Home Inspection
Home inspection is a relatively new industry. I can clearly remember back in the late 1970's when I was one of the few construction experts in Cincinnati, OH that performed home inspections. If you opened the Yellow Pages phone book that listed all businesses at that time, there was not even a heading for Home Inspections or Home Inspectors. Builders and some engineers were the ones who offered home-inspection services to consumers who were trying to determine if a house was in good condition.
It didn't take too long for me to see that there was a business opportunity doing these inspections. To look professional and to be able to offer a formal report to the consumers who hired me, I determined that it would be very beneficial to have a nice home-inspection checklist with me as I looked for defects. The other benefit of the checklist was that it forced me to look at all the components of each house no matter its size or style. This methodical approach helped ensure the person received a thorough inspection.
The home-inspection industry really started to take hold in the early 1980's as consumers saw the benefits of an inspection. Aside from making sure a buyer didn't purchase a home that had all sorts of defects, buyers soon discovered the home-inspection report was a tool to renegotiate the asking price of the home. Sellers were put into a pickle because any defects that the report uncovered now became public knowledge.
Add to this the expansion of property-disclosure laws in many states and you can see how a home-inspection report forced the hand of the seller. Even today, many sellers don't realize that if a home inspector uncovers real defects, those defects must be disclosed to any subsequent buyer that walks through the door. All in all, a home inspection is a bargain for the buyer of a home as it helps her/him make an informed decision and it allows them to bargain for a better deal if significant defects are uncovered.
Many people who are building new homes often overlook a new-home inspection. The homeowners often confuse the government building inspector with the independent home inspector. Often people feel that if the house gets its Certificate of Occupancy, stating that the house meets the building code, then all is well. Nothing could be further from the truth. The building code is a set of minimum standards, and the government inspectors might not be able to invest the hours of time an independent home inspector might spend doing a new-home inspection.
The home-inspection report that's generated during the inspection is often a detailed document. The most recent one I had performed on a house I purchased included many color photos of the problem areas as well as lab tests of the well water. The report was very easy to read and comprehend. Make sure your home inspection includes a written home-inspection report.
Whatever you do, don't substitute a free home inspection when you're about to spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home. A free inspection may just cover a few minor things in the house. It may also be a trick to get you to sign up for a more-expensive inspection once the free inspector is at the house and has you as a captive audience and in dire need of an inspection.
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