Springfield and north area home inspectors?? (sale, house, buyer)

[misplaced1]

Hi,
I'm about to enlist a home inspector for a house purchase and wanted to ask if anyone has any recommendations. Is there any place I can check them out?

[misplaced1]

Ok well looks like I am going to go with one I found. Keeping my fingers crossed it was a decent decision.

[mcol]

In Missouri there are no set regulations or qualifications to be a home inspector. (Someone correct me if I am wrong, perhaps Springfield
is different) but anyone can put on a home inspector hat.

We are in the construction/plumbing/electrical business and have seen
many homes that were inspected before a sale yet had water leaks/mold/other major problems not found by a home inspector. It is buyer beware because there is no recourse against an inspector if he failed to find something wrong before a sale. One house had a gas leak the inspector 'failed' to find (another story in itself)...the buyer had no recourse against the inspector.

If I were on my own in this area and was looking at a home to purchase, I would hire a contractor to go in and inspect the home for me prior to purchasing. I would not hire a home inspector. I am not saying all
home inspectors are crooks or bad mind you, I just have seen too much
in the construction business. Good luck!

[gone-island]

Excellent advise.
Hire someone that fixes such problems on a daily basis. They will be able to give you great advice. The inspectors might not want to "Rock the boat" on a possible sale.

[skeating]

There are certified inspectors and believe me they aren't worried about rocking the boat. You can find them online in the yellow pages.

[BigRedIdiot]

I agree with mcol.

For various reasons I believe hiring a "home inspector" locally is a waste of money. Even those with their fancy high-falutin' bragging of belonging to this or that association is meaningless.

I interviewed several and all seemed to me to be after easy money.

The one I eventually hired, at the higher end of the price range, did no better than what I could and eventually did on my own.

Hire a contractor or if the house is expensive enough, perhaps a structural engineer or several "inspectors"!!!!

A reputable plumber to inspect plumbing, electrician for that area. A roofer for the roof, etc.

As for a dedicated "house inspector" of the traditional type? Bah!!!!! Boo!!!!! Hiss!!!!

Sure seems to be a lot of them in Missouri coming here from other states to make some easy money without having to stand behind their work.

Until I am convinced otherwise I would view home inspecting in Missouri as a racket that offers little to nothing in services rendered for the amount paid for.

[ju539]

I recently purchased a home in Springfield with the services of a "home inspector". Since I was paying him, I guess I assumed that things that were discovered would be taken care of. After the deal was struck with the seller the realtor told me that these things had to specifically listed on the offer/acceptance forms. There was even a "home inspection" on the day before closing. Big deal!!

If you have any construction or home ownership experience do not assume you can relax and not do your own inspection. He did crawl under the house and did a termite inspection, but I had to point out a 'spongy' floor and more.

The problem is; how bad of a discovery does the "home inspector" have to find to cause you to walk away from a home that you have determined to be the one you can afford and have fallen in love with before the "home inspection"?? And how many corrections is a seller actually going to do knowing this??

Anyway, don't throw away your common sense.

Regards, ju539
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