As an industry, home inspection is still in it's infancy. True, there may be some inspectors with 20 to 30 years of experience as a home inspector, but you likely will not find a company that is in it's 3rd or 4th generation. Licensing and certification laws vary widely from state to state, many states have no regulations as of yet. As a result, there is a widespread misunderstanding about who we are and what we do. Many people have ideas or opinions about what a home inspection should include and what you can expect to take away from one. I will attempt, over the next several weeks, to clear up some questions that you may have. for today, I will begin by explaining some of the things that a home inspector will not or can not do.
First of all, we are not Realtors. A Realtor can give you advice that we can't about a prospective property, they can answer questions about the neighborhood and schools districts. They can assist you on the negotiation process with advice on how much to offer, what repairs to ask for, etc. Those are questions that your realtor is qualified to answer, not your inspector.
Second, we are not appraisers. Home inspectors determine the condition of the home, only an appraiser can determine the value of the home, so don't ask your inspector if he or she feels that you are paying too much for the property.
We are not attorneys, so we cannot give you legal advice about your purchase and sale agreements.
We are not plumbers, electricians, heating contractors, roofers, carpenters, exterminators, etc. In some states, your inspector may give you an idea of how much any needed repairs may cost, in Massachusetts, we cannot give you that information.
And finally, we are not Superman. As much as some inspectors would like to believe that they can see everything, we still have limitations. Very few of the building materials in existence today are transparent, this makes it very difficult to see things behind finished or inaccessible surfaces. Until X-Ray vision is perfected, we still have some things that we cannot see.
We are, however, specially trained uniquely qualified to look for and identify potential problems that many laymen are not. Many inspectors are equipped with a natural curiosity that will enable them to spot potential problems and alert you to these issues so that you can make an informed decision.
Stay tuned next week for a little bit about what we ARE.
Until then, happy house hunting.
Kevin Welch
American Bulldog Home Inspection
Watchdog for the American Dream.
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