When purchasing a home, one thing most buyers want is a home inspection. This helps the home buyer understand what they are getting and any potential pitfalls that may await. It can also save them from expensive surprises later either when something breaks, or they prepare to sell their home years later.
Your choice of inspector is important. Experience and skill level among inspectors vary greatly. There’s no single standard for the nation’s estimated 20,000 to 25,000 home inspectors. Some home inspectors have only baseline training while others have mechanical or structural engineering degrees and decades of being top-notch home sleuths.
A roof inspection is a good example. Some will inspect the roof from the ground using a pair of binoculars, while others will bring a ladder, crawl up on the roof regardless of the temperature, and give your potential home’s roof a thorough review. On a hot summer day one inspector may poke your head into the attic space and look around with a flashlight, while a more conscientious inspector will actually brave the stifling heat and walk around the attic and look at electrical wiring, roof joists, beam integrity and other potential hot spots.
We have used a number of inspector over the years but the one I now recommend is Anasazi Home Inspection. When our home suffered significant damage by a tornado in 2008, my husband and I called Anasazi to inspect the damage on our own home and work with the insurance company to determine the scope of work that was needed for repairs. Their lead inspector is actually a licensed structural engineer and has many years experience working on home repairs and home building. In addition, my home buyers have been extremely pleased with them.
Just to clarify, federal law prohibits real estate professionals from collecting referral fees (or other things of value) for simple referrals. I refer industry professionals such as home inspectors, staging companies, mortgage companies and home repair contractors simply because I know them and have used them in the past and trust their work.