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Home Inspection Tips from a New Jersey home inspectorHow does one inspect ones home inspector? Quite simple - go through exactly the same process you do when selecting any other trained professional. Seek referrals from friends who bought homes to determine who the good home inspectors are and who the bad ones are. When friends tell you they had a good experience with the home inspector they hired ask them how they found that home inspector and duplicate the process. When friends tell you they had a bad experience with the home inspector they hired - well do NOT do what they did. Keep in mind when buying a home many people only get paid when and if the transaction closes. If the deal does not close the time many people invested in your transaction is not paid for. If you live in a state that requires home inspectors to be licensed check to see what is required in order to get that license. Should your state require a few weeks in the class room and a few days in the field please keep in mind newer inspectors may never have actually seen the problems that exist in the home your are buying. Many states have inadequate class room time and inadequate field inspection time prior to licenser. People learn from experience. Think how much more you know about your job after a few years of actually doing it than you did the first day. Home inspectors learn from doing just like everyone else. Perhaps the best lessons home inspectors ever learn are those taught to the home inspector by home buyers who are not at all happy when they find problems the home inspector failed to notice or more likely failed to properly report to the home buyer. One of the greatest problems the home inspection industry is home inspectors who do not know or do not care to know how important it is to write a home inspection report that details problems along with the necessary corrective actions to home buyers. The scope of all material defects must be disclosed to home buyers in such a way that the home buyer can understand what is wrong and what must be done as well as the implications of what can occur if no corrective actions are taken. The best tip I can give anyone looking to hire a home inspector is to hire the most experienced home inspector they can find. Rest assured a home inspector with fifteen years experience knows at least fifteen times what a new just out of school home inspector knows. Home inspecting requires not only technical knowledge but the ability to communicate that knowledge to others in such a way that they can understand it. A well written home inspection report can be an aid in negotiating. If the home inspector writes conditions are hazardous, unsafe, likely to fail, etc. you are more likely to be able to get concessions from the home seller. If the inspector writes a report indicating nothing is wrong or nothing needs to be done odds are the seller will tell you the home is just fine to buy as is.
Home Inspection Tips from a New Jersey home inspector |
