Looking for a new place to live? Don’t wait until you’ve received an accepted offer before looking for a house inspection. Allow enough time to interview numerous applicants so that you can be certain of hiring an experienced professional.
After all, a home inspection is your one chance to obtain a clear picture of the real state of something that, for many, is the most costly purchase of a lifetime. Follow our tips on how to identify qualified applicants and what to look for in an inspector.
Be Wary of Real Estate Agent Referrals for Home Inspectors
Your real estate agent may offer you the names of some house inspectors. He may be well-intentioned—or not—but the allusions create a conflict of interest.
A real estate salesperson wants to seal the deal, which may conflict with the inspector’s motive, who is paid for his report. If the report raises too many or significant concerns, it might be used to negotiate a lower price or even to cancel the contract. An inspector suggested by your agency may feel compelled to be kind with the inspection.
“Find your own inspector unless you have complete faith in your agent,” says Kevin Brasler, executive editor of Consumers’ Checkbook, an independent nonprofit advocacy group that assesses local businesses and studied home inspection firms in 2018.
Find Qualified and Reliable Candidates
To locate a trustworthy inspector, start by asking friends who have just purchased a house if they would suggest the person they hired. You may also get references from local online forums like NextDoor or Patch, where users occasionally share their experiences. A crowdsourced directory like Yelp, as well as home services websites like Angie’s List and HomeAdvisor, may be useful.
If you reside in one of Consumers’ Checkbook’s seven metropolitan regions, you may look up the organization’s evaluations of local home inspectors. It includes Boston, Chicago, the Delaware Valley in Pennsylvania, Puget Sound in Washington, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and Washington, D.C.
Professional organizations such as the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI), and the National Academy of Building Inspection Engineers, which certifies professional engineers and architects who perform home inspections, are also good places to look for inspectors. A database of inspectors is also maintained by some state bodies, such as the California Real Estate Inspection Association. Visit the websites of each organization to learn more about the expertise and professional qualifications of local member inspectors, as well as the services they offer.
Once you’ve narrowed down your list of possibilities, look online to discover whether there have been any complaints filed against them. Try an online search using the company’s name and phrases like “complaints” and “reviews.” Your local BBB chapter may also have information on the house inspection you’re thinking about hiring.
Credentials are preferred, but be aware of their limitations.
Hiring someone who has been certified by a professional organization might provide you with further comfort that the inspector is knowledgeable.
Candidates for ASHI certification, for example, must pass an in-person National Home Inspector Examination and demonstrate that they have completed at least 250 paid home inspections. Candidates must pass InterNACHI’s Online Inspector Examination and submit four mock or simulated inspection reports to the organization in order to be certified.
Thirty-four states need inspectors to complete a written National Home Inspector Examination; find out whether your state requires certification here. If your state requires home inspectors to be licensed, get proof of licensing from any inspectors you are contemplating employing.
Keep in mind, however, that certification and licensure do not guarantee a thorough examination. Consumers’ Checkbook recruited 12 home inspectors—all state-licensed and accredited by a professional group—to evaluate a three-bedroom property with 28 documented issues in its 2018 undercover investigation. None of the inspectors discovered all of the issues, which included a leak beneath the kitchen sink, extensive roof damage, and apparent evidence of rat infestation.
According to Brasler, “by all accounts, the national exam is a difficult examination, and both professional bodies do a very good job of assuring its certified inspectors are knowledgeable.” “However, being informed does not imply that the inspector will be careful or scrupulous, and that he will not speed through the inspection.”
He highlighted that in the Consumers’ Checkbook inquiry, one inspector sped through the property in 112 hours, compared to the 2 to 4 hours typical inspections take.
Home Inspection Reports Comparison
According to Brasler, the easiest way to evaluate how thorough an inspector will be—and how well he will explain the faults he finds—is to get a sample copy of an inspection he has done on a house similar to the one you’re contemplating buying. “The example report will demonstrate how much work they will do,” he says.
When you compare reports from different inspectors, you’ll see which ones are comprehensive in their observations and others are merely filling their reports with generic information like the necessity of sealing a wood deck or caulking around windows to promote energy efficiency.
Consumer Reports examined reports from home inspectors throughout the country and discovered that the usual report consisted of a few dozen pages including findings on all major systems in the property, as well as pictures and explanations of verified faults and maintenance recommendations. Some inspectors are already posting their reports online, sometimes with videos.
Consider their education and experience.
Along with professional credentials, seek for someone who has been inspecting homes for at least a few years. He is more likely to have seen a wide range of home kinds and home concerns.
“Assuming he conducts four inspections each week for five years, that’s over 1,000 inspections,” says Richard Haber, a home inspector and licensed architect in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Look for an inspector who has additional training or qualifications, such as an architect’s or home engineer’s license, especially if the house is older. Also, expect to pay extra. Edward Robinson, a professional engineer and the president of Professional Engineering Inspections in Houston, believes that the $600 to $800 he charges to examine a typical three-bedroom home is roughly double what a non-examination engineer’s would cost in the Houston region.
Inquire as to what you get for the price.
Inspectors who do not have specialized credentials generally charge between $300 and $1,000, depending on the location and size of the home, the inspector’s expertise, and the scope of the examination itself.
Some inspectors will provide free services that are not included in a normal inspection, such as deploying a drone to check the roof or installing an infrared camera on walls, ceilings, and floors to monitor temperature variations that indicate the presence of harmful moisture. Others will demand a fee for such services. Others will recommend you to an independent specialist to do the task.
Be aware that you may be required to pay an additional fee for specialist tests that are not included in the basic house inspection. Termites, radon, and mold are examples of common hazards that may necessitate additional testing.
