Why I need a Home Inspector?
by Steve Schneeberger

Neglecting to have your property inspected could be the most costly mistake of your life! So why take the chance when you can always hire a good home inspector to inspect your dream house for you?

Below are the top questions you can ask to make sure that your home inspector is competent, if not the best in the business.

1. How long have they been in the inspection business?

The general rule is that the longer your home inspector has been in the business, the better for you. When it comes to home inspection, there is absolutely no substitute for experience. But be wary of some home inspectors who are quick to quote the number of years they’ve been in the business. You can never accept anything at face value, especially considering how lax state laws are regarding the regulation of licensing home inspectors. When they do say that they have years of experience, verify. Ask them what specific experience they mean by that.

The goal in asking this question is to try to gain insight into the specific experience of your home inspector. You need to find out exactly how many years they have spent in actual and full-time home inspection work, and not just construction or trade related experience. 

2. How many home inspections have they completed?

This question can be somewhat related to the above, but it needs particular emphasis. Because anyone can say that they are quite experienced in home inspection only to find out that they have never actually handled an actual home inspection by themselves. Also, an home inspector who has been handling more than twenty home inspections in all his years in the home inspection business is quicker to identify or recognize subtle problems that a less experienced home inspector might miss. A seasoned professional is definitely better than a relative newbie.

3. Do I need an engineer and what standards do you inspect to?

An engineer? There’s no real need for that when you have an home inspector at your service. While professional engineers are very good at what they do, being an engineer is an absolute must have in order to become a good home inspector. The difference between the two is that the engineer is well versed in the structure of a building while the home inspector is a defect recognition specialist. In a home inspection, the latter is what you need.

4. What qualifications does the inspector have?

In most states, home inspection is totally unregulated. The closest thing a consumer can get for an assurance about the standards of practice and code of ethics of his home inspector is the rules and codes provided by a few trade groups. But other than that, the government has none. So consumers must therefore take care that they are hiring a professional who knows what he’s doing. Some independent and non-aligned home inspectors are indeed professionals and well-trained, but many are not. So just to be safe, make certain that your home inspector is reputable in his chosen line of work.

There is a lot of free information available to you about buying, selling or investing in real estate. For complete information about the real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything real estate. So please feel free to contact me with any of your mortgage questions and I will me more than glad to answer your queries. Call me on my cell at 612-581-7313 or email me at [email protected].

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