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Old 07-02-2013, 07:20 PM
 
Location: TN
51 posts, read 80,191 times
Reputation: 26

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I joined this forum a few wks ago to get more information and am so thankful for the help so far. We just signed a contract to buy a home in Sarasota, hoping to close the first week of August. I am so excited because this is a life long dream for me.
Now the questions start - since I have always lived in TN, there is no such thing as wind mits and 4 point inspections to hopefully get insurance. Can y'all steer me in the right direction as far as who to call about homeowners and names of inspectors? I know I can google some of them, but just curious if you have had a good or bad experience with any.
Thanks!
Amy
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Old 07-03-2013, 07:10 AM
 
55 posts, read 77,966 times
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Congratulations on your new home. We just settled on our house last week and have recently been in your position. We used Kross Inspections and they were great - they were able to inspect on a weekend so we could arrange to be at the house for the inspection and their inspection was approximately 5 hours and extremely thorough! The inspector was very professional and he emailed the report to us before he left the house. He did the paperwork using a cell phone - amazing the technology today. The wind mitigation is part of the general inspection.
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Old 07-03-2013, 07:19 AM
 
Location: Port Charlotte, FL
3,979 posts, read 10,553,563 times
Reputation: 1940
Amy,
First of all, congratulations on getting an accepted offer. Are you working with a Realtor? If so, your Realtor should provide you with complete information and inspectors to contact. You only need a 4point inspection if the homes is 30 years or older. A wind mitigation report will determine the discounts you qualify for on your homeowner insurance. An inspector will explain the differences in the type of inspections and will be able to tell you which ones he/she recommends that you get. Your Realtor should also provide you with a list of contacts for homeowner insurance, utilities, etc.
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Old 07-03-2013, 08:11 AM
 
Location: Sarasota
509 posts, read 907,562 times
Reputation: 463
That's great Volgirl65! Congrats, enjoy!
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Old 07-03-2013, 09:54 AM
 
Location: Verona, WI
1,201 posts, read 2,416,424 times
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Awesome, Volgirl65. Congrats on your new home! Wish I was in your shoes, but maybe sometime in the future with the right planning.
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Old 07-03-2013, 10:29 AM
 
46 posts, read 105,118 times
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I'm not sure how it is in Fl. However, make sure your Home Inspector has a bond in place that is equal(not just insurance) to at least 20% of the cost of the home (in Cal you can look this up on the internet). Here's why, the inspector misses previous un-permitted contractor work. You find out the work needs fixing 1 year later right after a storm causes $100,000 worth of damage to your home...
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Old 07-03-2013, 10:59 AM
 
Location: Sarasota/ Bradenton - University Pkwy area
4,621 posts, read 7,543,282 times
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A little background info on home inspectors. Up until 2011, the state of FL did not regulate or license home inspectors, other than the required county occupational license. Anyone could hang out a sign and become a home inspector. You, me ... anyone.

The state of FL now requires home inspectors to take and pass course requirements and a state test. All home inspectors must now be licensed through the FL Department of Business & Professional Regulation.


As someone else already commented, a good place to start your search for a home inspector is thru your agent. Some home inspectors in our area have reputations for doing more thorough inspections than others. Buyers should seek out qualified home inspectors with good credentials, experience and good references.

One group you may want to chek into is the American Society of Home Inspectors (also known as ASHI). This group has an in depth process to obtain full accreditation for it's members. You can read more on ASHI at American Society of Home Inspectors, ASHI

With one or two exceptions which have contractor and FABI (FL Association of Building Inspectors) credentials, the only home inspectors I ever recommend to my customers are members of ASHI that have several years or more of experience behind them. We are fortunate to have quite a few ASHI members in our area.

Whether you use a home inspector off of a list provided by your agent or someone recommended by friends or others, check their credentials, ask questions, seek references.
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Old 07-03-2013, 09:46 PM
 
Location: TN
51 posts, read 80,191 times
Reputation: 26
Thanks for all the great information. My realtor has given me some good insight so far too. The house is 28 yrs old so I don't need the 4 point, just the wind mit....and found out late today that since the house has been empty since last October, I will have to get a septic inspection too. Ugh! I am not sure if a regular home inspector can do that or not. If I read the information correctly from an email, you don't have to have the septic pumped and have someone go down into check the tank unless they find something suspicious on the inspection...but I could have totally misunderstood that.
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Old 07-03-2013, 11:50 PM
 
2,076 posts, read 3,106,883 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunshine Rules View Post
A little background info on home inspectors. Up until 2011, the state of FL did not regulate or license home inspectors, other than the required county occupational license. Anyone could hang out a sign and become a home inspector. You, me ... anyone.
That is pretty amazing.

Does Florida have more hucksters and shysters and scam artists per capita than other states? In our recent visit to visit to Sarasota, it seemed like mortgage brokers, car rental places, realtors, etc started with the assumption we were lying or we were unreliable. We were surprised as we are pretty straight arrows. Just curious if extra caution about being scammed is part of the culture.
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Old 07-04-2013, 05:18 AM
 
Location: Port Charlotte, FL
3,979 posts, read 10,553,563 times
Reputation: 1940
Quote:
Originally Posted by Volgirl65 View Post
Thanks for all the great information. My realtor has given me some good insight so far too. The house is 28 yrs old so I don't need the 4 point, just the wind mit....and found out late today that since the house has been empty since last October, I will have to get a septic inspection too. Ugh! I am not sure if a regular home inspector can do that or not. If I read the information correctly from an email, you don't have to have the septic pumped and have someone go down into check the tank unless they find something suspicious on the inspection...but I could have totally misunderstood that.
Yes, you do have to hire a separate septic inspector. The home inspector will not do that. They will check the tank and let you know if it needs to be pumped or not. We use Martin Septic - Martin Septic
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