Once you've completed the inspection of the home you're buying with your inspector, the inspector will send you a written report of his/her findings. I have yet to come across a home that didn't have something wrong with it (no matter how new or how pricy the home was). In my mind, the overall purposes of the inspection and the report are for the home buyer to become educated about the home and for the home buyer to be made aware of any specific problems the inspector found on the property. Assuming you have an investigation contingency clause in your purchase contract, you will have a decision to make after you read the inspector's report: Does any of this new information cause you to consider changing your mind about the purchase or not?

I advise my clients to read their inspection report(s) in their entirety and to be clear about any items listed in the report(s). If the report calls for additional inspections to be made in specific areas of the house, you should hire those inspections to be performed while you still have an investigation contingency clause in your contract. The reports are typically pretty cut and dry. Most reports have pictures of the items being called-out along with a written description of the problem.

Your job is to determine how much these problems affect your initial decision to purchase the property. It is possible to ask the seller to perform specific repairs to the home, but (depending on the seller) he/she may not agree to the repairs (of course, when they do agree to the repairs it is wonderful). If that is the case, it may be in your best interest to cancel the transaction and find another property (or if the repairs are not significant in your mind, you may decide to move forward with the purchase). Either way (no matter what you decide), your Globella exclusive buyer agent will be there for you as your teammate throughout the purchase process.

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Justin Gramm is the founder and principal broker of Globella Buyers Realty, your San Diego Exclusive Buyer Brokerage. He also writes this blog, "For San Diego Home Buyers."

Exclusive Buyer Agents do not list homes for sale and never represent sellers. They have no "inventory" to try to sell you. They can represent you in purchasing any home. They are specialists at representing buyers only on the buyers' side of the transaction. Exclusive Buyer Agents work to get buyers the best price and terms when they buy a home.

If you have excellent credit and plan to buy a home or condo in San Diego County within 90 days, contact Justin Gramm to hire an agent on your side of the transaction. Call Justin at (858) 437-2662 or  E-mail.