If you are in the closing stages of buying a house, one of the things your realtor might suggest is that you get a termite inspection of the house. If you find out that the house has a termite problem or did in the past, you may be wondering if you should still buy the house. In this situation, you should analyze the problem in full before making your decision, and here are a few things you should understand about this.

Is the problem current or in the past?

When you hire a termite inspector, there are several things you can find out from this inspection. The first is whether the problem is current or if it was in the past. If the problem is current, it means that there are still termites at the house that will need to be eliminated. When this is the case, you can assume that the house will need to undergo treatment for termite elimination at least a few times over the next year. Additionally, you may need to get the house inspected annually to make sure the termites do not return.

If there are currently no termites at the house, it may mean that there were once termites living at the house. When an inspection reveals past termites, it means that the inspector found evidence of termite damage.

What is the severity of the problem?

The second thing to find out is the severity of the problem. If termites are or were at the house, is there is a lot of damage? If the damage is minor, it's probably not a big deal. If, however, the termites damaged main components of the structure of the house, this is a big deal.

Will the house need further treatment or work?

Finally, you should find out if the house needs work due to the termite damage or infestation. If there is no work needed, then buying the house is probably fine. If, though, the house will need work completed to fix the damage from the termites, or if you will need inspections for it yearly, you may want to think twice about going through with the purchase.

These are three important things to analyze if you are in the process of buying a house and find out that it has termite damage. If you have questions about this or are unsure how to proceed, talk to a real estate agent today.

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