House inspector (recommendation, plumber, agent, fees)

[proton022]

Our offer on a house just got accepted by the seller. I'm looking for a house inspector. Do you have a suggestion for one in Ann Arbor? Thanks.

Is it ok to go with the one recommended by the realtor instead of picking a random one off the Internet?

[Silverfall]

Whether or not you take your agents recommendation depends on what you think of your agent. If you trust your agent, take their recommendation. If you don't, pick a random one off the internet and hope for the best.

[jbiggs]

Originally Posted by proton022

Our offer on a house just got accepted by the seller. I'm looking for a house inspector. Do you have a suggestion for one in Ann Arbor? Thanks.

Is it ok to go with the one recommended by the realtor instead of picking a random one off the Internet?

Whether you take your agents recommendation or find your own you had better check them out thoroughly! Either way if you don't you will be ripped off!

[proton022]

Originally Posted by jbiggs

Whether you take your agents recommendation or find your own you had better check them out thoroughly! Either way if you don't you will be ripped off!

Thanks for the input. Could you please elaborate what are the main things I should check for?

The one that my Realtor referred to works by himself, and is a member of NIBI. I am planning to speak him soon.

Is there another professional organization (ASHI) that you think I will have a better chance with?

Thanks!

[Tekzilla]

Doing a google search works well. You can also try Angies List but that costs money.

And asking friends who recently purchased a home as well.

Look for Inspectors who have a 2 man team and ones that will also check for Termites and other bugs.

[Rakin]

Originally Posted by Tekzilla

Look for Inspectors who have a 2 man team and ones that will also check for Termites and other bugs.

An experienced Inspector does not need a 2 man team. I have a guy that brings in help only when the house gets above 5000+ SF. He's very good.

[Tekzilla]

I can respect that. I personally liked having a two man team, as they each checked each others work, but you are right that a great inspector can certainly handle it in his/her own.

[jbiggs]

Originally Posted by proton022

Thanks for the input. Could you please elaborate what are the main things I should check for?

The one that my Realtor referred to works by himself, and is a member of NIBI. I am planning to speak him soon.

Is there another professional organization (ASHI) that you think I will have a better chance with?

Thanks!

The main thing you want to check for is honesty. Unfortunately many of those home inspectors seem to not be able to be honest!

NIBI is nothing more than the online school they trained at and means nothing. As for the professional organizations (???) they don't do anything to ensure the protection of the public. Those associations only survive on the number of members they can get. If they have low membership numbers they are not collecting member dues. If they have low membership they can't get commercial businesses to pay sponsor fees, give their members discounts, etc. With low membership the association will just wither away and die.

I've been behind clowns from all of those associations and regardless of what the association claims it certainly can't be true. There are members from all of those associations being sued constantly for incompetence. Even if you were to file a complaint with their association they aren't going to do anything. If these associations lived up to their claims then they would have low membership rates and die!

First off don't believe any of their claims and credentials unless they can prove it. There are hundreds of these clowns claiming a lot of years behind them with building experience, trades experience, etc., etc. How are you actually going to prove it? They certainly are not going to hand you any proof of it. Even if they claim to be a contractor that means nothing as they may never have even swung a hammer in their life. Some states license general contractors but have no experience requirements to obtain the license. It really doesn't take a building background to be a home inspector. Anyone with intelligence can learn and perform the job properly. Of course you will all kinds of people chime in about how wrong that statement is. But here is something to think about. These home inspectors make a lot less than a plumber, electrician, etc., and usually carry a lot more liability than the trades. Why would anyone that is any good in their trade want to leave it and become a home inspector? Typically it is because they really sucked in their trade or business and think they can sucker people in to use them as a home inspector.

Here are some checks if you want.

