Zero Defects Home Inspections

Questions To Ask A Home Inspector

Typically you’ll find a sea of home inspection services in virtually every state, city, town or county that you may reside. Having that many to pick from can quickly become a daunting task. So how do you find a good home inspector? One that will be completely thorough in their inspection services and one that you can trust? Whenever you are thinking about purchasing a home, whether it’s new or pre-owned, a home inspection should be performed so that you can decide based on the findings whether or not there are any problems. It could be anything from something minor that you might can live with or something major that made need to be upgraded or replaced. Whatever it is, you should know about it first before making that purchase. But sometimes, finding that good home inspector can be troublesome. Here are some ways that will hopefully make this task less of a burden and provide you with the ability to recieve a quality home inspection from a certified home inspector who will not only do a complete job and deliver accurate inspection information, but treat you with the respect and honesty that you deserve in the process.

The first thing that you should do to find a home inspector is to simply ask around, probably something you already do before you purchase anything of value anyways. Check with your neighbors, friends, co-workers or family members and see who they used. Chances are they’ve probably all used somebody different. This should give you a wide range to start a good list of initial home inspectors to check out and interview. Referrals tend to be a great way to find a quality home inspector because you’re getting one that somebody has used and was satisfied with their service. Only problem with that is, their level of satisfaction may greatly differ from yours. So not only when you are getting these referrals, and since they are probably close with you anyways, ask to see some of their delivered goods from the inspection. See if they’ll share any of their home inspection reports or forms that may have been produced when their homes went through inspection. If the reports meet your satisfaction, make a star by their names as those could be some that you could interview with first. This will allow you to gain confidence in the process so that you can ask for certain items when interviewing the other home inspectors that you might not have received any formal types of documentation from. You can fill out your list further by perusing through your local phone books or on the internet for home inspectors in your area. Just be sure you have a good list of 10 – 20 inspectors to talk with and check over before you make a decision. Just be sure to call each one.

Questions to ask a potential home inspector

Ask if the inspector is covered by insurance. This will not only protect you as a buyer but as a seller as well. Neither one would like to incur added expenses or insurance claims if the inspector gets it wrong. What you want to ask them for is if they carry Errors & Omissions Insurance or liability insurance. What this actually does is cover the company if you have any issues after the inspection due to errors or failure to perform the work as promised by the contract you’ll sign with them. If they have this then they are covered and will have a better ability to cover any claims filed against them. What it shows is that they care about what they do enough to get insurance to protect them in case of problems. Don’t laugh, it could happen. You can avoid it all if the home inspector is adequatly covered by insurance. I would steer clear of any that do not have insurance that covers them should this type of situation arise.

Ask them if they are licensed to do home inspections. This can vary depending on where you are located, or better yet, where the area being inspected is located, as there are definitely some differing requirements between states. Some states require that an inspector be licensed while others do not. Sounds strange, I know. But it is what it is. However, if it is a state that requires licensing, be sure to get his license number. It’s possible that there maybe letters in front of and in back of the actual numbers so be sure to write them down as well. Having the license number will allow you to do additional checks to see whether or not the person is actually licensed or simply an apprentice either doing some side work or still on the job training.

Another qood question for a potential home inspector would be to find out what type of training they’ve been through or any professional organizations that they may belong to. Because of the licensing issue mentioned above, this is almost a crucial point to take up with the person. What you’ll typically find if you look around long enough is that there are people in the field that have simply learned “on the job” so to speak. They’ve been around the business for a long time as either an electrician or carpenter or in some other fashion and have learned through the years of how to become a home inspector. That’s basically called learning a trade and not really recognized as formal training. If they haven’t had some sort of formal training from an accredited type trade school, chances are you’ll get what you’ll pay for. Personally I’d pass on that one.

If they are a licensed home inspector, a good follow-up question would be to see if they are taking any continuing education classes or training. Licensing typically requires some form of continuing education if an inspector is going to be looking to renew their license. This is true with most every profession that requires licensing. If someone is going further than the minimal necessities to keep up their skill level, chances are they are competent and will be looking at all the latest facets of the industry. This can only mean good news for you in seeing that they are a qualified home inspector. While you are on the subject of licensing and education, bring up a point to see if they belong to any professional assocations that are specific to home inspections.

Experience should definitely be a deciding factor and question as well but go with caution on this one as it could be tricky. How many years have they performed home inspections? Good question but tread lightly as years on the job might not be the best answer. In fact, they could’ve been performing inspections for quite a few years but only accumulated 100 or so inspections a year. If that’s the case you’ve got to look at it this way, since there’s 365 days in a year, there not even working a third of the year. Now who can afford to do that these days? Certainly not a true home inspector. They are probably only doing it part-time. You should probably look to see if the number of inspections for a year mesh down to about 2/day. If that’s the case you can probably assume that they do a fairly good job and take their time to do the inspections thoroughly instead of rushing thru it to get to the next job site. I’d even go as far as asking them, how many inspections do you schedule in one day? If it’s 4 or over you can bet that they are probably only going to spend a couple of hours looking at this major investment that you are thinking about purchasing. Most inspections could and should take anywhere from 2-4 hours for an average sized home. If there spending less time than that, I know I wouldn’t be comfortable.

Not only should find out about experience and time factors, but you should also ask what’s going to be inspected. And while you’re on the topic, find out what they will not inspect. Will they check for foundational issues? Do they check for termites? Will they check for moisture problems? Mold is a killer, will they be checking for it? Some do, some don’t. Try and get a list of everything they will be checking for. This will give you a clear understanding of what each different inspector or service will do.

Find out all you can about the deliverables from the inspection. These items are crucial. It’s your best standing point for any type of negotiations you may have to deal with post-inspection. Home inspectors should be delivering detailed reports to verify and validate all their findings during the inspection process. Definitely be leary of anyone telling you that they’ll tell you everything thats wrong with the residence but won’t back it up in the report. Get a sample report from each one of these inspectors that you interview. Compare them with others you’ve interviewed or gathered from family, friends and colleagues. If they fall in any way short of your expectations, stick them in the disregard pile. And if a potential inspector can’t produce or simply won’t give you a sample report, that should throw up the biggest red flag in your system to just move on to the next one. This report is the single most crucial piece that you will get out of any inspection. It’s a direct reflection on the experience, professionalism and knowledge of a qualified home inspector that you are looking to hire.

Finally, ask them about how much home inspections cost. I wouldn’t do this until you are through finding out all you can first about the person simply because you get what you pay for, but you also want to get an affordable home inspection in the process. What you’ll find is that sometimes the better inspectors cost you a little bit more money. But look at all they do to keep up with their profession. If they are licensed, taking those continuing education classes, joining professional associations, produce those above average reports that are like gold to you, they are investing in their business and helping you make a wise decision based on sound advice on probably one of the biggest investments that you’ll make in your lifetime.

Once you have talked to all of the home inspectors on your list, don’t feel like you need to come to an overall decision right then. Narrow your list down first to the top 3 or 4 that proved qualified based on some of the criteria listed above and your own personal interests. Take into considerations everything that you’ve asked of them and how well they fit into the criteria and then choose the one from that short list that has everything that you are looking for in a home inspector. Above all, make sure that you are comfortable with the inspector that you choose, this will help ensure that you will get the home inspection that you are looking for and meets all your expectations. I hope this little guide helps you in the future in your quest to find a home inspector.