- I can have business cards printed up and some letterhead,
- Buy a few basic tools, a clipboard and I am good to go.
- If I have a few bucks to fund this experiment, then I can buy all the inspection forms online and look a little more professional.
- If I decide to really make this a business, then I can sign up for classes and work to get CREA and ASHI certified.
CREA
- The California Real Estate Inspection Association (CREIA) is
a voluntary, nonprofit public-benefit organization of real estate
inspectors.
ASHI -
The American Society of Home InspectorsLooking at the construction industry (where many of these inspectors come from) the average length a contractor's licenses stays active in California is 18 months. With over 300,000 licenses in the state and 650 applications coming in per week the turn over in the business is high.
Here are a few of the problems I have encountered with inspectors. (Please note these were inspectors brought by the buyer when I was representing the Seller).
Case #1
- The inspector called for an anti-siphon cover on the pool drain and call out exposed wires in the pool light socket (pool light had been removed).
- The inspector never removed the skimmer cover to inspect the skimmer. Had he done his job he would have seen that the drain line was plugged permanently with cement, so a anti-siphon cover was not needed. More importantly his clients should have been notified on his report of the plugged drain line.
- If the inspector knew the mechanics behind pool lights, he would have known that this would have been impossible. Pool lights are hard wired with a very long wire to reach the junction box. The entire wire goes with the light when installed or replaced. The Seller abandon the use of the pool light years ago. There were no exposed wires
- On another home I had, the inspector claim the HVAC was broken, yet the inspector never turned it on because he could not locate the thermostat.
Another problem these inspectors make is calling out new code on older homes. As long as it is not a governmental mandatory retrofit standard then an older home does not have to be brought to current code. The inspector should explain this to his clients.
Last I do have to put some heat on the agents. Here in my trade area the two governmental mandatory retrofit standards are bracing the water heater and smoke detectors. KNOW THE LAW.
- There is a certian type of state apporved material to strap a water heater, Rope is not approved.
- Smoke detectors are not required in every bedroom on homes built before 1992 unless more than $1,000.00 of permitted improvements have been done to the home. I had a 25 year veteran Broker try to make my selllers put smoke detectors in every room in the house. I felt funny having to show him the current regulation.
- Time in the business. How many inspections have they done?
- Area they work? If they have been working your trade area for many years, then they will know the idiosyncrasies that are common with certain tracts, developments or builders.
- Member of ASHI and CREIA?
- References
- Bonded and Insured (E&O)
- He is the popular guy everyone uses at the office.
- No construction background.
- No
Certification
- Might have long experience but is from out of the area.
- Creates
his report in Microsoft Word with no letterhead.
Thanks for reading Simi Valley's Premiere Real Estate Blog!
Author - Ted Mackel Simi Valley Real Estate Agent - Keller Williams Realty
Ted Mackel is a top producer at Keller Williams Realty Simi Valley,
specializing in Simi Valley Real Estate
(805) 432-7705
We once hired an inspector in Bend, OR - I wish I could remember his exact name and business name but I can't. Anyway, he gave a clean bill of health to a home my husband was dying to purchase. I hated the house but he wanted it so I agreed.
One month later, during the demolition (I never move into a resale home without gutting it) my husband and our contractor were pulling out all the heating duct work under the house and removing 1000's of dead mice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, 1000's. They had eaten into the duct work and were comfortably nesting and multiplying in the nice warm environment. We hired this a** because he had done the inspection on the house we were selling. He was so picky on the new construction home we were selling that he looked at the bottom row of siding to see if the bottom lip of the siding pointing down towards the ground had been painted. He noted on the inspection that a left over PVC pipe under the house we owned had to be removed, ironically, because it could lead to rodents nesting. Why on God's earth, this a** chose the house we were selling to be a nit-picker but then chose not to mention the 1000"s of roommates we would be living with in the new house - is one of the great mysteries in this world. Perhaps he and the seller of the doomed house we bought - were friends!
