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I was a little peeved at our buyer, their agent, and their inspector today. They were over to do inspection Thu and left like half the lights on and the thermostat turned down, AC blasting. Luckily we are still nearby and I figured I better go over and check.
Not a huge deal because we caught it but just seems discourteous to me. It's an empty house, for all they know it could be days or weeks before someone is back in there. Could have ended up with a huge electric bill.
Whenever we were on the buying side we always made sure to leave a house exactly as we found it.
1. Do away with the plug and play form reports with pretty graphs, pages and pages of generalized maintenance statements and statements of the obvious and only a few paragraphs about this particular house.
2. Include a through checklist that requires the inspector to actually look at and test things, get under the house, up in the attic, bring in a specialist where needed, etc.
3. For each item on the checklist include a picture of the condition either showing it is fine or showing the problem (and assuring the inspector actually looked at the item).
4. Do not include space for silly obvious problems like a missing cabinet knob in the kitchen, pr the fact the house is old.
5. Prohibit statements like "Have a plumber look at it," or "have an electrician look at it." - no. If you do not have the knowledge then you need to involve the people who do and then interpret their findings. That is what an inspection is for. No one needs an inspector to tell them to have someone else do an inspection.
1. Do away with the plug and play form reports with pretty graphs, pages and pages of generalized maintenance statements and statements of the obvious and only a few paragraphs about this particular house.
Which few paragraphs would be the important ones?
2. Include a through checklist that requires the inspector to actually look at and test things, get under the house, up in the attic, bring in a specialist where needed, etc.
Can't speak for other States but in Texas we have a very broad set of requirements that do cover this concern. That doesn't mean that all Inspectors are following the laws/rules but at least consumers have redress if they are not.
3. For each item on the checklist include a picture of the condition either showing it is fine or showing the problem (and assuring the inspector actually looked at the item).
In Texas, to address your concern of the "silly obvious problems", we are required to even report on things doors, door hardware, door stoppers, etc., that would be obvious to a buyer touring a house that something is wrong with them (or even missing). Would you like a picture of every door, door stopper, etc., in the home?
4. Do not include space for silly obvious problems like a missing cabinet knob in the kitchen, pr the fact the house is old.
Unfortunately in Texas again we are required to report on these "silly obvious problems". Those "silly obvious problems" take space in the report even if we aggregate saying something to the effect of "one or more are bad", etc.
5. Prohibit statements like "Have a plumber look at it," or "have an electrician look at it." - no. If you do not have the knowledge then you need to involve the people who do and then interpret their findings. That is what an inspection is for. No one needs an inspector to tell them to have someone else do an inspection.
Unfortunately many Inspectors do live on those type of statements and use them as a CYA for a poor job. For example they may learn how to identify one or two issues with a system knowing that many have them. Then they will use those statements of "Recommend you have an XXX ....... perform a full evaluation". They do this because the other 15 issues there they don't have a clue about and hope to lay the blame on the "XXX" for not finding them or the client for not calling out "XXX". Yes it's a game played and consumers always lose. But consumers also need to perform better diligence when selecting their Inspectors. One way is to get a sample report and see how much CYA and "pass off" that Inspector uses. It's easy to identify these Inspectors with a sample report.
On the other side of that coin there are many times when it is necessary for the Inspector to call out a specialist. For example this weekend I inspected a country property with an aerobic septic system that displayed signs that it had failed. Not only did I call it out that way but I also recommended a full evaluation by a licensed Sanitarian and septic installation company who in Texas are allowed to make a determination of the degree of failure and if it needs full replacement or just repairs. At the same time they can provide cost replacements which is extremely stupid for an Inspector to try doing unless they are in that business full time and inspecting is just a side gig. Oh and BTW I don't dive in "poop pits" during inspections and the only true way to evaluate a septic system is to also pump the tanks for a visual inspection.
Now to your suggestion. For the many times where the Inspector can not or is not allowed to "fully evaluate" a system then how much would you be willing to pay for an Inspector to bring out the various trades just to coordinate their work of inspecting even if nothing was found by that specialist?
Comments and questions in blue above.
You have valid concerns but also high aspirations for having inspections. The answer to your concerns and aspirations actually lay somewhere in the "Between World" of inspections.
Here is one of my all-time favorites.
I call it "A Brief History of Electrical Wiring." House was built in 1915, and jacked up badly over the years. The knob-and-tube is just off to the left. I couldn't get an angle that would let me include it.
Told my buyer clients, "I guarantee you that any home inspector will just say, 'Have electrical system completely assessed by a qualified licensed electrician.'" And, he did, and properly so, IMO.
I bet if you looked around enough you could find someone willing to troubleshoot/diagnose all issues on the spot, including bringing in other tradespeople to handle all the things outside their expertise. But it's certainly not going to be for the $300-500 (in my experience) inspections usually cost. Now you just spent $2000 to find out you need to do $3000 in repairs.
I bet if you looked around enough you could find someone willing to troubleshoot/diagnose all issues on the spot, including bringing in other tradespeople to handle all the things outside their expertise. But it's certainly not going to be for the $300-500 (in my experience) inspections usually cost. Now you just spent $2000 to find out you need to do $3000 in repairs.
I bet if you looked around enough you could find someone willing to troubleshoot/diagnose all issues on the spot, including bringing in other tradespeople to handle all the things outside their expertise. But it's certainly not going to be for the $300-500 (in my experience) inspections usually cost. Now you just spent $2000 to find out you need to do $3000 in repairs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by escanlan
Succinct and excellent description and analogy!
This is in a thread where some posters contend that all buyers should spend that $2000 prior to making an offer.
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