The 10-Day Inspection Period: A Day-by-Day Plan for Cookeville, TN Buyers

I'm Bridget Salazar, OC Homegirl. I'm a REALTOR® with The Realty Firm and a Certified Residential Appraiser, and I work Cookeville and Putnam County along with my home county of Overton.

Your offer on a Cookeville home gets accepted, and the inspection period starts running. Nobody sends a reminder.

I'm walking a ten day window here. Check your own contract for your number, because that number is written in rather than fixed. If yours is different, the order below still holds. You compress it or you stretch it.

Two things to settle before you count a single day. Which date the clock starts from, and whether your contract means calendar days or business days. Have your agent show you both in the document. Guessing is how people miss a deadline.

This is a general plan, not legal advice. Your contract sets your deadlines.

Day one is phone calls. Not research. Calls.

• Book the general home inspector, and take the first slot they have.
• Ask whether you need separate specialists. Around Putnam County and Overton County that often means a septic inspection, a water test on a well, a wood destroying insect inspection, or someone for the roof or the heat and air.
• Confirm the utilities will be on for the visit. An inspector cannot test what will not turn on.
• Tell your lender you are under contract so the appraisal gets ordered.

Good inspectors fill their calendars. Every day you spend thinking about it comes off the back end of your window, and the back end is where you need room to negotiate.

While you wait for the appointment, read.

Go back through the seller's property disclosure and write down every question it raises. Look at the listing again and note anything you remember differently from your walkthrough.

Then get specific about this property. In and around Cookeville you will find subdivision homes sitting near 1 to 3 acre lots, and the questions are not the same. On an acreage property, ask about the well, the septic field, the driveway, drainage, and every outbuilding. In a subdivision, ask for the HOA documents and find out who maintains what.

Hand that list to your inspector before they go out. A written question in the inspector's hand beats one you think of two days later. How I run this with buyers is on how I help buyers.

Go. Walk the whole thing with the inspector if they allow it.

A report is a document. The walkthrough is where you learn which items matter, because you can ask the person standing in front of the panel. Take pictures. Ask a second question about anything you do not understand.

What to pay attention to:

• Roof age and condition.
• Heat and air age, and whether it runs in both modes.
• Water heater, plumbing, and the electrical panel.
• Foundation, grading, and how water leaves the property.
• Moisture anywhere, in a crawl space or a basement.
• Well, septic, and everything outside the house.

Specialist visits usually land in here too. Line them up so the results are back before you have to decide anything.

Reports run long. Length is not severity.

Put every item in one of three piles.

• Safety, structure and systems. Anything that keeps the house from being livable, or that costs serious money soon.
• Maintenance. Real work, and normal for the age of the home.
• Cosmetic. Things you could see before you ever made an offer.

Then get a number on the first pile. One or two written bids from local contractors change a negotiation completely. "The roof looks rough" is an opinion. A written bid is a figure the other side has to answer.

Remember the appraisal is running on its own track at the same time, and a lender may take its own view of a condition item. How value gets measured in the first place is on my home value page.

Now decide what you are asking for. There are usually four directions.

• Ask the seller to repair specific items.
• Ask for a price reduction instead and handle the work yourself after closing.
• Ask for a closing cost credit.
• Move forward with no changes.

Terminating under the inspection contingency is the fifth option. Whether it is open to you, and what it does with your earnest money, is set by your contract. Read that with your attorney before you use it.

Two rules. Ask for less than everything, because a list of forty items reads as a buyer who is not serious about closing. And get your request delivered in writing before the deadline, not on it.

What happens if you say nothing at all depends entirely on how your contract is written. Find that out on day one, not on day ten.

Day ten is not a day for new information. It is the day the window shuts. The seller needs time to answer, and you may go back and forth once. An extension is something both sides have to agree to in writing. Nobody gets extra days by assuming.

Call me, even if I'm not your agent.

I will read the inspection section of your contract, tell you which date your window actually ends on, and go through the report with you. My appraisal training earns its keep here. I can tell you which items a lender is likely to care about and which ones are simply work.

Keep the point of this period in view. It is not about finding a flawless house. It is about knowing what you are buying, then deciding whether the price still fits what you found. Buyers starting out should read first-time buyers, or buying your first home in Cookeville for the local version. Under contract on acreage? Buying land covers the questions land brings with it.

Questions about what your contract allows go to your attorney. Questions about your loan go to your lender. The contract sets the terms.

Buying around Cookeville or Livingston? Send me a message or call (931) 510-1346. I answer every question.