If I had his name, I would let you all know who he is. I hate this man to this day for not noting the obvious infestation of rats under the house; the house I really didn't like to begin with but grew to hate by the end of the remodel.
Beware of your inspector. Be there when he does the inspection and watch him like a hawk!
Amy Jeffrey, Currant Designs and Home Staging
Home Inspectors are required to be licensed in IN. A good one is worth every penny! But there is the exception....We once had a report come back about unsafe retractable stairs in the garage of a home AND THERE WERE NONE - he mixed up 2 homes when he submitted the report...which invalidated the whole results to our sellers who said how can we trust what he wrote when he mixed up 2 homes?
Sincerely
Grace
had an inspector say that there were signs of mold growth on the basement walls of my seller's home.
no, no mold.
It was mortar, due to a sloppy masonry job.
not mold.
A lot of times the buyer chooses the least expensive inspector and gets what they pay for. Other time there are just mistakes made and in some cases people make opinions outside their area of expertise.
We are licensed in North Carolina and have a state supplied Standards of Practice "SOP". If NC inspectors would stick to the SOP they would stay out of a lot of trouble. The state will allow you to go beyond the standards if you have the knowledge. I say follow the SOP, because both sides of the equation have a better expectations about the process. The North Carolina SOP is online for all to read. Another thing, inspectors need to be careful recommending a repair procedure, they should just recommend the appropriate licensed contractor look at the issue, as in the deck supports in the above post.
The smoke detector post above is a reference to code. In our state required CE classes they discourge doing code inspections. Boy do inspectors have to be careful here. The code is complex and esotric in nature, differs from year to year and place to place. How many years of code does an inspector want to try to remember. No house is required to be brought to current code just because it is sold. Home inspectors might look for code issues but most guys I know who do it only do it on new construction and they are usually trained on what to look for.
Ken,
Thanks for the input. Price here is really not a factor. It is running about the same, I have not seen more than $25.00 difference between inspectors. Even with all my complaints above, it is still better to have an inspector then not to have one.
I believe that agents need to have a better handle on homes from a home ownership point of view and the maintenance issues that will confront a home buyer as they own the home. This skill set is not common among agents. I've installed windows, doors, wood floors, tiled in a tub enclosure, installed a whole house fan, ran new electrical....and more in my homes, The hands on experience gives my clients an advanage when it comes time to evelauating a home's condition and what they will encounter in the future.
This whole code/no code thing has me baffled as an inspector. Why wouldn't anyone on either side of the deal want to know about safety concerns in the home? While I do not site code I have no problem with recommending railings with baluster spaces 8" apart that are 30 feet above the ground be "upgraded" as a safety improvement. Am I seriously supposed to wear blinders when I see these sorts of things, especially when my buyer has small children? If the buyer or seller don't want to have these things fixed/upgraded it is as simple as----"don't" then. If these sorts of things are killing deals, there must be a "real" reason.
Ted you are right the more the agents know about houses in general the better. I do and I'll bet most inspectors will take calls from agents all the time even on their listings where I am not going to be hired to do the inspection anyway. I have one person who calls me on her listing all the time, she is really starting to be a pretty good home inspector. Always trying to be helpful. I am a non competing broker in NC do you think in your area a CE class about inspections/inspectors would be helpful. I am thinking about doing one here in the Raleigh NC area.
Charles I think you should call those kinds of things out I would also I just do not us the words "code requires or the code or the code when this house was built" I would not be able to remember code for a house built in one year vs a house built in another year. I'll give you another example, yours is good. I see a deck 2 feet off the ground with nailed on deck railing posts I do not worry to much about the the height, but where do I start to worry? I personal will mention deck posts should have lag screws or bolts when I think the fall could cause serious injury. I leave the buyer/seller/agents and the contractors they choose to make the final decision. But if I use the code word I better be accurate. It is just to much for me to remember and even trying to look it up at home can be frustrating.
Ken,
I dont think that Home inspection or a subject related to it is required for CE here in California. It should be.