7 Things to Look For in a Home Inspector

Over the weekend, I heard someone describe my favorite home inspector as “alarmist”. Now I could see how you might get that impression, but I wouldn’t use that word for him. Alarmist has the connotation that he blows things out of proportion. Instead I would call him very thorough.

The discussion made me think about what makes a good home inspector. Believe me, you want a good one- and you often won’t know what was missed until you own the home and you ask yourself, “Why didn’t this come up in the inspection?”

Here are some things to look for…
1. Experience- The best inspectors have done hundreds, if not 1000+ inspections. They’ve seen about everything and they are passionate about houses.

2. Licensing- Typically in Tennessee the home inspector needs to be fully licensed. You can't just have a friend look the home over for you. To negotiate repairs under the typical inspection contingencies the inspector must be licensed.

3. Report- Mainly, you want to see a good summary of the issues that need to be addressed. Some inspectors will provide you with a fancy multimedia report. One inspector I know even shows you a PowerPoint slide show at the end of the inspection, giving you a visual tour through the home’s issues. This may be overboard, but having some pictures in the report of the major issues is standard and very helpful in visualizing some of the problems that are difficult to see, especially in attics and crawl spaces.

4. Thoroughness- The best inspectors will ‘leave no stone unturned’. In other words, they’ll squeeze into tiny attics and crawl spaces to make sure they don’t miss anything. This is so important. I’ve had at least two instances where major issues were found in homes only because my daring inspector went into small spaces that other inspectors might skip and call “inaccessible”. This might actually build the case for hiring a skinny inspector, but I’ll leave it at that! In the end, the buyer should have a detailed and possibly lengthy analysis of the home. I always say that you'd rather know up front what you're buying than find out later.

5. Passion- My favorite home inspectors will take the time to talk with my client about the issues. They have a teaching spirit and strive to help the buyer understand how homes work and what problems in the report are big concerns and which ones are more commonplace and can be lived with.

6. Non-Alarmist- Some inspectors, for whatever reasons, do tend to go overboard and scare home buyers more. For example, I had one inspector who was telling us how unlevel the floors in a home were (which we knew). He actually pulled a marble out of his tool belt and let it roll across the room to emphasize how bad it was. He also made a big deal about some smaller items that weren’t up to codes even though this home was built in the 1920’s. After a while, it’s hard to know what items are actually concerns, and which ones are found in every home in the neighborhood. A great home inspector will make this distinction for you.

7. Price- This barely made my list, because the prices for different inspectors doesn’t vary that much, but if you know of several good ones, it might vary as much as $100, and be worth checking out. BTW- inspections are almost always paid for at the time of inspection, not at the closing. Most will take a personal check and often credit cards as well.

If you’ve read this far, you might as well just give me a call for a referral for a great inspector. I try to go on all my buyer’s home inspections, and I have seen all kinds of homes. Even the best homes have issues to repair or keep an eye on. If you’re buying a house, please have a home inspection and get a good one!

-Peter
www.NashvilleCityHomes.com