Figure I would start this forum out in the New Year with an article on home inspection.

So you've made an offer on a home. What's next?

You’ve finally found the home of your dreams, 3 bedrooms, attached garage, great neighborhood. You fix sights on the freshly painted walls, new carpeting, beautiful cabinet and a huge back yard. What are you forgetting? Everything else! Don’t forget about the plumbing, heating, A/C, electrical, insulation, ventilation, exterior and roof. These are the most overlooked items because most people know very little about these types of items, or what to look for. You decide to make an offer on the home.
What’s next?
Don’t forget about getting the home inspected. When you made the offer, your realtor should have gone over the inspection contingency in your contract. Simply stated, it’s a clause in the contract that your offer is contingent upon a home inspection, and you have a certain amount of time to get the home inspected. It allows you to have an unbiased professional look beneath the cosmetic items into the complex working components of a home. It also allows you to either renegotiate your offer based on the inspection, or at the very least know what lies ahead of you if you do decide to purchase the home. A seller’s disclosure statement is nice and most seller’s are honest, but don’t even realize that problems exist in their home.

Ask your realtor for a list of home inspectors in your area. Most will be happy to provide you with a list of inspectors in your area. If not, pull some brochures from the realtors lobby, try the phone directory or the internet. Most inspectors these days have a website where you can read about the services they offer. Take the time and call a few from the list to form your own opinion. Some realtors will offer to hire an inspector for you on your behalf. Be sure your realtor has your best interests in mind if you go this route. This is your money and your lifetime investment you’re talking about.
When you call a home inspection company, here are a few important questions to ask:

1. Are you licensed by the state? Many states currently have HI licensing laws. Ask the question to be sure this inspector is licensed. If your state has no licensing, ask some follow up questions on their experience and you may want to check out the BBB to see if they have any complaints against them.


2. Are you affiliated with any organizations? Most good home inspectors are associated with a National organization like NACHI (National Association of Certified Home Inspectors) NAHI (National Association of Home Inspectors) or ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) and/or a local organization like WAHI (Wisconsin Association of Home Inspectors)
Each organization has is pro’s and con’s and like any organization, are suited to that inspectors specific needs. Most importantly however, these organizations have strict guidelines to a code of ethics and continuing education.

3. How long will your inspection take? A thorough home inspection should take between 2 1/2-4 hours or longer depending on the size, age and condition of the home. In some cases a smaller home (1000sft or less) can be inspected in 2 hours. If the inspector says he can do it in less time, think about how thorough the inspection is going to be.

4. What type of report do you use? Some inspectors use computer generated onsite reporting, some use a handwritten checklist, some do computer generated reporting and send you the report after they’ve had time to look it over twice before sending it out. Each has their pros and cons. Computer generated onsite reporting is nice and you get your report right away. The downside is the inspector doesn’t have time to look any items up that may be in question or be very descriptive in their report. A hand written checklist in my opinion is the most incomplete type of report. You do get your report right away, but it is usually something like: Kitchen countertop: poor. This doesn’t give you much of a description of the defect, like what exactly is wrong with it. The computer generated report is in my opinion the best style. You get a neat, professional looking report, the inspector has had time to be descriptive and to look up any items that he may have had questions on (no, we don’t know everything and if we say we do, take that as a sign). The downside is you don’t get your report for a day or so, but the report can get to you quickly if he/she emails it to you.
All inspectors should be able to provide you with photo’s of the problem areas in their reports. A picture is worth a thousand words. If they don’t include photos in their report (digital or otherwise) you may want to find an inspector that does.
Ask for a sample report. Most good inspectors will be happy to send you a copy.

5. What is your experience and background? Most home inspectors started out with a construction-based background. This is very useful in home inspections. Attending a University with emphasis on construction, or attending a Home Inspection School is almost a necessity in this trade. If an inspector tells you he was in retail (for an example) this may be a time to look elsewhere, or ask a follow-up question as to why he went into the profession and what he has to offer that others inspectors don’t.

6. How much do you charge? This is a very important question. The question you really should be asking yourself “how much are you willing to spend on the most important investment you’re ever going to make?” Think about this. Do you really want to price shop on something this important? Yes, you don’t want to pay too much, but you don’t want to scrimp either. You’re paying $100,000+ for your home and now is not the time to go with the lowest price. Inspectors have overhead costs like any company; Insurance, vehicle, gas, equipment training, professional organization dues, a home, etc. Regardless of what any might say, they don’t work every day of the week, every week of the year.
An average inspection is between $250 and $400 or more depending on the size, age and condition of the home. Some inspectors base their fees from the listing price. Based on what is uncovered in the inspection, you will probably be able to save that much and maybe more. For example: A new water heater will cost you in the neighborhood of $800, and if the inspector finds that the one in the home is nearing the end of its useful life, the inspection just paid for itself and then some. Its money spent wisely.

Most good home inspectors encourage you to follow them on the inspection, and I highly recommend it. It will give you a chance to see what he sees, and ask questions. Be sure to ask questions! The inspector will usually to be happy to answer them for you or if he doesn’t know the answer right then, he should offer to look it up and call you with the answer. This is also a time to find out where key components like shut-off valves or the breaker panel is located in case of an emergency, or get tips on routine maintenance items.

