Choosing The Right Home Inspector

If you choose the wrong home inspector, it could cost you a lot more than just the fee you paid, and if you base your choice of inspectors on price alone, you could really be in trouble. Some folks spend countless hours, days, or even months looking for the perfect home, and then choose a home inspector based solely on the fact that he was a few bucks cheaper than another guy. At daveramsey.com we learn,

“Home inspections are an indispensable part of the home-buying process. Buying a home without one is the same as buying a car without even kicking the tires. Any good real estate agent will recommend you include a home inspection clause when you make an offer on a house.”

Before choosing any inspector there are some tips to keep in mind.

Research

Try to find out as much information on the person you want to hire as you possibly can ahead of time. Call and speak with them over the phone to find out if they are easy to talk to and knowledgeable. Find out what kind of experience they have and if they will email you a sample report. Once you have the sample, make sure that it’s put together properly, thorough, and easy to read and understand.

Ask for referrals from your friends and family, but don’t choose someone based on word of mouth alone. You will still want to make sure that they can offer you all the services that you require for checking out your home. Many people have no idea whether they received a good report or not, just that they liked the inspector, and maybe found him easy to work with. So make sure to do your research. Marcie Geffner at Realtor.com says,

“Ask open-ended questions about the inspector’s training and experience as it relates to home inspections. The inspector should have some training in construction and building maintenance standards and a track-record of experience in the home inspection business.”

Certified

Just because a home inspector claims to be “certified” does not mean that they actually know what they are doing. You can become a certified home inspector by simply sending a couple hundred bucks into any number of associations, with no experience required. Just send them the money and they send you a “Certified” certificate.

It’s always a good thing if your inspector belongs to some state and national associations, but there are many companies out there that only want to scam a quick buck off of people just trying to make a living. So don’t fall for the “Certified” or “Master Certified” label. A better bet would be to make sure they are licensed to practice in your state.

You Get What You Pay For

On your list of priorities, price should be at the bottom when shopping around for a quality inspector. A thorough and knowledgeable inspector will be able to save you money, while those that don’t know what they are doing could cost you thousands in the long run.

For example, if you have a 2000 square foot home, a top of the line inspector will generally charge between $350 and $600 for a home this size, dependent on a few factors. If you find someone that is willing to do your inspection for 100 bucks, you should probably wonder what they will leave off, or miss during inspection.

A quality inspector will find things others have missed, and when this happens you may be able to go back to the seller and renegotiate the price of the home. In the long run, you can end up saving thousands of dollars by choosing the right person for the job.