Do you want to buy a home? If so, you need to know what home inspector you will work with before you even go to an open home event. A home inspection is simply mandatory because it can help you to figure out if there are problems the seller does not want you to know about. With this in mind, when you look for the home inspector you can trust, True Home Tips recommends the following.
Be Careful With The Referral Of The Agent
The real estate agent often recommends some home inspectors. But can you trust those referrals?
Most real estate agents have one interest: closing the sale. This means there are incentives to find home inspectors who get the job done fast. Unfortunately, fast is not necessarily good work. Also, inspectors recommended by real estate agents might feel obliged to neglect some problems for a more positive report.
Look For Trusted And Qualified Candidates
If you want to find reputable home inspectors, you first look for referrals from friends or people that you trust. Then, you look online for communities that can offer recommendations. After some time, you end up with a list of different home inspectors you could consider. Now it is time to see if they are qualified and can be trusted.
Basically, you want to be sure that the home inspectors are educated enough to do a great job for you. Then, you need to look online for complaints written about them. Remember that people are much more likely to write negative reviews than positive reviews. This also applies to real estate. When the considered inspector has numerous complaints lodged against them, it is better to look somewhere else.
Compare Inspection Reports
This is one of the easiest ways to figure out if the report you receive will be thorough or not. When you interview the considered specialist, ask for sample inspection reports. Preferably, ask for an inspection that was done for a property that is as similar as possible to what you want to buy now. This sample report will basically show you how much work the home inspector does and how much attention to detail is applied.
Compare sample reports you get from different home inspectors. You will quickly figure out who goes deep into analysis and who just offers generic information. As an example, if the report is filled with info about how you need to seal wood decks or caulk windows, it is shallow. If you see details about basement cracks and how likely it is that foundation repairs will be needed, the report is more thorough and complete.
Experience And Training
You obviously need to look for professional certifications but you should also find those inspectors that have been doing the work for several years. Such professionals will most likely have the necessary experience to identify the most possible home issues.
Let’s consider the inspector that handles 4 projects every week. In 5 years, this means over one thousand inspections done.
When the home is old, be extremely careful with the inspector you choose since you need one with some extra credentials and training. For instance, the specialist that also has a license as a home engineer is generally better.
