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The 5 Hour Home Inspection

It started on a balmy morning at 8:30am. At 1:30pm, we were locking up and heading out the door. 5 hours AND it was a vacant house. It almost doesn't seem possible (if I hadn't been there standing the entire time). 5 hours for $400.00. That's $80 bucks per hour..oh yea and you get a handy dandy report emailed to you.

Can one be too thorough for a home inspection? Did I mention that the house was being sold as-is? Of course, proper protocol says that the Agent should be there with their customer. If I had left, I could have driven from Orlando to Tampa and back...twice! I could have gone to the library and knocked out a few chapters of War and Peace or maybe gone to a fine dining restaurant (I know, for breakfast) and had a nice sit down 5 - course meal and probably time for dessert!

In any inspection you usually have the agents crossing their fingers and showing a poker face while the list is being read. ("Please, make it minor stuff, make it minor")

When you leave a 5 Hour Home Inspection and you feel like you need a shower, you know it went on too long!

Posted by Jim Hirschhorn, GRI, Real Living - Orlando on 05/16/2008 11:51 AM

Comments (31)

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31 Comments on The 5 Hour Home Inspection

MAY

2008

That is pretty funny....especially when the home is being sold as is.

Debra, only funny because it wasn't you sitting there! ha ha

Jim, Deanna and I don't attend the inspection ever. When we make arrangements for inspection with the inspection company we let them know the client will only be their for the last hour for a review and to understand what if anything needs to be done. The reason we don't go to the inspections is the apperance of collusion with the inspector the client and ourselves. Plus I find it un-productive for us and our client to be their the whole time. We do usually meet the client after the full report has been e-mailed to both of us to go over our options and what they would like to do.

We find things go smooth this way and never have problems.

I don't disagree with this entirely. I think showing up at the end is ok but I do believe that an agent needs to make an appearance. Many times, my customer has had questions regarding the home or the closing and it is a good bonding time. I always encourage my buyers to follow the inspector around so that htye can learn about their new home but I always stay in the kitchen, well out of the way of the inspector. Also, the recap at the end allows me to make notes of what I need to send to the other agent.

Longest I had was 4 hours... And I had to wait until the guy got home that night, fed his daughter, and put her to bed before he emailed me the report. so I couldn't act on anything as I had nothing on paper to even look at to refer to!

4-5 hours seems too long, but some of these 20-30minute ones just seem scary.

Sheree, You make a good point. If they are too short, that can be an issue also. If you hear, "Ok, everything looks good in here." RUN!

Probably was too long, but you didn't say how big the house was, etc. Even if the home is "as is", the buyer is still a paying customer and will need to know what will need to be fixed after they move in. More importantly, what may need attended to prior to moving in. If there are any safety hazards, those need to be discovered and reported to the buyer.

MAY

2008

The house was 2800 sq. ft. I don't disagree Linda on your response. All of this is very important for the Buyer to know. That is why agents use As-Is with Right to Inspect. I know I would want to know too!

Never heard of a 5 hour inspection, was it a mansion? Regardless if it was as is, as a buyer it is good to know what needs to be fixed.

MAY

2008

I definitely feel your pain, and I hope the report comes back favorable to your client.

MAY

2008

5 hours on a 2700 ft house seems a little long. I can usally get in and out in 2 to 3 hours depending on what you find. If the client and owners will leave you alone things will usally go pretty fast. These inspections of less that an hour make me scratch my head when it takes between 1 and 1 1/2 hours for the dish washer to run through a normal cycle. Makes you wonder what they are checking. I like for my clients to show up the last 30 to 45 mins of the inspection so I can go over all my field notes and show them anything that needs to be looked at and get paid.

Mike

Looks to me like the buyer got a great value for his money. AS-IS or not, a good inspection is important. Of course, I don't ever attend inspections and few of my buyers do either as my inspector videos any issues and puts it on a disc for a client to review.

