It seems, from past discussions, that realtors and home inspectors are generally in agreement that it makes sense to have new homes inspected. The thought, out in the general public, seems to be that it is optional or overkill. Builders of course hate it and try to get around the inspector by offering a warranty that they will fix anything for a year or two. The catch is, so often the problem is water in the crawl space, a roof issue or something that nobody will catch until real problems abound -- leaks, bad smells, mold. And that might be a few years down the road.

For some time I have, with AR member Charles Buell, been saving interesting photos of problems from our new home inspections. I had time, finally,  to make a short interactive online test. It allows those people on the fence to see the issues that might be avoided with an inspection. I will be modifying this test over the next while, as this is a prototype. Any realtor or mortgage professional, who wants to, can save the link to it as I will keep it alive even as the test is improved.

I would appreciate it if some of you would click on the link below, check it out, and give feedback for improvements. Please remember that I did not design this to "stump" anyone but to show a variety of real life problems. Each question, through the photo or answer, is designed to get the point across that problems exist with new houses. It was designed for Washington so, if you are in Arizona, some of the crawl space water might not be as applicable. To see all of the questions on one page, just click at the top right where it says "show all questions." If you have the time, check it out and give me some suggestions if you will. It scores you as you go. Here is the link:

http://www.geocities.com/rhiclasstwo/Newhousereview.htm

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA home inspector

www.kingofthehouse.com