Real estate brokers are required by law to recommend inspections to their clients for a reason. Inspections constitute a small price to pay to potentially save you a lot of money and a lot of headaches in the long run.
Not only does the inspection protect you by making you aware of potentially serious issues, it also protects your purchase. Following the results of an inspection you can decide that you no longer wish to purchase the property if there are too many major issues or you can ask for a price reduction based on the cost associated with these issues.
Remember that inspections are non-intrusive so your inspector will not be able to inspect all portions of the home. However, they will be able to give you a good general idea of what you're getting into and they will be able to recommend further expert evaluations if they suspect something may be wrong.
A home inspection will typically cost between $600 - $900 plus taxes, but they can be higher depending on the services offered by the inspector.
