Omega Consulting Africa (OCA) has added a home inspection service to the wide variety of professional civil and structural engineering services it already offers to its Overberg clients.

Kent Georgala, MD of OCA, says the decision to offer a home inspection service in the Overberg came after he realized how seldom local estate agents and potential buyers and sellers of private property make use of such a service. “People are scared off by the additional costs associated with a professional home inspection, but do not realize the benefits of a home inspection in the current competitive buyer’s market.”

For the estate agent, the main benefit of recommending a home inspection to clients is to prevent unnecessary hold-ups in the sales process, which helps the agent move a property quicker than his or her competitors. Selling sound properties without significant defects is a valuable aid towards building your reputation as an agent and ensures repeat customers.

Sellers benefit from the information provided in a home inspection report as it enables them to effect all urgent or necessary repair work before their property is even put onto the market. It significantly shortens the period a property stays on the market and the seller is also able to recoup money spent on such repairs much sooner.

The main beneficiary of a professional home inspection report is of course the buyer. It is easier to weigh up the pros and cons of buying a particular property if one has an objective professional assessment of its condition before you make an offer. By making an independent home inspection report part of their conditions of sale, buyers can also cancel out the dangers of the “voetstoots” clause that is included in most property sales contracts.

A word of warning though: A home inspection report is by no means a warranty that there will be no future problems that will require repairs and maintenance nor is it a replacement for the required certificates of compliance that a seller has to produce. However, it does provide buyers with the peace of mind that their prospective property was properly assessed by an independent built environment specialist who is able to spot any present or latent defects that could cost them a lot of money in repairs and maintenance later on.

A typical home inspection report includes a report on all observable defects in inspected systems, structures and components of a property. The inspection is non-invasive and does not include inaccessible areas of the property, such as soil conditions and foundations. Once the investigation is complete, the home inspection report will highlight any condition that could or would have a detrimental impact on or affect the value of the property as well as impact the health and safety of its occupants if it is not repaired, removed or replaced urgently.

Contact Kent for a quote or more information on OCA’s new home inspection service.

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