-inspection, as there are different deadlines for different types of warranty claims. It is a good idea to mark on a calendar the deadlines, and then make sure you get the claim in at least five days before the deadline. You should familiarize yourself with the maintenance you have to do to ensure your warranty remains valid. For instance, if you forget to change your furnace filters or fail to clean out your gutters you could find a claim regarding deficient heating or water penetration into your basement is deemed to be invalid.
