The dreaded home inspector

[jrannis]

Do most mortgage companies now require inspections? I never had one when I purchased my home a number of years ago.

We have termite and roof inspections here.

I cant imagine anyone knowing so much about electric, plumbing, HVAC, structural, and roofing that they could do an "all-in-one" inspection and expect to be taken seriously. Really!

 

[iwire]

Do most mortgage companies now require inspections? I never had one when I purchased my home a number of years ago.

In my area I believe they do.

 

[infinity]

The only inspection I had back in the day was termites which was required by the mortgage company.

 

[iwire]

I tried to get out of it by saying I was qualified to look at the house but they insisted on having a report generated by a MA licensed HI.

 

[R Bob]

Well then I think the new homeowners need to be contacted and shown that their inspector is incorrect. I had a similar problem and I told the agent to have the new owners call me and I will explain it to them.

I ran across a similar situation also.
I submitted an invoice/report indicating that I investigated the discepancy noted by the HI and found it to be code compliant and unfounded.
Totally acceptable.

Worse case scenario, get the AHJ involved.

 

[mdshunk]

I cant imagine anyone knowing so much about electric, plumbing, HVAC, structural, and roofing that they could do an "all-in-one" inspection and expect to be taken seriously. Really!

Actually, I don't think you have to be any special wiz to point out stuff that's wrong. That's the easy part. Making it right is what takes skill. Home inspectors seldom even care what the possible fixes might be. They're mainly educated in being able to pick out stuff that's wrong, inconvenient, a known hazard, or a potential nuisance. Doesn't necessarily have to be a code violation.

 

[c2500]

When I sold my old house, they did not want an inspection....just proof the addition was legal. I had to provide all the permit information so they could verify I had legally done the addition. (This was 2002)

c2500

 

[stevemaurer]

jack of all trades, master of none

jack of all trades, master of none

Speaking from the home inspection community I could shed a little light on the HI side. It is in our inspection standards to do a visual inspection. There is no way we can attempt to be experts in all of the fields we inspect. Then again, if a homeowner wants to do it right they could hire 10 inspectors from all of the different construction trades and spend a fortune in inspections. There are some inspectors that feel like they have never had a job with any authority and now that they are home inspectors they let this job go to their head. I feel like I do have a fairly high level of competence as an inspector. But imagine trying to keep up with, not only electric code, but plumbing code, codes local municipalities adopt, etc. It would totally be overwhelming. The inspector that respects that expertise of the individual trades is the guy you want to hire. Unfortunately the players in a real estate transaction can negotiate or do anything with the information the HI provides. Some completely ignore it, others make a mountain out of it. For every idiot HI you run into you can find a humble inspector that's probably more knowledgeable that the idiot because he's more open minded.

 

[wbalsam1]

......... For every idiot HI you run into you can find a humble inspector that's probably more knowledgeable that the idiot because he's more open minded.

Score: Idiots 50% vs. Humbles 50%

Tie game.

Glad you're on the right side.

 

[SEO]

Speaking from the home inspection community I could shed a little light on the HI side. It is in our inspection standards to do a visual inspection. There is no way we can attempt to be experts in all of the fields we inspect. Then again, if a homeowner wants to do it right they could hire 10 inspectors from all of the different construction trades and spend a fortune in inspections. There are some inspectors that feel like they have never had a job with any authority and now that they are home inspectors they let this job go to their head. I feel like I do have a fairly high level of competence as an inspector. But imagine trying to keep up with, not only electric code, but plumbing code, codes local municipalities adopt, etc. It would totally be overwhelming. The inspector that respects that expertise of the individual trades is the guy you want to hire. Unfortunately the players in a real estate transaction can negotiate or do anything with the information the HI provides. Some completely ignore it, others make a mountain out of it. For every idiot HI you run into you can find a humble inspector that's probably more knowledgeable that the idiot because he's more open minded.

Everyone has a job and I respect you for doing your job. The only thing

 

[zbang]

I just recently bought a house (california). The inspector I used was careful not to make pronouncements about what did/didn't meet codes unless it was very clear (things like automatic gas shutoff, smoke detectors, GFCIs in the bath, etc). If something was questionable, he'd say things like "...should be examined by a qualified plumber/electrician/roofer/etc", not "this must be replaced".

It is comes down to rendering an opinion code verses enforcement, and the HI should stick to the former.