Any house inspectors you would recommend ? (Austin, Frisco: real estate, insurance, attorney)

[FriscoToAustin]

We are buying an inventory home in Cedar Park. Even though the builder arranges for an inspection from a 3rd party, we would like to get one done ourselves.

Any recommendations for good house inspectors ?
Also consider this particular area, anything specific we should watch out or ask for ?

[TexasHorseLady]

In accordance with the C-D TOS, I'll PM you.

[FalconheadWest]

Depending on which builder it is, you need to find out if they have an inspector approval list. Some builders won't allow some inspectors in their houses if they don't/can't show specific insurance coverage and get approval. They don't want some Joe off the street ruining the houses they just built.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by FriscoToAustin

We are buying an inventory home in Cedar Park. Even though the builder arranges for an inspection from a 3rd party, we would like to get one done ourselves.

Any recommendations for good house inspectors ?
Also consider this particular area, anything specific we should watch out or ask for ?

I PM'ed you the name of a very good Inspector!

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by FalconheadWest

Depending on which builder it is, you need to find out if they have an inspector approval list. Some builders won't allow some inspectors in their houses if they don't/can't show specific insurance coverage and get approval. They don't want some Joe off the street ruining the houses they just built.

I don't know where you get your information from but:

They don't want some Joe off the street ruining the houses they just built.

In the course of their inspection a Home Inspector does nothing to "ruin" a house that a home builder builds. The Inspector might find significant issues with a new home that was a result of a bad build that could potentially cause damage to a home later such as a water heater Temperature & Pressure Relief Valve (TPRV) that was improperly plumbed, or an HVAC primary condensate line that was never installed or properly connected. Now those issues can "ruin" a home later down the road.

Depending on which builder it is, you need to find out if they have an inspector approval list.

If a builder has an "approval list" of Inspectors then that list would only be the Inspectors you most likely don't want to use! Builders don't necessarily like having to take major measures to correct issues they may or may not know are there. For example the TPRV that is improperly plumbed might require removal of drywall to correct and that can be timely and costly to a builder. These "approval lists", if they exist, are generally the Inspectors that will easily pass up issues requiring corrections and that makes the builder happy.

Some builders won't allow some inspectors in their houses if they don't/can't show specific insurance coverage and get approval.

Have you ever read some of these "Third Party Inspector Addendum" that builder's have been forcing on their buyers? I read one that states the addendum does not change the original buyer contract when in fact it does. These addendum also place ridiculous requirements on Inspectors that any intelligent Inspector would not ever sign! These addendum are intended mostly to limit the choice of Inspectors a buyer will have to the Inspectors who would be willing to sign such an onerous set of requirements and who would easily pass up construction defects to make the builder happy and not protect the buyer!

OP,

You're the buyer and if the builder wants you to select from their "approval lists" of Inspectors you need to exercise your own powers to let the builder know you will bring in your own chosen Inspector and not one of theirs. If these lists exist they are nothing more than another list of builder "3rd party Inspectors" that you are concerned won't do the job to your benefit!

If the builder is trying to force you to sign a "Third Party Inspector Addendum" I would highly advise that you have your own, and good, Real Estate Attorney review it before you sign it!

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by escanlan

I don't know where you get your information from but:

They don't want some Joe off the street ruining the houses they just built.

In the course of their inspection a Home Inspector does nothing to "ruin" a house that a home builder builds. The Inspector might find significant issues with a new home that was a result of a bad build that could potentially cause damage to a home later such as a water heater Temperature & Pressure Relief Valve (TPRV) that was improperly plumbed, or an HVAC primary condensate line that was never installed or properly connected. Now those issues can "ruin" a home later down the road.

Depending on which builder it is, you need to find out if they have an inspector approval list.

If a builder has an "approval list" of Inspectors then that list would only be the Inspectors you most likely don't want to use! Builders don't necessarily like having to take major measures to correct issues they may or may not know are there. For example the TPRV that is improperly plumbed might require removal of drywall to correct and that can be timely and costly to a builder. These "approval lists", if they exist, are generally the Inspectors that will easily pass up issues requiring corrections and that makes the builder happy.

Some builders won't allow some inspectors in their houses if they don't/can't show specific insurance coverage and get approval.

Have you ever read some of these "Third Party Inspector Addendum" that builder's have been forcing on their buyers? I read one that states the addendum does not change the original buyer contract when in fact it does. These addendum also place ridiculous requirements on Inspectors that any intelligent Inspector would not ever sign! These addendum are intended mostly to limit the choice of Inspectors a buyer will have to the Inspectors who would be willing to sign such an onerous set of requirements and who would easily pass up construction defects to make the builder happy and not protect the buyer!

OP,

You're the buyer and if the builder wants you to select from their "approval lists" of Inspectors you need to exercise your own powers to let the builder know you will bring in your own chosen Inspector and not one of theirs. If these lists exist they are nothing more than another list of builder "3rd party Inspectors" that you are concerned won't do the job to your benefit!

If the builder is trying to force you to sign a "Third Party Inspector Addendum" I would highly advise that you have your own, and good, Real Estate Attorney review it before you sign it!

I have to say that a couple of these points occurred to me. I've never had a builder ask me what inspector my client was going to use nor give me a list of "allowed inspectors" - that would seem to be a red flag right there, for the reasons given.

[RoadWarrior12]

Standard Pacific is well-known for this practice.

[FalconheadWest]

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior12

Standard Pacific is well-known for this practice.

They aren't the only one. And see however you want. If you don't play by the builders' rules, you don't get to buy their home. I'm not saying an inspector is going to "ruin" the house, but that's how they look at it. They want inspectors who will show them their insurance. One builder wanted to see $2M worth of coverage in case the inspector "ruined" something.

These aren't my rules, but go ahead and blame me for saying the truth. This is reality and the OP needs to be prepared for the builder to say something about who they pick. It's not all the builders, but many of them.

[TexasHorseLady]

I'm going to have to research this further. Not blaming you at all, but there is something so very very off about this that surely there's a reg somewhere or other against it. I know I've had a builder's rep in past try telling my clients and I something that was required that was absolutely in violation and all I had to do was say the name of the appropriate reg and suddenly it wasn't a requirement any longer.

It may be that I haven't run into this because the inspectors I recommend do have that amount of insurance. But it's certainly a practice that is ripe for abuse.

[FriscoToAustin]

Well, our new house is a Standard Pacific built one. I'll report back after we take our inspector to inspect this inventory home we are trying to buy. Thanks for those who provided recommendations.