Dear Mr. Washington State Home Inspector,
We are moving to the Seattle area this fall and will be buying a house in the Green Lake area. It would be helpful if you could give us an idea of what you charge and any other information that might be pertinent to our choice of a home inspector.
Sincerely,
Sally & Sam Homeowner
Dear Sally & Sam,
Thanks for contacting me about the process of inspecting your future home.
The cost of the home inspection can vary depending on the size, age, number of bathrooms and other factors like crawl spaces, attics, detached structures, and Mother-in-law Units. I will need to have this information prior to quoting a price and urge you to call me at your convenience to discuss the actual cost and to set up a time to do the inspection.
You should also be aware that currently in Washington State; we are transitioning to Home Inspectors being required to be licensed as Home inspectors.
Currently anyone performing home inspections and reporting on Wood Destroying Organisms or conditions conducive to wood destroying organisms (and what house in the NW doesn’t have at least one condition that is conducive to rot or bugs? ) is required to be licensed by the WA Department of Agriculture as a Structural Pest Inspector. This license requires insurance.
When the new law goes into effect (and it will be in effect when you are buying), Licensed Home Inspectors will no longer be required to be Structural Pest Inspectors and will not be required to carry any insurance. So anyone you are considering for the job of inspecting your home, I strongly urge you to make sure that they are Licensed Structural Pest Inspectors and that they carry insurance. For example, if you look at the beetle damaged support in the picture to the right (a very common wood destroying insect in the NW), Home Inspectors licensed under the new WA State Law would be required to call for “further evaluation” of any such damage by a Licensed Structural Pest Inspector. It is not likely that two separate inspectors will be able to provide the best information, in a timely manner, as one inspector licensed to do both.
As a side note, there can always be additional costs involved with inspecting homes if conditions are discovered that might require further analysis by other professionals (like for example if the house is in a “critical slopes” area and needed further analysis by a Licensed Geo-Technical Engineer). Hiring an inspector that is not a Licensed Structural Pest Inspector would increase the odds that additional costs would be incurred----not to mention affecting purchasing time-lines----and not to mention that the inspection may end up being more superficial. Home Inspectors will no longer be required to have the same due-diligence when inspecting crawl spaces as is currently required by the Structural Pest License.
Thanks for contacting me through ActiveRain and if I can be of further assistance please give me a call.
Sincerely yours,
Charles Buell
Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group
PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
DeCroe, is my "etherial" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.
Comments (65)Subscribe to CommentsComment