Mistake No.7 - Follow Up Service
You're buying a house that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. You're spending hundreds of dollars on the inspection. You will have issues at the end of the inspection that will need to be addressed.
By who? It better not be the inspector. ASHI standards flatly prohibit an inspector from doing for-hire work with a client for one year. An inspector that is using the inspection process to grow his handy-man company is not working for you, even if he is giving you the business.
Home inspectors should be in the business of inspecting homes. If a home inspector offers to direct you to a contractor to perform work, that inspector is potentially creating a conflict of interest. Some state regulations and inspector associations allow an inspector to undertake specified repairs, but I don't recommend hiring such an inspector.
(On rare occasions, I will offer a referral but I do not benefit in any way. As a matter of fact, I quit NACHI (a home inspector organization) when they sold Brinks my info. Brinks then "offered" inspectors $15 for their client info on each inspection they completed.)
If you request repairs to the property prior to closing- and, remember, it's not whether there are issues - it's a house - it's going to have issues - your inspector should be available to do a follow up inspection for you.
Personally, I offer these for free. I invariably like my clients. Because I like you, I don't want you in the crawlspace or messing with the electrical panel. Most of my clients are content to let me have all the fun. It's a win-win deal.
I have had occasions where I have gone out and the repairs have not been completed. On one occasion, the older couple who were selling were told the "electrical system is now up to code", charged $1500.00 and nothing - NOTHING! - was done.
Two days before closing, I was in the attic calling the Realtor to let him know that there was a "glitch" in his closing. My clients were thrilled to have me go back. The older couple got their money back. All ended well because the client had me go back.
Some inspectors charge $50.00 or more for a follow up. Ask beforehand what the policy is but I strongly recommend that follow-up.
Just give us a bit of notice. No lie, I had an agent call at 4:00 in the afternoon and they were closing at, you guessed it, 7:00 the next morning.
At 7:00 pm, I'm walking a roof to make sure everything is repaired the way it should be. I was not a happy inspector.
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