BrettW
Platinum Member
Hi, I'm selling my house and getting an inspection in 3 days. Any tips out there for me? Things I should do that normally get overlooked? thanks, brettw
home inspection
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_RaT_
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Home Inspector's are a peace of mind to folks who know little to nothing about a home. They check plug polarity, check GFI's, check water heater strapping, deck heights and railing particulars, but when it comes to the nitty gritty, if I was buying a house, I'd be on my back pinching pipe and water issues. Acidic water will eat the inside of copper pipe to the point that even type L copper will become tissue paper thin over decades of exposure. Do it yourself electrical folks are perhaps the largest group of code violators. I would always check all my exposed electrical and pull the panel cover to verify wire/breaker sizes. I also always retighten neutral, grounds, hot and supply lugs. If I were a home inspector, folks selling their homes would not like me. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
chim
Elite Member
One of my sons bought a house, and part of their deal was to have a home inspector issue a report. I looked at the report, and the sheer bulk of it was impressive. It was neatly done in a book form. Upon reading it, I wasn't real impressed. The inspector made mention of many things, but the tone of the whole report was very non-committal. There were items that were "noticed", "assumed", "unable to fully determine", etc. It always stopped short of giving a definitive opinion on the conditions of things....................chim
BIGUN
Gold Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( but the tone of the whole report was very non-committal. There were items that were "noticed", "assumed", "unable to fully determine", etc. It always stopped short of giving a definitive opinion on the conditions of things....................chim )</font>
Probably had something to do with lawsuit prevention. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Probably had something to do with lawsuit prevention. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
BXMMCC
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Last house we sold, the buyer hired the home inspector, and when our daughter bought a house, she hired the inspector; this was in PA outside of Philadelphia. Maybe it's different in other locales.
_RaT_
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Thats the typical way it's done. I don't really see why the seller would do it.
_RaT_
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Chim, you are right on, but then, I would not want to assume liability if it was me either. The impressive report they present is more a matter of what fancy schmacy computer program they are running. In the end it all boils down to how thourough the inspector is. The one my buyers hired presented a $1000 report for about $250. The inspection was worth about $50. Everything on mine was super except the height of the backflow valve on my lawn sprinklers, they were buried. I knew better, but wanted it out of sight.
Brian_Stephens
Bronze Member
When we moved a year ago the buyer of my old home hired an inspector... He [the inspector] said that his purpose was more to give the new owner a feel of what he could expect... Ie the roof would go in 5 years the water heater in 2 etc... Not necessarily to give passing or failing grades on anything.... he would note safety issues and things like that...
_RaT_
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Thats pretty accurate assesmnet and for the peace of mind they give folks, it could well be worth it. Roofs, HVAC units etc., all an educated guess on the longevity of these things.
I guess some inspectors are good. So far, I haven't had that experience. The last house I bought, I felt sorry for the owner. The inspector found a bunch of things he said were wrong, and the owner faithfully hired repairmen, only to find that nothing was wrong. For example, what the inspector said was rot on a fascia was a stain. The inspector complained that there were two connections to one breaker -- turned out one of them was the doorbell transformer, and it's legal for it to share a breaker. There were others along these lines.
But, next, I felt sorry for myself. Because after I moved in, I discovered that not only did the inspector find a bunch of things wrong that weren't, there were also a bunch of things that were wrong that he didn't find. For example, the water heater was leaking -- there was fresh water and old stains under it the inspector should have seen. There was a shower faucet that was stuck so bad it was nearly impossible to turn on. There was water damage in a bedroom closet that resulted from a leak in the shower/tub in the bathroom next to it. The drain in that shower was stuffed up and wouldn't flow.
Most home inspectors get paid at closing, from the proceeds, the same as commissions, pro-rates and such. I had another inspector on another sale make the inspection and do the report, then refuse to send us the report until we paid him first. No problem with that if he had told us up front, but we waited for a week, then called to find out where the report was, then were treated rudely because we hadn't already paid him.
We also sold my Mom's home when she passed, and my Mother-in-law's home when she moved in with us, and had similar bad experiences. However, I caught the problems before the report was issued because of my experiences with the first one.
In Florida, there was no licensing and no regulation of home inspectors. Anyone can hang out a shingle and call himself an inspector. They usually buy a canned, boilerplate computer program that prints out the reports. The reports state that they have no liability, and no recourse if they miss something.
Like I said, I'm sure there are some good ones, and I'm not painting all of them bad. But, you have the right to be present when the inspection is made. Be certain you exercise that right and question everything the guy is putting in the report -- that's how I handled the ones on the Moms' houses. If you're a buyer, hope for the best, but make your own inspection. If you find something questionable, point it out to the inspector and ask him why it's not going in his report.
