Buying a house is so exciting. You picture your family playing in the yard and cooking dinner in your new kitchen. Before that can happen, a home inspection is required during the purchase process to uncover any issues that may be a problem in the future. Home inspections are a necessary part of the process, yet pest inspections are rarely included in the inspection. Pest inspections are essential and should be considered when purchasing a home.
Three reasons to ask for a pest inspection
At Accurate Pest Control, we are not licensed home inspectors. We work in conjunction with licensed home inspectors to assess and propose eradication and treatment for issues found during their inspection. Here are three reasons for including a pest inspection as a part of your home inspection:
- Uncover hidden problems. This does not imply that the homeowner is unclean, dishonest, or unscrupulous. Pests and wildlife are very good at staying under the radar. The homeowner may not know they have bats in their attic or carpenter ants under the back porch. A pre-purchase pest inspection uncovers these issues and can provide you with an estimate for treatment and possible repairs.
- Facilitates negotiations. Purchasing a home is one of the most significant financial events in your lifetime. Caution when purchasing a home is expected, and surprises after the closing can be unpleasant. A pest inspection may uncover issues and associated damages that need to be addressed. It best to tackle these concerns before the closing.
- Peace of mind. The buyer is responsible for the costs associated with a home or pest inspection. Depending on the type of structure, a discussion regarding pest control is warranted. Condos, coops, and townhouses sharing a common wall should be proactive in discussing pest control. These structures often have difficulties with cockroaches, ants, bedbugs, and mice traveling from one unit to another. Single-family homes experience other pests and wildlife depending on whether they are located in the woods, near a water body, or the city.
Nature is nature. What can you do about nuisance wildlife?
It can be almost impossible to uncover and account for all issues associated with nuisance wildlife outside the home. A good rule of thumb is to ask the homeowner if they contract with a pest control company or a lawn service to mitigate the existence of ticks, mosquitoes, bees, and lawn grubs, which can attract voles or moles.
Chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, raccoons, and opossums, to name a few, can be treated. Our entire organization, including office personnel, are Certified NYS Nuisance Wildlife Control Officers. We go to great lengths to protect rescued or injured wildlife working in conjunction with wildlife rehabilitation specialists for necessary and suitable care.
Nuisance wildlife inside of the home presents problems with infestation, damages, and disease.
Not everything about a pest inspection is negative
Inspections can cause a great deal of anxiety for both the purchaser and the homeowner. The inspection can inform a new homeowner of pests’ existence and nuisance wildlife in and around the home. Annual contracts offered by pest control companies provide peace of mind for pests like bees, ticks, mosquitoes, and mice. Knowledge is power, and knowing the status of pests and wildlife for your new home can save you time, money, and heartache.
Once the inspections are completed, and the repairs are done, how do I protect my new home from future damages?
Annual pest control maintenance agreements will help protect your home and family. Typically, residential pest control maintenance agreements are bi-monthly, but we offer customized frequencies and modify them depending on the homeowner’s needs. This specific agreement covers all crawling and flying insects as well as rodents (mice, rats), stored product pests, and roaches.
Depending on the pest inspection outcome, you may opt to protect your home or business with AccuShield. Our trained technicians will assess your home and locate areas where pests and nuisance wildlife can gain entry. A complete evaluation is performed and reviewed with the homeowner establishing a course of action.
We don’t just temporarily fix the problem. A complete clean-up can be performed, including external structural damage to soffits, gutters, siding, roofing, and interior damage to the insulation and drywall.
I would like to learn more about pest inspections
Pest inspections can be performed at any time in the home purchasing process. We work with realtors, home inspectors, and homebuyers to assist in the sale of a home. Contact us for more information and let our skilled technicians inspect the structure and deliver some peace of mind.
