Home Inspection

In today's real estate environment, it is almost unheard of to buy a house without having the sale contingent on a home inspection.  After many years in the business -- and having been through hundreds of home inspections -- I have worked through a variety of inspection issues for both buyers and sellers. In that time I have seen many different types of home inspectors, some of whom I would recommend and others I would not.

What makes a good home inspector?
In Pennsylvania, the home inspector has to be a member of one of the national home inspector organizations.  One of those is ASHI, which stands for the American Society of Home Inspectors (http://www.ashi.org/). The standards for becoming a home inspector have changed over the years.  Today, it is tougher to become an inspector than it was 10 years ago.  To be a member of an organization like ASHI, the inspector has to subscribe to their standards and meet the necessary cirteria to become certified.  

What to look for in an inspector
I believe that it is essential for a home inspector to be able to communicate clearly and effectively to the buyer or seller in which they are representing.  The inspector's report must be clear, ledgible and detailed.  In looking for an inspector, I would suggest requesting a sample report so that you can decide whether the report is clear, concise and understandable. The inspector must be be thorough and be willing to stand behind his report. I have seen reports where the home inspector does nothing more than suggest having qualified professionals evaluate almost every component in the house.  You could have done that yourself! You didn't need to pay a professional a few hundred dollars to tell you to contact a plumber, an electrician, a roofer, etc. If the inspector is not able to inspect the condition of the systems and components in the house, why use them?  I recently reviewed a report where the inspector recommended a roofing contractor to evaluate the roof, an electrician to evaluate the electrical system in the house, an HVAC contractor to evaluate the heating and air conditioning system, and a plumber to look at some plumbing questions.  Why bother with the home inspector in the first place if they are not able to evaluate these systems and clearly state what the issues are?

When an inspector provides estimates in his report
Even though it is a bit controversial when the inspector provides estimates in his report, I personally like this approach because it quantifies the magnitude of the problem that the inspector is citing. Without estimates, it means that the buyer and/or seller are going to have to call out contractors to evaluate every issue in the inspection report.  Under no circumstances, should the home inspector or his/her company be involved with doing any of the repairs. 

Be careful when using a real estate agent's inspector recommendation
While it is ok to ask your real estate professional for a recommendation for a home inspection company, be very careful because this may pose a conflict of interest. Some home inspectors get most of their business from real estate agents who refer to them and this can cause an inherent conflict. You see, if the home inspector consistently finds problems with houses, they get a bad reputation with some agents.  They then worry that the real estate community will stop referring business to them.  Many times I have seen less-than-honorable agents refer only those inspectors who they think will overlook things in order to get the transaction to work.  

In fact, here's a recent example of this type of transaction: I represented a buyer who was purchasing a fairly new home (about 8 years old). This was an $800,000 sale and the house was built by a very reputable builder.  The inspector that I recommended has a reputation for being extremely thorough and detailed.  The agent for the seller actually expressed her dismay that I was using this particular home inspector.  While walking around the exterior of the house, the inspector explained to the buyer that there were issues with some flashing and, more importantly, suggested that every single window was failing.  The agent for the seller pulled me aside and rather nastily explained that this was exactly why she did not like this particular home inspector. 

A couple of days later -- after reviewing the inspection report with the sellers -- the agent very apologetically called to tell me that the sellers were in fact aware that the windows failed and that many houses in the development were experiencing the same thing.  The windows were still under a 10-year warranty so prior to closing all 60 windows in the house were replaced.  Had the inspector not noticed this issue, there would have been major water problems. In all likelihood, this would not have happened for several years at which point the warranty would have expired, thus leaving my client with the expense of replacing all 60 windows. 

The home inspection process is a critically important part of the home buying process.  Make sure that you don't ever take this step lightly.