Admin

4 Things Home Inspectors Are Looking For

By
Home Builder with Westbrook REI (We Buy Houses) CSLB 1047535

The 4 Things Home Inspectors are looking for that Could Kill the Sale of Your Stockton House

If you are thinking about selling your House in Stockton there is a 98% chance that at some point it will be inspected by at least 2 home inspectors and 1 appraiser. This article will explain the 4 things that Home Inspectors are looking for in your house. It will also explain the level of experience and qualifications that home inspectors are required to have before they can make an assessment of any house. Don’t be surprised… It isn’t very much.

Home inspectors are not required to be licensed in the State of California. In fact, most are not licensed contractors but, according to the California Real Estate Inspection Association “inspectors must have a minimum of 80 hours in inspector education. They may complete these hours through training in the classroom, online and in the field. A thorough training program includes how to identify and report defects in a home’s interior and exterior. Components the inspector must learn include the home’s structure, foundation, roofing, insulation, heating, cooling, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical and plumbing”.

For someone that is potentially so influential in most real estate sales transaction it stands to reason that they should be required to receive more extensive training, but they are not.  In fact it is not a requirement that home inspectors have worked in any of the trades for any period of time.

Most real estate agents recommend that Sellers pay to have their homes inspected in advance of listing the house to find out what problems are most likely lurking before they accept an offer and eliminate the element of surprise. The logic seems sound, but sometimes the reports themselves are flawed and that could be why home inspections and appraisals are the number one and two reasons that real estate transactions fall apart in today’s Stockton Real Estate Market.

It’s no secret that statistically more than 30% of all houses fail the inspection phase of the sales process and either the buyer backs out or the seller refuses to make the necessary repairs found within the inspection reports.

It’s really no mystery because many buyers will use the inspection report as a tool to negotiate a price reduction. Can you blame them? Speaking as someone that has been through several hundred home inspections on properties that I have both bought sold, I can tell you first hand the process is contentious at best.

Not All Houses Are Created Equal:

So what is it that home inspectors are looking for that could cause your house to become another negative statistic in the selling process? Is there a checklist of things that are predictable to use as a guideline and preempt a negative report?

Read More...

 

Posted by

Peter Westbrook is a Real Estate Investor With Westbrook REI located in Stockton California. He specializes in buying distressed properties throughout Northern California and Tulsa Oklahoma.  Peter is not only an active real estate investor, he is the author of many real estate articles and also a sales and marketing trainer for new and seasoned real estate investors and agents. Peter can be reached at 209-481-7780.