A 5 hour inspection on that size property, vacant, with no occupants, and no one else there to distract the inspector, definitely seem way too long. Either the inspector was a rookie trying to make sure he was covered, or maybe he was hired to do an "exhaustive " inspection? I'm sure you felt exhausted. If there wasn't a bookful of defects to write about, then the inspection should have taken no longer than 2&1/2 - 3 hours to complete.

MAY

2008

Doesn't much matter what the agents or other inspectors think about it.

The bigger question is how the buyer felt about it. Did the buyer think it was too long or was the buyer learning about the homen and asking questions.

While my normal with buyer asking questions is about 3 or 4 hours, I've had buyers on older homes asking so many questions it did take five or six hours. LONG time, but hey, customer service and all.

Agents here seldom attend the full thing. I agree that the time can be more productively spent.

It is very interesting to see this topic from an agents perspective vs. a Home Inspectors! Erby, if we didn't attend the whole thing, when could we catch up on our reading?

Far be it from me to discourage your attendance. You know much better than me what your time is worth and how to best spend it.

MAY

2008

I just recently had one take almost 5 hours... on a 1200 sq. ft forclosure (as is...). The inspector wrote so much crap in there that didn't need to be in the inspection report it made financing challenging

JUN

2008

I had a 4 hour inspection on a 1500 sq ft house this past fall. The inspector was a friend of the buyer so he kept on talking and talking and talking about everything under the sun. He talked so much and took so long that the buyers left to go to work. I had another appointment to get to so he finally finished up and emailed the report that night. He got started at 9:00 am and we left at 1:00 pm and I got the report at about 9:00 pm that night. I've never used him again.

Sounds like a heaping plate of misery to me....

JUN

2008

I have the same issues here....the inspector that I use frequently takes that long. Much depends on whether or not the buyer is present. If not, it should move right along. If you've got a curious buyer in tow, then it takes alot longer!

I don't know how much of it is done as a service vs. done out of covering their proverbial keesters. I heard from an inspector recently that there was a court case where an inspector was sued because he/she did not inform the buyer that the overflow tube in the sink was blocked. Some numbskull let the water run, the sink overflowed and it caused signficant damage (I'm wondering where someone goes allowing the water to run for that long...or maybe they just have FABULOUS water pressure...). End of the story? Home inspector was sued.

Just shedding some light on the situation. There's no easy answer.

JUN

2008

5 hours is a little excessive but each house is different and each inspector has there own process. Over the years I have found out that every issue must be reported and it is up to the client to determine the importance of the individual issue. That being said a 1200sq ft. HUD special can take just as long to inspect as a 5000 sq ft. home, the main difference being the number of issues report.

Experience does help to quickly identify the issues and document them properly. Clients can slow the process especially engineers and other professionals. I had one retired engineer who was calling out shadows as water damage and sheetrock seams as cracks. Fortunately the realtor had flagged me that this guy was going to challenge my patience (he didn't) and to allow lots of time for the inspections. Turned out for a 3 bed, 2 bath rancher, I did it in 3 hours.

Regardless of the time as Erby said as long as the client is satisfied with the inspection and report we have done our job.

//Rick

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

I represented a seller once when the Inspector took 5 hours. The seller was steamed! And I didn't blame her. There is no reason an inspection on a normal, average sized residential property would take that long. Turns out the inspector wasn't even qualified to report on pest issues. I actually reported him to the state.

Thanks for the comments!

I have been PRESENT with my clients, at home inspections that range anywhere from 3 to 5 hours. The 5 hour one isn't the norm, for sure, but on average they last more than 3 hours. I am there for the entire time. I have sold homes 'as is', that had very long inspections. "As is" doesn't necessarily mean "it's falling apart at the seams, and you have to take it". I think it means that the sellers are not willing to fix anything; but it certainly also means the buyer should have a thorough inspection to ensure they can live with all the 'as is' issues. My most recent 'as is' had a really bad problem that the buyer was not willing to take on - it even came as a surprise to the seller, so it's not for sale 'as is' anymore. The seller is fixing that problem. :)
(5 hours is way too long, regardless, but I guess it's part of the job, so plan ahead so I can keep myself busy)

JUN

2008

So to tabulate, we have agents on both sides of the fence. Some attend, some do not. Home inspectors have chimed in saying if it takes 5 hours to get the job done, so be it. They want to be thorough while others have said that the inspector was a quack! (in so many words). I say we should have the homeowners self inspect their homes. This way, we all could save time and money! :)

WOW! Now that's a long inspection. How big was the house?