1. Ask them for a sample report of an inspection they have done. Compare the reports to the other home inspectors. Most of those are clowns who do nothing more than provide an inventory of the same things you can see yourself.
2. If you have license laws in your state then get a copy and read them. Make up a question or two to test their honesty. Just create a scenario even if it doesn't exist and see how they respond. It is amazing how many of these clowns don't even know their own licensing laws! While you're there check their license status. Here in Texas they even post if the home inspector has any infractions against their license.
3. Google search them on the internet and see what you can find. You might wind up at one of the message boards that home inspectors hang out at. It is amazing the questions they ask on these sites and can demonstrate their lack of knowledge even though they claim XX years in construction, etc. If you want check them out over at inspectionnews.net, inspectorsjournal.com, nachi.org as these seem to be the busiest.
4. Ask them where they obtain their referrals from. Most of these clowns get them from real estate agents. Who do you think they are going to make happy you or their source of bread and butter? There are good agents and good inspectors out there but there are way more cases of collusion than honesty. If you search them on the net and can't find anything on them, if they don't have a web presence (site) then I would be leery about them. Either they are doing it part time or most likely get most or all of their referrals from agents instead of past clients. Their business isn't any different from most others in that if they have no web presence how are people finding them?
5. Ask them if they do this full time and as their means of income? There are a lot of these clowns out there doing it only to supplement some other source of income for pocket change or spending needs other than supporting themselves and family. If they don't depend on it for a living then how serious do you think they are about it? Those that do it as supplemental income can pick up and leave at any time. Just like any other business if they are doing it as a means of support for family, etc., they typically tend to take their job more seriously.

That will get you started on finding someone. Just be careful as it is to late after the inspection and your contract back-out period ends.

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by jbiggs

The main thing you want to check for is honesty. Unfortunately many of those home inspectors seem to not be able to be honest!

In my experience, it's not a question of honesty. I've never encountered an inspector that wasn't honest. It's a question of knowledge. A number of home inspectors I've worked with don't know which end of a screw driver is the business end. Like most professions, there are inspectors who know what they're doing and some that don't.

Originally Posted by jbiggs

Ask them where they obtain their referrals from. Most of these clowns get them from real estate agents. Who do you think they are going to make happy you or their source of bread and butter? There are good agents and good inspectors out there but there are way more cases of collusion than honesty. If you search them on the net and can't find anything on them, if they don't have a web presence (site) then I would be leery about them. Either they are doing it part time or most likely get most or all of their referrals from agents instead of past clients. Their business isn't any different from most others in that if they have no web presence how are people finding them?

Seriously? I've dealt with some agents that I felt were really unscrupulous people but I've never at any point felt that the agent and the inspector were colluding. Collusion doesn't help an inspector get business if they no longer have a license to practice.

Originally Posted by Tekzilla

I can respect that. I personally liked having a two man team, as they each checked each others work, but you are right that a great inspector can certainly handle it in his/her own.

I've only worked with a two man team once. They're not common at all in this area. Surprisingly, they took far longer than a single inspector. Plus, they clearly had no idea what they were talking about and one of the inspectors left early. They never compared notes as far as I could tell and generally one of the inspectors did almost all the work. At least in this case, the two inspectors thing seemed to be more of a marketing gimmick and not actually helpful.

[Barking Spider]

Go to ASHI.org and do a search for an inspector in your area. Call a few up, talk to them about their experience, etc. Look at their sample reports. Ask for a reference. At least choosing an ASHI inspector, you know that they have taken a real test, and had to verify the number of inspections they did to get their certification. However, there are new ASHI members, and there are some of us that have been a member of ASHI for decades.

Two man teams are no better than single inspectors, and can be worse ("I thought YOU checked that!!!"). They DO NOT check each others work. Usually there is one main inspector, the one writing the report, and the second (or third) is there as a helper.

There were times when I wasn't that busy, so I had the guy that works for me team up on inspections. He did parts of the house, and I did others. My computer system breaks down the inspection to different components/sections, so he just got that part of the software to do. Our "team" inspections never took less time to do.

Good luck.