What a home inspection is, and is not

What A Home Inspection Is, And Is Not

In the home buying process, a professional Realtor will always recommend that you have the home inspected. Many agents refer their clients to outstanding, honest home inspectors who perform unbiased inspections. Other agents refer inspectors who provide "soft" reports that insure the property sale goes through no matter what the truth is about the property condition. Selman Home Inspection is trusted by buyers, sellers and their agents to provide "Accurate Inspection Reports You Can Trust".

What Is A Home Inspection

A home inspection is a complete, thorough, documented, unbiased test drive of a home you intend to buy or sell. When you hire a home inspector, the inspector should be working for the buyer or seller and not "for the agent".

 

Certified, licensed home inspectors perform home inspections by visually evaluating or comparing all of the components of a home to Today's Standards of Practice and local building codes. Selman Home inspection performs a complete, thorough, documented, unbiased home inspection using our specialized three pass process. We believe that a home inspection process covers thousands of individual items from the foundation to the shingles including:

 

• Roof, vents, flashings and trim
• Gutters and downspouts
• Skylight, chimney and other roof penetrations
• Decks, stoops, porches, walkways and railings
• Eaves, soffit and fascia
• Grading and drainage
• Foundation and crawlspace
• Water penetration and foundation movement
• Heating systems
• Cooling systems
• Main water shut-off valves
• Water heating system
• Plumbing fixtures and faucets
• Electrical service line and meter box
• Main disconnect and service amperage
• Electrical panels, breakers and fuses
• Grounding and bonding
• GFCIs and AFCIs
• Fireplace and chimney
• Insulation and ventilation
• Garage doors, safety sensors and openers
• Appliances
• Safety items
• And much more......

Keep in mind that no home is perfect, not even a brand new house. We are trained, certified, licensed home inspectors and evaluate each property against the Texas Standards of Practice  and today's local building standards. We are not code enforcement and an inspection is not a pass or fail report. A home inspection should be an independent evaluation and is the inspectors experienced opinion of the property condition at the time of the report which simply identifies any deficiencies. Report findings are useful in the buying and selling decisions and for understanding what action, if any, should be taken once a property is purchased.

 

A home inspection is a visual inspection of the property conditions at the time of the inspection. A home inspection is the opinion of the inspector based on observable conditions.

 

What A Home Inspection IS NOT

A home inspection is not a warranty. It is not a guarantee that there are no defects at all. And, a home inspection is not a guarantee that nothing will go wrong, fail or break once you move in or months or years down the road.

 

No one can possibly determine or foresee when an appliance will fail, when roof damage will occur, when plumbing will spring a leak or when HVAC will fail. Home inspectors are not fortune tellers and can not see the future. All homes are mechanical in nature and can have items fail at anytime.

 

Cosmetic issues are not the focus of a home inspection. However, most quality home inspectors will state in their report when it is their opinion that a defect is cosmetic.

 

Home inspectors for the most part do not disassemble items in a home to evaluate internal conditions. However, good inspectors will remove access panels on items such as water heaters, HVAC and main electric panels for evaluation.

 

Home inspectors are often referred to as "generalists". Inspectors are trained to identify and report visible defects in thousands of items in a home. As generalists, home inspectors are not the expert on most items and will often make report comments like "......should be further evaluated by a certified, licensed specialist." This is the clue for the buyer or seller to hire a specialist because the inspector has found suspicious conditions.

 

As a home owner, home maintenance and repairs are to be expected. No home is maintenance free and like your car, there will be mechanical issues from time to time. These issues are not the inspectors fault or something that they missed in most cases. It is just part of home ownership. 

 

Conclusion

Yes. There will be things that break down in a home like any other product, at any time. But a home inspection from a certified, licensed professional will provide a buyer or seller with tremendous insight about the current condition of a home, how well it has been maintained and the inspectors opinion about the condition of major items in a homes structure. The home inspector you choose to evaluate your home should not only provide an unbiased opinion of the property condition, but should also educate you about items in a home you may not be familiar with.

 

At Selman Home Inspection, we are happy to have you tag along during the inspection. We are happy to answer your questions and educate you about your home and general home maintenance. 

 

Selman Home Inspection, 

"Accurate Investment Protection You Can Trust" 

 

David Selman
Advanced Professional Inspector
Lic.# 10299
FHA/HUD # F537
Septic Cert #113423

Phone: 469-371-3228 

Email: david@SelmanHomeInspections.com

"Accurate Investment Protection You Can Trust"

Websites: 

Dallas Home Inspection

Fort Worth Home Inspection