Are home inspection conditions back in the cards? What buyers should know

Weighing whether to add an inspection condition to your offer? Here's what to expect from the process, and how it could impact one of the biggest financial decisions of your life.

This article is part of Global News’ Home School series, which provides Canadians the basics they need to know about the housing market that were not taught in school.

When multiple-offer scenarios became the norm in many Canadian housing markets during the COVID-19 pandemic, inspection conditions fell to the wayside, recalls Peter Weeks.

“If you put a clause in saying ‘subject to a home inspection,’ your offer would then just be pushed aside because there were 10 other people who didn’t have that clause and they were being looked at,” said Weeks, the president of the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (CAHPI), in an interview with Global News.

Weeks, a home inspector himself for 22 years, remembers being called after deals had closed to do inspections and tell the new owners exactly what they’d just bought.

Most were in fine condition with a few small things that would need to be addressed, but “some of them were real shockers,” he says.

The new owners of a rowhouse were surprised to learn the entire back wall of their property was “completely rotten,” and would likely require upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace.

“They had no idea,” Weeks recalls. “Had they had a home inspection, I would’ve caught it then. No question.”

Weeks and other real estate experts who spoke to Global News say a property inspection can be especially critical for first-time homebuyers who don’t know the intricacies of a home and where regular maintenance has fallen short.