Personally, I don't think that an "as is" sale should affect the home inspection at all...I'm not sure why anyone would think that it should.

The house was under 3000 square feet. I agree about the as-is point. The end result is that the customer wants to know about their new purchase and if it is worth the investment, as-is or not.

JUN

2008

Is it unnormal or unprofessional for a buyer/buyer agent to ask that the seller agent not be present at a home/structural inspection in a situation where the current owner or family member is home?

I don't think so Pat. It is the seller's house and if they want to stay, I don't see how anyone could kick them out. Is it ideal? no. But only because the buyer and seller talking before a closing is never a good thing!

WOW 5 hours..

there goes your day. I would have gone crazy, or would have gone home to get my laptop and get on the AR. Can you imagine how many blog entries you can post in 5 hours :)

OCT

Five hours is not necessarily excessive (or indicative of an inexperienced inspector). We work as a two man team, and we are NEVER on site for less than 2 hours (4 man hrs.). I will spend close to an hour in a 2000 sq. ft. crawl, and another 30-45 minutes in the attic. Getting the ladders out of the truck and set up and walking the roof is another 30 minutes minimum. We check every window, every outlet (we dont believe in "representitive samples" because our clients need everthing to work, not just a "representitive sample"), check moisture levels under and around the windows, etc.

I suppose that inspecting to the minimum (or no) standard could get you off site a lot quicker, but in over 1200 inspections, we have a complaint rate of 0%, a refund rate of 0%, 90% of our referrals come from past clients (not agents, but homebuyers; and many of these clients are super picky Air Force and Army Officers) and the only time I have been in court was to testify about what I found that the 1st inspector(s) missed. We STRONGLY suggest that our clients are present to ask questions and get an education (this does add significant time). Not saying that our way is the best or only way, but it works for our clients.

4-5 hours seems too long, but some of these 20-30minute ones just seem scary.

05/16/2008 12:26 PM

by Sheree Wilkerson (Allegiant Realty)

Have you really seen 20-30 minute inspections? There is absolutely no way that a home inspection can be performed in that amount of time, or even twice that. Period.

My reports dont go out until the next day. I write the report in the evening and re-proof it with my coffee the next morning. Has never been a problem for my clients. May be why we dont get a lot of work from agents unless they are the buyers. Poor planning on the part of the agent doesn't constitute an emergency to me. There is plenty of time to get an inspection if the transaction is handled correctly.

06/09/2008 12:34 AM

by Sarah Nopp, REALTOR(R), CRS. RE/MAX Four Seasons, Olympia WA (RE/MAX Four Seasons)

Interesting that someone from a different profession, who is not the client of the home inspector, can determine that "there is no reason an inspection on a normal, average sized residential property would take that long". Seems to me that the person writing the check would be a better judge. Actually, there are numerous reasons that the inspection could have needed to take that long, and, why should the HI care if the seller was steamed?

05/31/2008 11:21 PM

by Mike Slager - Holland, MI Realtor (Greenridge Realty)

How is it that you determine what does and does not need to be included in the report? That determination is for the client of the home inspector. Did you pay for the inspection? Was the client satisfied? Should the inspector care if financing was challenging (I couldnt care less, I am hired to perform a thorough inspection, and that is what I do. The chips can fall where they will)?

I guess none of you has had a multi day inspection? Houses over 10,000 sq. ft. typically take us 1.5-2 days on site, and another day to prepare the report.

Erby, as usual, is right.

This thread nicely illustrates that too many Realtors dont understand the purpose of a home inspection, the fealty between the inspector and his/her client, or the proper distance that one professional keeps from another. I understand and appreciate how hard a realtor works to bring a house to closing, but when it comes to inspecting for MY client, I just cant give a hoot about that. Wouldnt be fair to the person who pays me.

Tim Howe

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