Good Inspections and Then We Have Poor

[norinepeardon]

During the period of purchasing my home, as part of a grant package, an inspector was furnished for a discounted price. What a blast! He insisted that I accompany him which actually was a waste of my time. Then he went back to his office and wrote up a report. There were so many mistakes in the report and when I confronted him, he said he would rewrite the report. Never, in my whole life, have I seen such a poor excuse of an inspector. Some years prior, my parents were selling their home. The inspector hired by the buyer, visited the home without the buyer and wrote up the full inspection. It was fantastic and left no doubt in anyone's mind as to what condition the home was in. I have concluded after my miserable experience, that a really good inspector will not require the buyer to be present because they know how to do their job !

Find more information about Buying Your First Home on the Bulletin Board (url below).

[flatfeemls]

Thanks. Your advice is well taken. Bad experiences lead to learning the hard way. I have delt with home inspectors and do agree about how you feel. You can tell when someone is full of it.

[Kleimer Company]

Failing to make your purchase contingent on a satisfactory home inspection could be a costly mistake. Independent home inspectors examine houses from stem to stern. They'll be able to tell you whether the roof and/or basement leaks, whether the mechanical systems are in good shape and how long the appliances should last. They can't report on things they can't see, but at least their trained eyes are better than yours. So don't pass just to save $300-$400; that's money well spent.

[RJacobsen]

Blogs are a great way to add content to your site... And as we all know the Googler loves content!

[norinepeardon]

Hi
Just wanted to thank you for responding to my thread and mention that I have an aunt and uncle living in Scottsdale. Years ago, I visited them and we caught all the sights including a short trip to Las Vegas.

Norine Peardon

[jron]

Well, a few years back I have the same experience with my first home in Sarasota, which is a drag I have to get another inspector to get an accurate report, anyway I complained and the inspector was suspended.

[norinepeardon]

Hi Jron Magcale,

Thank you for sharing your inspection experience. I could use your comment on my blog site: Check out my sig above for the URL.


There is a post about House Inspections and your experience with inspection would be most welcome.
You also my leave your url.

Norine Peardon

[Codythebest]

Well, there are good and bad stuff in anything I guess...

[RehabEd]

I've finally found a good, thorough inspector that I will definitely use again in the future. I've employed the services of a few and can see that there can be a major difference from one to another. One inspector didn't want to climb onto anything to get a better view and unfortunately he missed a few important things that unexpectedly cost me thousands. He had his protection clauses all throughout his report, so I couldn't hold him responsible for his major errors.

I'm not sure what you guys mean about a good inspector doesn't need the buyer to be present. In my experience, I WANTED to be present and it's always a great learning experience for me. I get to ask questions and pick his brain about what needs to be done. He can even recommend to me certain contractors with whom he's had good experience. I think it's absolutely necessary to be present during your inspections.

Through working with different professionals in the real estate market, I've gained a good network of resources. I've always used the same attorney and tax accountant. I now have a great realtor and home inspector that I know have my back. Banks have varied, depending on what incentives they offer in any given year. My loyalty to contractors sways for some reason and I have nothing good to say about any of them.

[norinepeardon]

What I meant about a "buyer doesn't have to be present if an inspector is doing his job" is that the inspector's resulting report on the property condition is so thorough and complete no more knowledge would have been derived by the buyer's presence. In the case of buying my own home, the inspector was not qualified. His resulting report had many mistakes in it and, I, not knowing the property, even knew more about the condition. In the other case, when a buyer was purchasing my parent's property, the buyer was not present during the inspection. When the resulting report was presented, knowing the property, it was so perfect as to actual condition, I was amazed. These are my experiences.

Thanks for your input.

Norine

[RehabEd]

Hi Norine,

Is that your blog? I enjoyed the read.

Under the title "Buying Your First House, Clueless?": "Why be knowledgeable? To protect the largest investment, undoubtably, of your lifetime. Put emotion aside and get real."

Indeed, it is a large investment and I agree that one should be knowledgeable. In fact, it should be one's goal to be knowledgeable in all facets of the acquisition of the property.

You can study his paint-by-numbers inspection report and think, gee, everything's covered and I'm all set to decide if I can renegotiate the price, based on his findings.

Truly, you don't know if he did a thorough job until after you've moved in and have spent a few weeks or months living there.

My Horror Story: I had an inspector that didn't want to go into the attic. He figured he could decide if the roof was structurally sound by looking at it from the back yard for a few minutes. I was naive then and took him for his word. THEN, a few weeks after moving in, I hear some screeching sounds in the attic. I go up to check it out........ the attic had a bat infestation that was beyond belief. I had several professionals come check it out, bids to eradicate the infestation ranged from $1000 to $3000. I found out that the bats had been there for several generations! I could have had that problem covered by the seller had I not been such a novice then and made the guy check out every square inch of the property.

So, you see why I must be adamant about recommending the buyer be present during an inspection.

[norinepeardon]

:D
Hi Rehab Ed.

I really enjoyed your story about the bats. I had a chimney that was not capped. I was doing some work in the atic and took the stairwell cover off the chimney to repair and paint around the chimney hole. The next morning after everything was dry and set, I opened the attic door and there was something fuzzy looking on the bottom stair step. I guessed what it was . . a bat. Well my knowledge told me that they are disabled in light so.... I took my hammer and hit it. It fell over. Next I pushed it with the hammer into my wastebasket. Then I took it outside and dumped it in the yard. Checked a couple of hours later and it was GONE ! Since then, my chimney has been capped. And animal protectors, it seems I just knocked it out but did not harm it.

Emergency insurance may have covered your bat problem, Ed. It is really an advantage to have it the first year of residing in your home. Covers just about anything that can go wrong. I had furnace and faucet claims. In this buyer's market, it is a negotiable item when purchasing your home.

[malikiqbal]

Always interview before you hire anyone and make sure they are in the business long enough to do their job and also get some refrences.

[joehall]

Inspectors are allot like toilets, i only use the ones that i know very well.

[wchua24]

what i can say is that experiences are still our best teachers.......hehehe:) so just be careful next time...cheers!!!

[rainier]

looks like the inspector has the wrong impression on the house, anyway the inspector must be reported and get what he/she deserves.