Home Inspector, Friend or Foe?

I agree with Lenn, I want the inspector to find any defects. I just don't want small defects (no house is perfect) to get blown out of proportion. On the other hand I once spent 5-1/2 hours at an inspection for a small home and the inspector failed to find some major defects, that was a big problem! Luckily it was NOT an inspector I recommended,rather, one the Buyer chose. Still getting all the problems sorted out was a nightmare I wouldn't want to re-live.So inspectors Please find the defects ...just don't turn  a small problem into a big headache!

I can't believe California doesn't license thier home inspectors. I live in Mississippi and inspectors here are licensed and the test to be a home inspector is harder than the general contractors license test.

Ray and Lenn,

 

Just like in many industries you have good apples and bad apples. One bad apple can spoil the basket. After being in this industry for a number years in Colorado and Washington. I have heard my fair share of stories and in some cases find myself apologizing for other inspectors who are bad apples. However to be fair I have seen realtors, appraisers, lenders and repair people who are just as guilty.

Frequently I find myself presenting information that throws a wet blanket on the deal. Am I killing the deal, no actually the house is committing suicide in front of everyone. I as the home inspector becomes the messenger. Many times the home inspector gets blamed for "killing" the deal. I say its better to discover all the issues eliminate the problems before the buyer who becomes the home owners discovers the problem after the fact. 100% of the time the homeowner calls the Realtor first, then their lawyer.

The industry will purge the bad apples but with the low barriers to entry the newbie inspectors come into the market thinking because they can swing a hammer, they can inspect homes. Then there are "certified" home inspection  organizations that certify anyone who can answer simple questions online.  Home Inspection is still a young industry and still sorting itself out. My recommendation is to have three inspectors who do a good job for you and highly recommend that your clients use one of them.  If your on the sellers side that doesn't help you but you can always ask who will be doing the buyers inspections....

 

Rick Bunzel 
Pacific Crest Inspections
Affiliate of the Year 2006-2007
WWW.PacCrestInspections.com
360-588-6956
Fax 360-588-6965
Toll Free 866-618-7764 

 

Every great once in a while, a buyer really wants out of the contract.  We all know the one inspector in our area who will come up with a laundry list that will end up getting our buyer off the hook.  We just hope we don't run into that one when we represent the seller.

The two best certification or tests are the NHIE (National Home Inspector Exam) which is really ASHI's exam or NAHI's CRI exam. Both of these are legally defensible proctored exams. Most schools will give a certification  at the end of the course following an easy quiz.

However just like Realtors passing the license test or taking the GRI,  passing the exams is just a filter mechanism. What really counts is experience. I have completed over a 1,000 inspections and am still learning. Every home is different and we are doing visual inspections. Experience teaches me to identify the subtle signs of problems, experience allows me to know what polybutylene plumbing, aluminum wiring, a CADET heater looks like or signs that a home has previously had a fire or flood. 

Another measure of your inspector should be their business acumen. Ultimately everyone's goal is to help our clients purchase a home. Hopefully no inspector goes into the job saying "I am going to prove how great I am by finding out everything that bad about this home!" IMHO we should be going in saying "I am going to document all the major issues with this home and explain the issues to the clients satisfaction." "Along the way I am also going to document smaller issues as a courtesy."

Here is an article I wrote for NAHI http://www.nahi.org/public/433.cfm

 

Rick Bunzel 
Pacific Crest Inspections
Affiliate of the Year 2006-2007
WWW.PacCrestInspections.com
360-588-6956
Fax 360-588-6965
Toll Free 866-618-7764

 

 

 

I tell my cleints that the inspection is the cheapest insurance policy they will every buy. But, do advise them to consider using someone from my list of 5 or so that I trust and know they are out to help them, but not terrify them.

A home inspector, to cover his own backside, needs to mention in the report anything that could be considered significant, and certainly anything that would be costly if the client claims it was "missed." However, much of the job involves perspective. Just spoke to someone today. An inspector wrote: There are ants in the kitchen. If they are carpenter ants the damage they might have caused could be immense. Well, that is lousy home inspection in my book. In WA state, where we are licensed pest inspectors we would know if they were carpenters or not and that would help clarify the situation. In this Alaska case it ends up they were not carpenter ants so there was a big flap over nothing significant, as far as wood damage. No wonder realtors hate that sort of thing. Inspectors: Give good detailed information, but do not cry wolf.

Ray, I hear ya. The funny thing is, when I am purchasing a home, I want to have the pickiest guy out there. I won't be run off, but I want to be able to list as much in my request for repairs as I can.

What about the  ICC or NCPCCI.?

Hey Ray,

No offense to you, but everytime I see an agent say this, it just makes the hair on my neck stand straight up. I disagree with you on the first line of your blog. Home Inspectors do NOT make or break a deal....The home does.

Peace

Mike Chamberlain
MC2 Home Inspections
www.mc2inspections.com