When does the report arrive?
Davis Home Inspections provides a detailed inspection report the same day. Timing matters in Georgia because your due-diligence period may be short, and the report gives you and your agent the information needed for the next decision.
One of Scott’s clients described her experience:
The inspection report was available within a few hours upon completion of the inspection.
(Michelle Davis, Google review, quoted verbatim. Her within-hours timing was one customer’s experience; the current public service statement is same-day reporting.)
How should you read the report?
Not as a pass/fail grade, and not as a repair invoice. Every house generates findings, including new construction. The useful way to read a report is in three buckets:
- Safety and major systems. Anything electrical, structural, or involving gas, water intrusion, or the roof. These deserve attention first and are the strongest candidates for a seller conversation.
- Aging and maintenance. Systems that work today but are near the end of their expected life. These inform your budget more than your negotiation.
- Minor and cosmetic. Worth knowing about, rarely worth fighting over.
A report that explains which bucket each finding belongs to is doing its job. If yours does not, ask the inspector to walk you through it.
What are your options during due diligence?
Under a typical Georgia contract, while your negotiated due-diligence window is open you can generally:
- Proceed. The findings are acceptable, and you move toward closing.
- Negotiate. Your agent asks the seller for repairs, a price reduction, or a credit at closing. Sellers rarely agree to everything, which is why the safety-and-major-systems bucket is where negotiating capital should go.
- Walk away. If the findings change your mind while the window is open, a typical Georgia due-diligence clause lets the buyer terminate and recover earnest money. Confirm your contract’s exact terms with your agent.
Two of Scott’s clients described the walk-away scenario working exactly as designed:
It turns out the house had multiple major issues that the sellers were covering up. Scott found all of them and we steered clear.
(Joe Gonzalez, Google review, quoted verbatim.)
Thanks to him and his very detailed inspection, I dodged a bullet.
(Stefanie, Google review, quoted verbatim.)
Walking away is not a failed purchase. It is the inspection doing its most valuable work.
Repairs or credits: which should you ask for?
Credits usually serve buyers better for anything you care about being done well, because you choose the contractor and control the work after closing. Repairs by the seller make sense for simple, verifiable items. Here is the practical comparison:
| Seller makes repairs | Credit or price reduction | |
|---|---|---|
| Who controls quality | The seller, working on a deadline, often choosing the cheapest fix | You, after closing, with your own contractor |
| Timing | Done before closing, but often rushed | On your schedule |
| Best for | Simple, verifiable items (a serviced HVAC unit, a repaired fixture) | Anything structural, safety-related, or quality-sensitive |
| Main risk | Work you would not have accepted if you had watched it happen | You have to manage the project yourself |
| Paper trail | Ask for receipts and re-verify before closing | The credit appears in the closing paperwork |
Your agent knows what is normal in the local market; the report gives them the evidence to work with.
Can you still call the inspector after the report?
Ask before you book, because the answer varies. Some inspectors deliver the report and move on. Others treat the relationship as ongoing.
The reviews describe how Scott handles it:
He told me I am able to call anytime about questions I might have and treated me like family!
(K Pruitt, Google review, quoted verbatim.)
He provided me with a great home inspection when I purchased my home, and has always been there for me if I needed advice or help with other problems.
(Marjorie Anderson, Google review, quoted verbatim.)
What about after closing?
Keep the report. It is a maintenance roadmap for your first years in the house: what to watch, what to budget for, and a dated record of the home’s condition when you bought it. If something in it turns out to matter later, the inspector who wrote it is the right person to call first.