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I need a good Home Inspector to check out a house in Indianapolis and one who will stand behind his inspection report. Oh yes, and an inspector who has errors and omissions insurance in case he carelessly overlooks something serious and fails to report it.
Surely there must be a few competent, insured and qualified Home Inspectors in Indianapolis as opposed to the ones running around with written Disclaimers and Waivers of Liability.
"Errors and omissions. Even top-notch inspectors are only human and can make errors or overlook problems they probably should have noticed. Ask about the company's policy in such situations. Does the company have insurance for errors and omissions? Does the company or individual inspector stand behind the report? Many companies ask customers to sign a waiver limiting the company's liability to the cost of the inspection."
You'll find a disclaimer like that on every inspection report- even the ones from inspectors who carry E&O insurance.
Home inspectors are generalists- they typically have broad training in a very wide field, and can't find every single item in a house when they're only there for 2 hours or so. Therefore, they have to limit their liability somehow, and do it via the disclaimer. Now, if you were willing to pay several thousand dollars for a report, they could spend a full day or two going over every nook and crannie of your house, and the potential for missed items would be lower- most people aren't willing to do that though, so the level of detail/thoroughness you get is commensrate with what you pay for.
If you understand that going in, you then realize that the inspection is not an insurance policy that your home is 100% perfect, and the E&O insurance policy doesn't become your personal warranty claims division.
Bob
then why would they publish on realtor.com to look for a Home Inspector who 'stands behind his report' and carries errors and omissions insurance?
I would like to find a guy who stands behind his report and can take care of something major he failed to report to me. Forget about the little nickle and dime items he may overlook but the serious things which can cost a Buyer thousands of dollars to try to rectify.
here's what I believe. Home Inspectors need to change how they are operating and at a minimum offer Buyer a choice on the front end. The choice should be a Type II Inspection which will be a generalist type inspection with a Disclaimer and Waiver of Libility agreement, and a Type I Inspection that is very in-depth and one which the inspector stands behind with errors and omissions insurance.
You could always hire a master plumber, a master electrician, an engineer, a appliance repairman, a roofer, a sprinkler technician and a glazier to check out all aspects of the home.
The only thing is, you will spend quite a bit of money and still not get the guarantee you are looking for.
When I bought my present home I hired an engineering outfit to do an inspection as well as a home inspector.
The engineering report had no particular disclaimers. It was limited to the structure and major systems which it certified as acceptable.
It cost me $1200 and took over half a day. They actually used test equipment to pressure test the plumbing and checked the slab for any signs of settlling. So see what the local engineering community will do. They charge a lot more and don't do things like the AC and appliances.
There is also a forensic architectural firm in San Diego that will fly in a crew and check any building out...even very old ones. I beleive they start around 5,000 for a report. They will not only tell you what is wrong but how to fix it and what the fix should cost.
I think though that this may be overkill for a recently built residence.
I moved from there (Indianapolis) two yrs. ago, and when I bought there I had to sign a form releasing the home inspector of any liability in case he missed something or they would not do the inspection. I think that's pretty standard there.
Bob
then why would they publish on realtor.com to look for a Home Inspector who 'stands behind his report' and carries errors and omissions insurance?
Because realtor.com needs to CYA by telling you what to look for in the perfect world- reality is something entirely different.
Personally, I'd hire someone who has E&O over someone who doesn't, as it would generally show that they're more professional in their business operations (they're protecting their assets). That professionalism may or may not carry forth into the operations side of their business, but it's a start.
It's a good question Shrek. Realtor.com is leading you to believe that inspector is out there -- the one who'll take all responsibility for something he misses, or a guess he makes that turns out to be wrong. It's misleading.
I'd like to hear about it if anyone ever finds the home inspector who will "stand behind his report," assuming that means "if I somehow missed something I'll take all financial and legal responsibility for that," but since a good gambler always bets the odds, I'm betting you won't find him. (I'm a 7-stud player from a way back.)
If you find someone who says it, remember that's not the same thing as actually doing it, and you've also found a real dumb guy. I'll take the smart one who knows it's not possible over that one any day.
here's what I believe. Home Inspectors need to change how they are operating and at a minimum offer Buyer a choice on the front end. The choice should be a Type II Inspection which will be a generalist type inspection with a Disclaimer and Waiver of Libility agreement, and a Type I Inspection that is very in-depth and one which the inspector stands behind with errors and omissions insurance.
right now, Buyers aren't even given a choice.
Of course you're given a choice. Nobody's making you buy a house. You chose to do that. During that process you are free to hire the inspector of your choice if you think it's necessary, believe what he tells you, or not. But what you can't do is demand they offer you an ironclad guarantee of perfection. Now they can offer it to you of course, if they're dumb enough, but they still have a choice in the matter, just like you do.
Try to understand something. Nobody is going to give you something just because you think they should. You are simply not entitled to the kinds of guarantees you are looking for.
You have got all the choices in the world. One of them is to accept that there's a certain amount of risk in the buying of real estate. It's a choice in the truest sense of the word. You don't have to accept that risk. If you need a total guarantee that if anything goes wrong somebody else will pay for it, you can happily rent for the rest of your life and the landlord will be that somebody else you need to be responsible for everything, and many people make that very choice for that very reason.
If however, you want to accept the fact that unforseen things will need to be addressed when you own real estate, you have a very high probability of seeing a handsome return in exchange for that risk.
You're very risk averse. You probably shouldn't be in the market. This is not personal at all -- it's just good advice. I run into people with the same ideas all the time. You'll be happier in some other investment vehicle, although truth be told, you'll be hard-pressed to find one that has the track record of success that real estate does. In light of that, the risk is miniscule.
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