But, next, I felt sorry for myself. Because after I moved in, I discovered that not only did the inspector find a bunch of things wrong that weren't, there were also a bunch of things that were wrong that he didn't find. For example, the water heater was leaking -- there was fresh water and old stains under it the inspector should have seen. There was a shower faucet that was stuck so bad it was nearly impossible to turn on. There was water damage in a bedroom closet that resulted from a leak in the shower/tub in the bathroom next to it. The drain in that shower was stuffed up and wouldn't flow.
Most home inspectors get paid at closing, from the proceeds, the same as commissions, pro-rates and such. I had another inspector on another sale make the inspection and do the report, then refuse to send us the report until we paid him first. No problem with that if he had told us up front, but we waited for a week, then called to find out where the report was, then were treated rudely because we hadn't already paid him.
We also sold my Mom's home when she passed, and my Mother-in-law's home when she moved in with us, and had similar bad experiences. However, I caught the problems before the report was issued because of my experiences with the first one.
In Florida, there was no licensing and no regulation of home inspectors. Anyone can hang out a shingle and call himself an inspector. They usually buy a canned, boilerplate computer program that prints out the reports. The reports state that they have no liability, and no recourse if they miss something.
Like I said, I'm sure there are some good ones, and I'm not painting all of them bad. But, you have the right to be present when the inspection is made. Be certain you exercise that right and question everything the guy is putting in the report -- that's how I handled the ones on the Moms' houses. If you're a buyer, hope for the best, but make your own inspection. If you find something questionable, point it out to the inspector and ask him why it's not going in his report.
Brett,
Is this a private inspector or an inspector from the lending institution? My experience with the lending institutions is that they are lenient if the house seems in good repair. As for private inspectors, I have had good and bad.
Is this a private inspector or an inspector from the lending institution? My experience with the lending institutions is that they are lenient if the house seems in good repair. As for private inspectors, I have had good and bad.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
One of my business's is buying homes, remodel them and put them on the market. Most everyone who buys a house uses an inspector. Not much to do, they will just look harder if everything is perfect. I usually leave a few small things undone for them to find. It just depends on the house.
After the inspection, the buyer has the option of addressing any issues that come up. One house the inspector found out that the master shower wasn't working. It was when I put in the new valves. Turns out a small (tiny) piece of stone got pluged up in the valve. Anyway, the buyer read about it in the inspection and decided it was no big deal. I found out about it not working while replacing the water preasure regulator as a warentee service. So I ended up putting in a new shower valve also.
Some reports come up with things that I'm just not going to change and when the buyer reqires me to do so, I pass. So far they have changed their minds and bought the house.
One example was an older house that had air conditioning added with ducting under the house. It was pier and beam. The inspector said the ducting was touching the groud in places and needed to be raised. No problem, I dug it out and put bricks underneath. Another house I replaced a deck off the back and attached it to the house with a ledger board. The home inspector said the deck shouldn't be in contact with the house due to termites. My reply was I used preasure treated 2X12's attached to the concrete wall suporting the house that was covered in brick. What terimites? If you don't want the house, thats fine, I'm not redoing the deck so its floating off the side of the house. They agreed and made a few jokes about the inspector that I ended up defending the guy.
After the inspection, the buyer has the option of addressing any issues that come up. One house the inspector found out that the master shower wasn't working. It was when I put in the new valves. Turns out a small (tiny) piece of stone got pluged up in the valve. Anyway, the buyer read about it in the inspection and decided it was no big deal. I found out about it not working while replacing the water preasure regulator as a warentee service. So I ended up putting in a new shower valve also.
Some reports come up with things that I'm just not going to change and when the buyer reqires me to do so, I pass. So far they have changed their minds and bought the house.
One example was an older house that had air conditioning added with ducting under the house. It was pier and beam. The inspector said the ducting was touching the groud in places and needed to be raised. No problem, I dug it out and put bricks underneath. Another house I replaced a deck off the back and attached it to the house with a ledger board. The home inspector said the deck shouldn't be in contact with the house due to termites. My reply was I used preasure treated 2X12's attached to the concrete wall suporting the house that was covered in brick. What terimites? If you don't want the house, thats fine, I'm not redoing the deck so its floating off the side of the house. They agreed and made a few jokes about the inspector that I ended up defending the guy.
_RaT_
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I rarely if ever attach the deck to a house anymore. I use the house via steel to connnect, but don't let any of the deck material itself be in contact. It makes things easier in the end. Out here our termite inspectors are very particular about decks. If it's an older house, chances are good, the old deck will need repair annd the problems are noted in the termite report. If it's attached to the house it's a liability that won't get past a loan officer, if it's detached, it doesn't get looked at by the termite inspector and therefore is never part of the report. It could be different in other locations of the country.
