Inspections
The Arizona Association of Realtor’s standard contract of sale provides a buyer
the right to conduct inspections, at their expense, within 10 days of the date the
contract is executed — unless an alternative period of time is mutually agreed upon.
The most common options selected are the structural home inspection, which addresses
the major systems in the house such as plumbing, cooling, heating, electrical and
pool equipment and the termite inspection. It should be noted that about half the homes sold in the Valley show some evidence of termite infestation, it’s very common in Arizona and not, in itself, any reason for undue concern.
However, there are a number of ancillary inspections that a buyer might want to
consider including a lead based paint inspection (for those homes built prior to
1978), fire sprinkler, radon gas and mold.
Home inspectors in Arizona must be licensed and a good source for references is
the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) which requires that its members adhere
to a Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. They also require members to have
passed written examinations, performed at least 250 inspections and completed 20
hours of continuing education each year. They can be reached at 1-800-723-2790 or
accessed via the internet at www.ashi.com.
Termite inspectors must be licensed by the State of Arizona and are under the auspices
of the Pest Control Commission (602-255-3664) or www.sb.state.az.us.
Once an inspection has been performed, a buyer may submit an itemized list of any
structural or mechanical concerns to the seller. The seller then has an opportunity
to respond to that request (usually within 5 days). If there are items that the
seller refuses to fix that are of concern to the buyer, the buyer is entitled to
cancel the contract and have their earnest deposit refunded.
Any other item of importance (“material concerns”) which might ultimately affect
a buyer’s decision to proceed with an agreement must also be investigated during
the inspection period. This includes, but is not limited to, things like airport
noise and flight patterns, flood zone information, Meagan’s Law, the community CC&R’s,
etc. See Disclosures for additional details.