Known for it's beaches, parks and warm climate, San Diego has it all. With a population of 1.4 million, San Diego is the 8th largest city in the United States. Some major attractions include beaches like Mission Beach, Pacific Beach & La Jolla, as well as Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo.
Most home inspectors are members of a national home inspection association or CREIA. This will determine the major systems and components they will inspect:
In most cases we recommend the homebuyer and your real estate agent attend the inspection. This gives you the opportunity to ask questions and for your home inspector to provide context to their findings.
Ranges will vary from city to city but you'll want to at least budget the national average of just under $400 for a basic inspection. Keep in mind this does not include additional inspection add-ons like mold or termite inspections. These are often just as important.
Homes cannot pass or fail a home inspection. A home inspection is a visual assessment of your home at a point in time. It's intent is to educate you and your agent on the condition of the home so you can be educated about your investment and negotiate in good faith with the seller.
With a very competitive 81 on the Redfin "Compete Score", San Diego is hot in some areas and not so much in others. The average sales price clocks in at 635k and $437/sq. ft. Hot homes sell around list price and can go as fast as a week on the market.
The San Diego Tribune reports that price cuts were around 25% this time last year and around 20% this year. This is one of the highest rates of price reductions in the nation. This is often a sign of a cooling market after a huge run up in prices. This results in seller's expectations being too high for what they can sell their home for.
In a market where there are lots of price reductions, this can give buyers a little more leverage (although still not a ton overall) in asking for repairs and credits post inspection. As always, look for the most important items in the home inspection report and work with your Realtor to negotiate on those.
