Now that you have a purchase contract on a property, your Real Estate Agent will tell you that you have a few days to do inspections. Make sure that you understand very clearly how many days you have from the "effective date" of the contract, or start date, to perform inspections. You should avoid the temptation of believing that you know all about the property and its conditions, or that since you are buying it in "AS IS Condition" that there is no need to do any inspection, nothing can be further from the truth and at the end you will be affected without a proper inspection.

The inspections should be done on time, in other words, within the "Inspection Period" stipulated in the contract and by a Licensed Inspector that has no conflict of interest, and is not related to any of the parties involved in the transaction.

It is recommended that you, as the buyer make the effort to be present during the inspection process, this way, you may ask the inspector questions about the conditions and become more educated about the positive and negative aspects of the property. It is always a good idea at the end of the inspection to ask for a verbal summary of the critical findings, remember you are there not only to pay for the inspection services, but to be educated.

Once the inspection is over and you receive the verbal summary , then you are ready to make a decision, typically your options are; continue with the contract, try to renegotiate with the seller, or cancel the agreement and search for another property. It is true that some Sellers will not be willing to renegotiate, but now whichever decision you make is based on facts. If you decide to move forward you'll now have a good idea of the repairs that you will have to face in the future and budget for them.

The inspections are above all to help you make the educated decision and avoid unpleasant surprises.