Buying a home is a huge investment for
most home buyers. The time to do your research on which home inspector that you will use to inspect your new home, should be carried out in tandom with your property search. Unfortunately most home buyers leave it until the last minute before doing their research on home inspectors and don’t take enough time to ensure that the home inspector has the required experience to carried out a detailed structural survey.
It is very common to find people with some limited building experience, will call themselves home inspectors. Most of these people are definitely not up to the required standard to carried out a through inspection on your behalf. This is not an unusual phenomenon since most states do not license home inspectors. If you want to know whether a home inspector is experience or not, you will need to conduct your own review on his or her services and check if he or she possesses the qualifications, skills and the professionalism that is needed.
There are numerous home inspector training centers who will certify persons as qualified home inspectors with less then one weeks training. We all know from personal experience that no matter what profession or service we provide, that it may take many years of training and on the job experience to become competent at the service that we wish to provide.
It’s not just as simple as spending a few minutes on
somebody’s website before determining whether or not to eliminate or employ that particular home inspector, just by merely checking his or her website. Well trained and professionals web designers can design a professional website very quickly. By looking at the way a home inspectors website looks, including feedback and reviews from previous clients, will only give you some piece of mind.
Below are some of the things you would want to do.
-
Image via Wikipedia
Ask for a sample home inspection report. Be careful, home inspection reports should be detailed and comprehensive including pictures of defects. A home inspector who emails you a three to four page sample report should not be taken seriously. Comprehensive reports would go up to around 20 to 40 pages.
- You can also check if the home inspector will be charging fees in case of re-inspection.
- You should not employ an inspector who has been recommended by the estate agent selling the property.
- Always make sure you be present during the inspection.
- Ask to see a copy of their professional indemnity insurance.
- Check if they are full members of a professional association and check the professional association itself.
An inexperienced home inspector can actually put your purchase into jeopardy and end up costing you thousands of dollars for repairs that were not brought to your attention. An experienced home inspector will not only help you assess the condition of the house but will equally uncover harmful materials like asbestos, advise on pyrite testing, the presence of old lead plumbing, which can cause harm to your personal health and also the long-term structural integrity of your new home.
By taking your time before employing your professional home inspector will give you peace of mind and allow you to get a greater understanding of the appraised value of the property. It will also give you the opportunity to raise any defects found during the inspection that will need to be fixed.
Related articles
- Should you get a Home Inspection? (adrianacordero.wordpress.com)
