How long do
inspections take?
Our cannned answer
is 2-3 hours. However the reality is "it depends". Yesterday, I found myself
apologizing to a realtor for getting done in 90 minutes on a 2300 sq ft. home
with a crawl space. There were a number of factors that allowed me to move
quickly through the inspection without missing anything:
It was 3 years old.
Old enough to have gone through the new home issues but not old enough for
things to start breaking.
Only two
professionals lived in the home. The home was gently used
Minimal contents -
These folks either didn't have much or had packed most of it. I could see the
walls and into the backs of closets. I don't have to worry about bumping a piece
of furniture and watching the family heirlooms come tumbling
down
Easy access to the
furnace, electrical panel, water heater, attic etc.
Crawlspace - A 4-5
foot clearance is a welcome site when an inspector enters a crawlspace. The
builder had also tucked everything nicely against the floor joists and had
nicely overlapped the vapor barrier. I have spent 30 minutes just trying to
reach the far side of the crawlspace when there are lots of obstacles.
The home was
spotless - Oh my gawd one would think that sellers would always have there homes
spotless but many just aren't. The home inspector then needs to separate the
dirt from the real problems.
Client only wanted
to be present at the end of the inspection - This is the big one. I like to
think of myself as an educator. I encourage my clients to attend and really
learn about this property they are about to purchase. Most come and we encourage
them to interact and ask questions. This times make things go slower but they
get so much more value from the inspection. In this case the client was time
constrained and just wanted the bottom line.
What the longest
inspection on a residential home - Approximately 6 hours for the first visit and
1.5 hours for the re-inspection. 4,500 sq ft. home. 5 bedrooms, 7 baths. 3 car
garage, sprinkler system, 2 furnaces, 2 AC units etc.
Its possible that inspections can be done quickly but in this job inspecting 95% of what you should is not good enough because that 5% will be the items that come back to haunt you. Good inspectors may move quickly but we don't cut corners
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
Rick Bunzel
;)
;)
Rick - How many of your inspections of New Construction result in a list of defects that need attention? In Phoenix we're finding about 19 out of 20 "new homes" have issues that need addressing.