As a working home inspector, and an instructor of home inspection for the state college system, people often ask me if they should do their own home inspection. Usually, even if someone has worked as a carpenter or a builder, it is still a bad idea. A competent home inspector, in Washington State, is trained to detect subtle problems in many different areas and systems that are not necessarily familiar to a builder; for example, wood destroying organisms, electrical, plumbing and heating systems. I designed a simple, interactive, online test that scores you as you go, for those people thinking about doing their own home inspection. It lets a person assess his or her abilities in the field and it can be enlightening. If you as a homeowner, a buyer, a realtor or any other professional in a related field, would like to try the test, I have provided a link. I host it just for fun at my site, and no data is tracked, no cookies are collected so give it a try if you like. No strings attached! Here is the link: click on it, or if that does not work, paste it in your browser, it should open right up for you.
http://www.geocities.com/rhiclass/apttestkinglogo.htm
Thanks for reading,
Steven L. Smith
Check out "This Day In History" -- music and vintage television from the 1950's through the 1980's. I enjoy writing these articles because they take me back to my days in radio broadcasting. Click on Elvis' gold record, below, to revisit those golden hits of yesteryear.
I agree it principle to have a home inspection by a professional but I can't fully agree that an experienced tradesman can't conduct an inspection as the Buyer has a right to choose a home inspector or consultant of their of choosing at their sole cost. They still retain their right to terminate a contract if not satisfied with the results of the inspection.
The home inspection process has become an industry. Too many inspectors with below average skills and too many inspectors "double dipping" the consumer by killing the first home and coming across as the savior only to get hired for the next home inspection. Too many "needs further inspection" comments on the reports and this basically passes the buck to another tradesman to make a recommendation.
I have three outstanding inspectors as refferals and if my clients can't book one of them in the due diligence period then I extend the home inspection period until someone I trust does the inspection.
Just my $0.02 but it's my clients best interest at hand.
I agree that the buyer should have the right to hire whomever he or she wishes. And, of course some tradespeople would be fine, many would not. However, in Washington State, if the tradesman is calling any issues of wood destroying organisms or conducive conditions (even basic things like a leaking gutter or downspout) and he or she is not licensed, then it is an illegal inspection and that party will be fined if the WSDA finds out. So, whether the buyer really has the right to hire a person of his or her choosing, does depend very much on the state laws.
As you say, some home inspectors are better, and more qualified, than others. Personally, I would never kill a deal to get another job, however there are some houses that have died the first time because they had problems. An inspector, who does a good report, should provide the evidence to support those calls that would kill a deal. If it is not there, then the report would be suspect. The market here is such that an inspector doing that would soon have a reputation. As to "further inspection" some inspectors do refer out for further evaluation almost everything, and that is not right either. There are times an inspector really does need to do so, for example to get a problem furnace fixed, however an inspector should be able to make a decision on a number of other matters. One problem is, many of the insurance companies that insure inspectors demand that, if a problem is found the inspector must call for further evaluation. It is all part of the "covering your back" syndrome that we are facing in the real estate field. But I agree, I have reviewed reports where an inspector called for further evaluation by a plumber, when the inspector had a system figured backwards. There was nothing wrong!
I can't convince myself to take that test. It might expose me for who I truly am. LOL
Thought I'd come over here and visit your very first blog post and say "Congratulations" on that gubernatorial appointment to the State Licensing Board. You've got more chutzpah than do I, or maybe I just have more skeletons in my closet. LOL