A home inspection is a visual, non-destructive examination of a home. It is not technically exhaustive. Inspectors cannot see defects behind a wall, ceiling or furniture.
He or she will just use their knowledge and experience in their visual examination. If a component doesn’t work by normal means of operation the inspector won’t try to get it operating by any other means. He/she will only open those panels that are normally used to service a piece of equipment. If a danger exists to the inspector, he/she will not inspect that piece of equipment. They will just defer to a professional more experienced in that type of application. They do not move furniture to inspect, so having the home ready for the inspector prior to the inspection will not only speed the process, but give you a more thorough inspection.

You will more than likely not get the chance to meet your inspector before the inspection, so asking these important questions will help make your decision easier.
Having the home inspected is the best thing you can do to have a more informed decision on the purchase or sale of your home. After all, this is probably the biggest investment you will ever make.

Buy all means find out about your inspector. I was shocked to find out that in Tn all you need to be a "Home Inspector" Is a $25 buisness license. Customers or their agents need to find out if they are insured and bonded and make them provide proof, they also need to ask for refrences!

That's the case in the majority of states. Enough money to do marketing saying one is a home inspector, and voila! one is a home inspector. Probably too many people become Realtors and home inspectors thinking that both are such cozy, easy, high-paying jobs with little, if any risk, when such definitely is not the case.

In my mind, Texas has the best licensing law for home inspectors and Massachusetts has the best law regarding the Realtor/home inspector relationship. Such laws help prevent problems during all real estate transactions.

If anyone is looking for a Home Inspector in Florida, (Largo, Tampa, Clearwater area), they would be well advised to contact Chris from Suncoast Inspections.com, Inc. Friends of mine are purchasing a house down there and I happened to be visiting when Chris did the inspection. He took digital photos as well as video photos, his van was equipped like a small travelling office, and he produced the computer generated report befor he left the premises. This was a 4 bedroom approximately 1800 sf property and Chris spent almost 3 1/2 hours doing the inspection. Quite a nice job, and I suspect he is booked heavily, but if you need a Home Inspector, you would be well advised to contact him.

condor

Hey....$25 for an "instant inspector", huh? Just add water -LOL! We've been in business in Ohio (Brrr it's cold here) for the last 20 years. New companies come and go - it's not the get rich quick fix most people are looking for. Sometimes it's just plain hard work and can be expensive to maintain!

Has anyone ever had this happen?
We recently had an inspection where a realtor told the client after the inspection was over that she (the agent) always used a company that charged less. The client was quite content with the fee and had called us three times before the inspection was finally scheduled. We had comparable fees to others she called, and she considered us the best choice for her home inspection. After the little "discussion" with her realtor, she called two days later and wanted us to refund $50.00. Did she have an issue with the inspector, quality of the inspection or report? No, she felt everything was fine - no problems.
Do you think agents should discuss inspection fees with clients? We don't ever discuss how much commission they will get, and I thought the rule was that agents usually give out 3 names and let the client decide who to schedule with.

Part of the problem around here is that Realtors refer home inspectors. In the process of doing that refering, buyers typically ask, "How much will it cost?" to which the Realtor, trying to be helpful yet not scare the buyer off with yet another expense (title fees, escrow fees, earnest money, commission, etc.), usually lowballs the home inspection fee and then, for some strange reason, expects the home inspector to honor the fee that the Realtor quoted. Huh?

I run into it quite often, unfortunately. In fact, a couple of weeks ago a buyer called and, yes, his Realtor had given him three brochures. He was pretty definitive about booking the inspections, so I did. Then I told him the price, to which he got upset. Seems his Realtor had given him an old price list from almost four years ago. So for the house he was buying, I was charging $299 four years ago. Now I'm charging $449.

Of course, right there at the top of the price list was "Prices effective January 1, 2003, and subject to change without notice. Prices in some zip codes will be higher due to travel times. Please call for a firm price for your zip code."

He balked at the increase in cost over three years. And although he booked the inspection, ultimately he canceled, and I found out from the Realtor that he chose a $99 "special," for which the Realtor was not too happy. And after getting the report, the buyer was not too happy either.

I figure that if they are going to get upset over $150 for me but not the 5-6% increase in price to pay for the Realtors' commissions, I probably don't want them for a Client anyway.

Alas, what can one do other than try to market to the people who pay us rather than Realtors who refer us.

Actually, in TN, you don't even need a business license. However, as of July 1, 2006, you will need to have a certain number of inspections under your belt to be grandfathered in under the new law (i.e., if you don't, you have to go to school and pass a test).

At the moment, ANYONE can be an inspector in TN. All they need to do is buy the forms and say "hi, i'm Joe blow, I'm a home inspector." It's really scary! I know this because my husband is a home inspector in TN. You should see some of his "competition." Yikes.

It's the same here, and in the great majority of the other states. That's because the industry is so young. It really started growing when ASHI and, here in California, CREIA were founded in 1976.

Still, there are lots of "Joe Blows" here in California and those many other states. Apparently the difference is that here one doesn't need to buy any forms. I saw one home inspection report done in pencil on scratch paper. Buyer, Seller, and both Realtors were upset, got their money back from him, and called me to do a standard home inspection. I still have his report somewhere around here as an example of what not to do.