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How should you choose a Home Inspector?
While other issues are equally important, the easiest way to cut to the chase is to ask for a copy of the Home Inspector's Sample Report.
The Home Inspection Report:
When the inspection is over, all you have is the inspection report. Home Inspection Reports reflect the detail and professionalism of the Home Inspector. Make sure you ask for and receive a sample report when deciding on what Home Inspector to use. Is the report what you want? Does it answer your questions? Is it full of grammar, spelling errors and "fluff", or is it professionally written with useful information and guidance on how to deal with the problem? Are photos included to help you, the real estate agents, and repair/service personnel find the defect.
My Sample Report is not truly a sample. It is an ACTUAL INSPECTION REPORT with the name and address removed to protect the client's privacy. However, the client is on my list of references.
Most professional Home Inspectors will provide an in depth narrative report While most professional Home Inspectors have moved to computer generated reports, some still use a pre-printed checklist with narrative commentary.
Which type of report on mold in the basement do you want?:
Checklist Style:
D. Moisture Location: Normal X Excessive None: Efflorescence present
X Mold or Mildew present
Delamination present
Narrative Style:
Rating: Item: Commentary:
Defective Moisture Location: Yes. - There are signs of current moisture intrusion that need attention now. There are moisture stains located on the baseboard of the west wall by the pool table, the baseboard of the north wall in the basement bathroom and on the concrete block wall in the storage area/furnace room. What appears to be mold or mildew is present. This should be removed / cleaned and the moisture source eliminated. The identification of the organism(s) is beyond the scope of this home inspection. If, after reviewing the below information, you have additional questions or want further investigation, I recommend that you contact a Certified Industrial Hygienist, usually listed in the yellow pages under "Industrial Hygiene Consultants" to determine if there exists an ongoing climate for incubation or microbial contamination and that steps be taken to eliminate this climate. Mold, mildew, fungus and other toxic organisms commonly occur in areas that show evidence of, or have the potential for, leaking, moisture intrusion and/or inadequate ventilation. Any area or item exhibiting such conditions "can" be a health hazard to some people. There is a lot of controversy over the issue of mold and mold testing. Neither the New York City Department of Health or the Environmental Protection Agency recommend measuring airborne fungal levels. The EPA publication "A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home" states "Is sampling for mold needed? In most cases, if visible mold growth is present, sampling is unnecessary." Money spent on testing is not available for cleanup. I recommend that information from the following sources be reviewed prior to spending any money on mold testing. You may want to identify and review other sources of information.
United States Environmental Protection Agency information available on the EPA web site at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/molds/moldguide.html provides a document titled " "A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home"
Various articles on the Building Science Corporation web site at: http://www.buildingscience.com Click on the link "Learn More about Mold".
The New York City Department of Health Web Site at: http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doh/home.html Use the search function for mold.
Professional Associations:
Some Home Inspectors don't believe in belonging to (as one inspector puts it) "all them dang associations". Legitimate professional Home Inspector's associate with other legitimate professional Home Inspectors (the same way other professionals associate with their peer professionals). These organizations provide training and continuing education for the professional Home Inspector along with a forum for their Home Inspectors to stay current with recent advances in the industry.
The three, most pertinent to Kentucky, legitimate Real Estate Associations are:
Kentucky Real Estate Inspection Association (KREIA) www.kreia.org
American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) www.ashi.org
National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI) www.nahi.org
Other organizations exist, but the three above are member owned, non-profit associations with a goal of bettering the home inspection industry. Some home inspection organizations merely exist as a for-profit certification mill (send us a check and you can call yourself a certified home inspector or a registered home inspector.) It is now very simple to do an internet search on the various organizations and determine the membership requirements.
Training and Continuing Education:
Inspection standards, construction standards, safety standards, generally accepted building practices and other issues change all the time. Is the Inspector making an effort to stay educated. Or are they just ignoring the new and continuing with the old.
