I would like to offer some insight as to how to choose a home inspector. After over 20 years of inspecting and thousands of homes inspected, we consider ourselves first-time homebuyer specialists. Members of our Wildcat Inspections Team have taught at monthly First-Time Home Buyer seminars for realtors, loan officers, insurance brokers. We want to educate buyers to understand that purchasing any property is a major investment. I feel that it is important for any home buyer to know the importance of getting it right.
A home inspection by a certified, unbiased inspector that works on their behalf would help them make an informed decision. An objective property inspection gives a buyer a checklist of information regarding the home. It gives them a clear understanding of how the major systems and components perform prior to purchase. Knowing how to choose any professional presents a complicated question that requires research for a suitable answer. We recommend the following advice.
Do Your Own Research For Your Home Inspector Choice
First, we recommend that you do your own research for your home inspector choice. Most real estate agents hand out a short list of inspectors and recommend that you pick one of those. That is convenient, but is it the right thing to do in every case? We want to believe that all agents are honest and trustworthy. The reality is that they are business people and have to make business decisions that pay the bills. They are not disinterested parties in the transaction. As my old pappy used to say, “they have a dog in the hunt”. In fact, the agent has a lot to gain (or lose) with the major purchase YOU are about to make.
No two home inspectors are alike, we all look at things differently. Inspectors base their decisions on his or her individual training, education and experience. Their opinions and reports should be purely one-sided, the home buyer’s side. The only thing they should walk away with is their inspection fee. Their decisions should not be contingent on getting another recommendation from the agent. Don’t get me wrong, we are on lists for several agents. However, most of our business comes from client referrals. If we do a good job, we get a good referral.
Information To Help You Choose a Home Inspector
I understand that we live in a hectic society and buying a home can take a lot of your time. However, like doctors and auto mechanics, home inspectors are not alike. So why should you choose a home inspector you know nothing about? Begin your research online. Most inspectors have some sort of website. You might be able to learn a lot about them from their “About page”. The other solution is to interview the potential inspector before setting up an inspection. When you do so, you should ask some key questions if you don’t find what you need online. Here are a few questions that come to mind.
What License Do You Have And What Are Your Credentials?
All Home inspectors must undergo a total of 320 classroom hours of training to get a license in Texas. There are three types of licenses for home inspectors. Knowing about them can help you make your home inspector decision. Choices include Apprentice Inspector, Real Estate Inspector and Professional Inspector. A Professional Inspector must sponsor Apprentice Inspectors.
Following an apprenticeship and a few inspections, they can test for and become a Real Estate Inspector. Afterwards they are allowed to inspect your house (residential property only). But only if they are sponsored by a Professional Inspector. On the other hand, a Professional Inspector has a higher degree of experience and training. Professional Inspectors are able to work for themselves.
A good starting place when choosing a home inspector might be to get the inspector’s license number. That will give you an idea about how long they have been licensed. As a benchmark, Jo Ann and I became Professional Inspectors in 1998. My TREC license number is 4617 and hers is 4836. Fast forward 20 years to an inspector I recently met who has a license number above 3,500. After that you might want to inquire if they have been active in a related profession before becoming an inspector.
An example is our grandson, Zach Payne who has license number 2571. He was able to skip the apprentice and Inspector phases and went straight to a licensed Professional Inspector. That’s because of his experience in construction and additional education prior to taking the State and National exams. He followed that by even a higher degree of education to become a Certified Professional Inspector by InterNACHI.
How Do You Handle Hazardous Inspection Conditions?
That might sound like a dumb question when you’re trying to choose a home inspector, but it’s not. The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) provides a multitude of exceptions for inspectors so not to put ourselves in danger. The problem is some inspectors take advantage of those loopholes in order to speed through your inspection and get to the next one. Therefore, you will want to know some things about how they conduct their inspection. That is another area where the inspector’s past experiences may prove to be to your advantage. Here are three examples to help you pick a home inspector.
- A steep roof is a safety hazard to the inspector. Most inspectors I know have a particular roof pitch that they are uncomfortable walking on. A standard staircase is about 7/12. I will climb a roof with an 8/12 pitch but make an exception if it is wet, old or otherwise hazardous. A vast majority of home inspectors say they are not comfortable walking on more than a 4/12 pitch. If they do not inspect from the rooftop, they should at least look at it from a ladder at the eave. If it is too high or too steep, they might simply observe it from the ground with binoculars. Drones are also becoming an option.
- A crawlspace can also prove to be hazardous to an inspector’s health. Crawlspaces are host to many conditions that may harm inspectors including mold and fungus, pests, Hantavirus, standing water or sewage, structural collapse, live electrical wires, etc. Only a small percentage of us will inspect crawlspaces.
- The interior of the electrical service panel can be deadly. Find out if your inspector will remove the cover to inspect the interior of the panel. Many do not.
How Long Will The Home Inspection Take?
A home inspection takes as long as it takes. However, we all must have an idea about how long a job will take so we can plan our day. The onsite inspection of an average size house should take a single inspector between 3 and 4 hours. Anything else is just looking around. Jo Ann and I worked as a team over 25 years, it still takes us between 2 ½ and 3 hours. We aren’t slow, we’re thorough. Some inspectors perform three inspections a day. You should do the math before you choose a home inspector for that important job.
What Kind Of Report Do You Provide?
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) requires the inspector to use their 6-page report. It can be hand written. Photos are not required. The majority of inspectors I know use report writing software from one source or another. We are no exception. The question is, do they just plug in a canned statement to provide the minimum TREC requirement? Or is the report customized to the property being inspected. When choosing a home inspector, you want their report to be comprehensive and tailored to your individual needs. You can check out a sample of TREC reports.
Should I Attend The Inspection?
In a word YES! That’s the simple answer you are looking for. The written report provides all the information you should need from an inspector to make a rational home buying decision. However, it can be overwhelming. There’s nothing like face-to-face discussion regarding this major investment you are about to enter. That being said, we do a lot of inspections where the client just can’t make it there. In those cases, we are happy to review the report over the phone after you have read it.
How Much Time Will You Spend With Me After The Inspection?
When deciding on a home inspector, you want them to allow time to go over the conditions of the property. The inspector should not rush through that. For instance, new homebuyers usually need more explanation than those having owned houses in the past. Education should be part of the inspector’s arsenal.
What Does Your Home Inspection Cost?
That’s the magic question. And although one of the most important ones when you’re choosing a home inspector, it should be your last. That’s because you can forget this question if you aren’t satisfied with the previous answers. The cost of an inspection relates directly to the time and effort put into it. The answers to the above questions will help you determine if you are getting a good return for your investment. Just remember that the guy doing three or four inspections a day might not fulfill your expectations. Click through to check out our pricing for home inspections.
And please contact us if you have any questions or would like to set up an interview or schedule an inspection.
