12 Points to consider before hiring a home inspector
12 Points of Consideration Before Hiring a Home Inspector:
- Your home inspector works for you. The choice should be yours. If any Realtor tells you who specifically can or cannot perform your home inspection that is an illegal act of “Steering”. Read more about “Steering”
- There are major differences between individual home inspectors and home inspection companies. This is a highly competitive industry with wide variations in pricing when compared to the actual work performed
- It’s a blind date and you are paying! Thoroughly check out any home inspector yourself before hiring
- Do not simply look at the number of on-line reviews. These alone can give a false impression since most are solicited at a time in the inspection process when the client will provide a favorable rating. As time passes, buyers move in and discover items the inspector missed. By then it is too late
- Be very leery about advertised guarantees, warranties and other programs any inspection firm offers. Why? Read the fine print of these offerings and you will quickly understand: Time limits for claims, high deductibles, arduous processes to attempt to collect are only (3) reasons. The purpose of most of these programs is to entice you into hiring that particular inspection firm
- Did you know that over 90% of all home inspectors are only part time? There is simply not enough real estate transactions to support all of the licensed inspectors. Many are also contractors
- Are you hiring a home inspector to provide a professional, unbiased, independent opinion? What if the inspector also provides contractor services, i.e. Radon Mitigation system installations after they have performed the testing? What if the home inspector you hired had previously built or performed remodeling on the home? Would they disclose the fact that they are inspecting their own work? You must assess your own level of expectation and convey this to your inspector from the very first point of contact.
- Over 75% of the homes in our area have a major issue that will be more than $1000 to correct. How do we know this? We have compiled the statistical data from more than 11,000 area home inspections
- It takes years of experience and ongoing training to be a really good home inspector. There has been a significant increase in the number of licensed home inspector in the few years. We watch enthusiastic individuals both young and old enter this industry only to find out that the available inspections are few and far between so they move on. Best to hire an inspector and inspection firm that is well established and with a solid reputation
- Be sure to ask any home inspector if you will get ALL of the photos they take at the time of the inspection. Many inspectors only put a handful in the report and keep the rest. Why to they do this? Because you may see something in the photos that was missed in the report. Get all of the photos – they are part of the inspection and should not have to ask for them
- Look for home inspectors and home inspection companies that not only perform inspections but who also are active in trade organizations, perform expert witness testimony, and provide education and training to their industry colleagues and other Real Estate Professionals. This helps to shows professionalism and dedication to excellence in the field of home inspections
- Ask around. Work of mouth referrals still top social media reviews. You may only need a home inspector a couple of times in your home buying/selling lifetime so it is recommended to choose wisely