Experience:
This is the area that more Home Inspector's disagree on than any other area. Truth is there is no one particular set of experiences that adequately covers ALL of the system's in and around the home, how they work together, and how they age together. Once a person decides to become a Home Inspector, they must do a lot of learning and studying on systems outside their particular area of expertise. Look for continuing education in several different areas of a home's systems.. It's more important than any one set of background experience.
Some people with these experiences think their experience is best for being a Home Inspector. My thoughts:
Engineers: There are many classifications of engineers. Electrical, Civil, Structural, Mechanical, Marine,
Transportation, Sanitary, Highway and Geological just to name a few. Ask them what their specialty is
and ask them to put their Professional Engineer's stamp on the line for the Home Inspection. Few will
because their engineering specialty has little to do with residential inspection outside their specialty.
Yet some market themselves as better qualified than any other person, because they are an
"Engineer".
. "Yup, I had muh home inspection done by a Structural Engineer. I had to replace the furnace, the
plumbing flooded the basement, and an electrical fire burned down the garage, but dang, that ridge
beam is in fine condition."
Former Home Builder's: Well, Home Builders build them, but then move on and build other houses. They don't
stick around to see how the houses age. They seldom see the house again after the
first year, unless they get sued for crappy construction.
Former Municipal Code Inspectors: Yes, they do (or should) know the MINIMUM standards for their area of
inspection expertise. But what does an electrical code inspector know
about plumbing or heating or air conditioning systems.
Nothing is wrong with any of these or other specialties becoming Home Inspectors. But don't look to heavy at the past experience. Rely more on continuing education in several different areas of the home's systems since becoming a Home Inspector.
Professional Certifications: (Do they mean anything?)
From the organizations listed above, they do. I'm sure there are other organizations whose certifications also mean something. Just make sure you check the source of the certification, experience, training, and testing requirements.
I could call myself a "Certified Home Inspector" and have a certificate to prove it just by sending $100.00 to a certain for profit organization. I could call myself a "Registered Home Inspector" by sending $75.00 to another for profit organization. As a matter of fact, early in my home inspection career I did receive a "certification" from such an organization. When I "figured it out", I used it to contribute to the heating system of my home.
Use Home Inspectors who belong to member owned, non-profit organizations.
Guarantees:
A "good" marketing tool for the inspector, but seldom useful to the client.
If a Home Inspector offers a guarantee, ask to see a copy of it before booking the inspection. Ask for references that have actually collected on that guarantee. Most of these "guarantees" are so riddled with loop holes, disclaimers, and not covered items that they are virtually worthless. In addition, while seldom disclosed, the guarantee usually disclaims items that do not "pass" inspection. Ask to speak to some references that have had major systems pass inspection. All the inspector has to do to have the system not covered (and make the guarantee worthless) is to mark it unsatisfactory.
I offer two guarantees.
1. I'll use all my experience, training, and common sense to do the best, most thorough inspection I can without any consideration of whether or not the deal will go through. I work for my client's best interests in: educating them about the home they are considering buying; whether systems are installed like they are supposed to be; and whether or not the home's systems are safe. I will provide a thorough, professional narrative report.
2. I will not find every minor defect in the home. My focus is on the big dollar items that cost serious money to repair or replace.
REFERRALS & OTHER SERVICES:
Does the inspector pay a referral fee to whomever referred them. Some real estate agents not only ask for this but require it? (If you are an agent and don't belive this happens, call me, I'll give you specific information.)
Does the inspector get paid a referral fee from or have a financial interest in the contractors he recommends?
Does the inspector offer to fix any of the problems found? (Professional Home Inspectors, even if they do Home Repair Work (and many do) won't repair a house they inspected within the last year.)
If the nspector offers other services, are they truly qualified to do so? Ask for their qualifications to provide these services. Is the qualification a quickie from a lab that makes money doing the lab work for the inspector?
Samples of our inspection report are available on this web site.
Please call or e-mail us with your information to obtain the price of a professional home inspection.
Whatever your decision, don't buy a home without a Professional Home Inspection.
B4U Close Home Inspections 502-570-4054
E-Mail: Inspector@b4uclose.com