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Its a great system but unless you move to Canada you'll never see it here as the vast majority of our senators ande congressmen are lawyers so they would NEVER vote that in.
Its a great system but unless you move to Canada you'll never see it here as the vast majority of our senators ande congressmen are lawyers so they would NEVER vote that in.
is it normal for the inspector to send over an agreement that basically says they arent really checking anything and arent responsible for any mistakes beyond the cost of inspection? it probably is, just wanted to make sure.
Wow, that is unheard of. I would steer clear from any inspection company that tells you they are not going to be held responsible. Shop around and see what you find. I found that independent inspectors are pretty good overall and are a little cheaper as they do not have a high overhead. As long as they are licensed and have a good track record, I would say that you should be fine. Good luck!!
Ashi and Nachi certification - pick one, doesn't matter (seems to be regional which is available), just be sure the person has one of them. New Jersey Home Inspection Companies
I haven't seen a single inspection company that would agree to be resonsible for what defects they find -- and why should they? They are just helping you find out what's wrong. Here's what I look for when I hire an inspection company/person:
Equipment - infrared is an invaluable tool.
Background -- training
Experience - How long doing this?
$1300 seems a lot high to me. I paid over $300 but that was because the house was in nowhere and travel time/cost had to be factored in.
Then you won't get a home inspected. They all have clauses in their inspection agreements that state something along the lines of "we are responsible for errors and claims only up the cost of this report", though those clauses don't normally hold up in court if you can prove gross negligence on the part of the inspector.
I really appreciate everyone's input here, including the PM's I got. We hired a guy who is charging us 400 for everything except septic this morning. We hired a separate guy for septic who is going to dig in the septic field a bit and around the tank, so we have to get a waiver from the current homeowners. He is charging us 300, for a total of 700. It is still much, much less than the original rip-off quotes we got for the inspectors our own realtor sent our way. Because the house was built in 1973 and has a septic..we really need to spend extra for the septic inspection, we think.
Yes, you're right, you do. Home Inspector's (99%) of them are not licensed nor qualified to inspect a septic system.
If the homeowners took care of the system you may not have any issues for a WHILE given the age of it...but keep in mind that to replace an entire septic can run you upwards (or the seller) of $40,000K depending on a myriad of issues.
Two years ago I purchased a property to flip that was 50 years old, had a septic. Previous owner did not have anything that would constitute "grey water" hooked up to the system. Washing machine water just ran right out of a hose and into the backyard so my septic inspector couldn't give a "true" assessment of the system based on that and also because the previous owner wasn't giving up any info as to how long and WHY his washing machine and dishwasher were not connected to the septic system. The inspector's final evaluation was "working, with concerns".
Now, I'm replacing the seepage pit with a leach field. I've rented the house for the past 18 months and my landscaper just rips me a new one every week with how "bad" it smells...and in the backyard. Never hear word one from the tenant and have yet to have any back-up spilling out of the toilets in the home, but not something I want for her or anyone else.
The previous owner spent the $5,000 for a new holding tank while we were in negotiations, but two years later between the soil testing, the engineer, etc., it's costing me upwards of $25K to eliminate the seepage pit and replace it with a leach field.
Make sure you know how much longer of a "life" the septic system has.
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