How Long Is a Home Inspection Good For?
Home inspections don’t expire, but your trust in them should
A home inspection doesn’t technically expire because the results just provide a snapshot of the home during the inspection.
Generally speaking, you can trust the results of a home inspection for around 90 days.
You should conduct a final walkthrough just before closing to confirm that there have been no major changes since the inspection.
Getting a home inspection is one of the best things you can do as a buyer to insulate yourself from unexpected repair costs after closing. If your closing takes a little longer than expected, or you run into delays with securing financing, you might wonder how long a house inspection is good for. In this guide, we’ll explain how long home inspection reports are valid and when scheduling another home inspection is worth it.
How Long Are Home Inspections Good For?
Generally speaking, you can trust the results of a home inspection for around three months while you wait to close on a property. However, it’s important to note that a home inspection doesn’t guarantee that problems won’t crop up before closing. An inspection report is a snapshot of the overall condition and health of the home at the time of the inspection, and things are subject to change between the inspection and when you sit down at the closing table.
Factors That Can Shorten How Long a House Inspection Is Good For
There are a few things to consider that can invalidate the results of a home inspection or shorten how long you can trust them.
Age and Condition of the Home
Older homes and homes in poor condition are more likely to experience significant issues with appliances and home systems. A home inspection will usually uncover current issues and problems that might rear their heads soon, but you’re more likely to see new issues that may fail a home inspection before closing in an older home or a fixer-upper.
Severe Weather or Natural Disasters
Hurricanes, tropical storms, monsoons, severe thunderstorms, and earthquakes can all cause immediate property damage, including water damage and structural problems. If severe weather or a natural disaster hits the home you’re considering buying, you may want to schedule an additional property inspection to confirm no new damage occurred, even if the previous inspection was within a few days or weeks of the disaster.
Renovations
Major renovations are another cause for scheduling an additional property inspection, regardless of when you had the previous one done. If a seller is building an add-on, installing a dormer, finishing a basement, or renovating a kitchen or bathroom, you should consider having a post-construction inspection done to confirm the work is up to building code, safe, and of high quality.
Additionally, if your previous home inspection required you to approve repairs, you may want to schedule an additional inspection after their completion.
Vandalism or Accidents
Any vandalism or accident should trigger a new property inspection, even if the previous results are under 90 days old. Problems that could demand an additional inspection include accidental vehicle damage, arson, purposeful destruction of property, and tree limbs falling on the structure.
What to Do If Your Home Inspection Results Are Too Old
Whether your inspection has passed the 90-day mark or there was a change to the property that’s making you question the validity of the previous inspection, your best course of action is to hire a property inspector to complete a new inspection. This will give you the peace of mind you need to confidently move forward with the sale.
A home inspection costs around $340, on average. Hire the same local home inspector who completed the previous report. They might be able to give you a discount on the new inspection, especially if they’re just confirming the previous results and checking on any changes to the property.
Also, note that you usually have a final walkthrough inspection just before closing to confirm that the property's condition hasn’t changed since the formal home inspection. If your inspection results are close to or just over the standard 90 days old, and the seller confirms that nothing has changed to their knowledge, you can use the final walkthrough to verify that the home is in an expected condition if you’re comfortable with a more informal type of home inspection.
Frequently Asked Questions
The typical inspection period when buying a home—the time you have to conduct a home inspection and either agree to move forward with the sale or back out of it—is around 10 days. The inspection period can range from a week up to around 21 days, depending on the area, the state of the market, and how quickly the seller wants or needs the deal to progress.
Yes, in most cases, you can back out of your offer if you’re unsatisfied with something in the inspection. However, there is usually no recourse for doing so. The only exception would be if you waived the home inspection, a somewhat common practice to get your offer accepted in a highly competitive market. Waiving the home inspection doesn’t prevent you from getting an inspection, but you usually can’t walk away from the home after the inspection if there’s something wrong.
