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Home Inspection? NA, I don't need one!

By
Home Inspector with STLhomeinspector.com

 

So you decided to save a three or four hundred bucks and pass up the local home inspector?  Odd how some home buyers feels it's a must to save pennies on the dollar when in reality their spending thousands sometimes hundreds of thousands on a product that hopefully will last for many years to come.  Next time you have a buyer or know someone who feels a home inspection isn't worth their hard earned money direct them to the test below.  And wish them luck!  Most likely they'll need it.  Read why...

I heard that InterNACHI's Online Inspector Examination is too easy. Is this true?

No. The exam is difficult for some and easy for others. Only about 1/2 the people who take the exam for the first time pass. The average grade is failing. You need a score of 80 to pass.

 

Introduction:  Click Here To Complete Exam

Welcome to InterNACHI's Online Inspector Examination. This is a completely free exam that is one of many InterNACHI entrance requirements. It's free and open to everyone, and you can take it as many times as you like.

Please note that this exam is also an entrace requirement for the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors, Inc. and CalNACHI.

This exam consists of 120 questions that are randomly generated from a much larger (and constantly evolving/expanding) pool of questions. This means that each time you take the exam it will be completely unique (there are over 1,000,000,000 versions of the exam). You will have 60 minutes to complete all 120 questions. The passing cut-off score is 80.

The scoring system is very advanced. Each item is validated to determine the relative importance on assessing the exam takers knowledge and skill, as is each answer to each question. Then each is weighted accordingly. Not only are the questions weighted, the answers are as well in the sense that an exam taker is punished severely (in terms of score) for incorrectly answering questions that indicate that he/she could cause physical harm to the public, but not greatly rewarded (in terms of score) for correctly answering such questions. Likewise, difficult questions (questions that lie outside or nearly outside the scope of a home inspection) are weighted such that the exam taker is not severely punished for answering incorrectly. This same scoring is used for questions that test minimum competency. Exam takers are are not rewarded for answering easy questions (questions every practicing inspector should be able to answer) but are severely punished for answering such questions incorrectly.

David W. Bolick
Network Real Estate, Inc. - Little Rock, AR

As a  real estate broker...how do you feel about a client telling an agent or the agent telling the buyer they'res not much need for a home inspection on a NEW CONSTRUCTION home from a reputable builder when you are getting a 1-year builder warranty?  Whatever you find he's supposed to fix anyway.  Hard to justify from my perspective that you still need one.  Thanks.

Aug 15, 2008 09:34 AM
Phillip R. Smith Sr.
Home Sweet Home Inspections - Northport, AL

David,

  Who is the client going to call when they sell and the inspector at that time finds things that should of been repaired at the time the house was sold new?

I have found things like missing insulation, improper flashing on the roof, ductwork installed wrong along with other things that was wrong when the house was built.

Aug 15, 2008 10:15 AM
David W. Bolick
Network Real Estate, Inc. - Little Rock, AR

Ummm, very interesting perspective.  I'll start pointing that out.

Aug 15, 2008 10:33 AM
Billy Boerner
STLhomeinspector.com - Saint Louis, MO
Home Inspector

David,

As you know many builders (owners) hire people, GC's, to oversee the project for them.  General contractors hire then manage various sub contractors to do all the work some times more than a few trades at once.  No general contractor can be in the same two places at one time.  And all general contractors are human just like the rest of the world.  Things can get missed and just like home inspector not all subs are the same when it comes to experience.  That's why it's important to have an extra set of eyes step in for quality control purposes.  Here's some links to some more examples...

http://www.independentinspectors.org/newhomeinspections.html

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/homesproperinspect

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/banking/homebuyingguide/p92281.asp

 

 

   

Aug 15, 2008 11:45 AM
David W. Bolick
Network Real Estate, Inc. - Little Rock, AR

THANKS for the additional web links tips Billy!  I'll keep these for those clients in need.

Aug 15, 2008 01:18 PM
Steve Hall
RE/MAX United - San Marcos, CA
Make the Call to Hankins and Hall

I have seen major issues on new construction with HVAC.  Most of the units here are installed in the attic and if the primary or secondary condensate lines are not connected or are connected incorrectly, you have moisture intrusion issues that can get very costly. 

Always get a home inspection!

Aug 28, 2008 04:01 AM
MC2 Home Inspections
MC2 Home Inspections LLC - Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis home inspection service 317-605-3432

In response to Davids post above. Yes, new homes come with a one year warranty and they ARE supposed to fix any problems before the end of that one year, BUT how is the homeowner going to know what really needs to be fixed or not? Most regular homeowners are not very savvy when it comes to attic and crawlspace issues, most actually never even go into those places, so how will they know if something was done wrong or not without getting a Home Inspection?

Our services really are invaluable because we boldly go places where others fear to tread.

Food for thought

Aug 28, 2008 05:01 AM
Roy A. Peterson
Domicile Analysis of Texas - El Paso, TX
P.R.E.I.

In my years of experience, all new homeowner are looking for things that went wrong from their previous home and/or their parents or somebody experienced a home nightmare in the family or close friend.

All New home buyer are very good at the cosmetic part, which get caught at the walk-thru's.

I've done inspections after the warranty period had finished and guess what I find; incorrect manufacture installations and tradesman errors.

Everybody miss it because at the time their was no inconvince or break down during this time factor.

Now who is pissed off, you guess it. the homeowner selling the house.

 

Roy Peterson

 

Aug 28, 2008 09:43 AM
Baker Home Inspection and Commercial Properties Inspections
Baker Residential and Commercial Properties Inspections - Springfield, VT
Home and Commercial Properties Inspections Vermont

Billy, I stop by in-order to check to see if you had started being active on your blog here agin or not.

Jul 21, 2013 04:13 AM
Baker Home Inspection and Commercial Properties Inspections
Baker Residential and Commercial Properties Inspections - Springfield, VT
Home and Commercial Properties Inspections Vermont

Billy, I'm stopping back by in-order to check to see if you had started being active on your blog here agin or not. But it sure looks like you are not.

Aug 04, 2013 09:43 PM
Baker Home Inspection and Commercial Properties Inspections
Baker Residential and Commercial Properties Inspections - Springfield, VT
Home and Commercial Properties Inspections Vermont

Billy, I'm stopping back by in-order to check to see if you had started being active on your blog here agin or not. But it sure looks like you are not.

Aug 04, 2013 09:44 PM