What to consider when hiring a house inspector
By Sandra Miller
Daily Evening Item
Home inspector Dennis Robitaille gives second opinions all the time, often for lawyers’ clients with a dog of a house on their hands. One home inspection report made Robitaille laugh out loud. “Under “Foundation,” the comments said, ‘Yes, under perimeter of dwelling’… under “Roof,” the inspector wrote ‘OK.’ When I went into the attic, there was daylight shining through it, like someone took a shotgun to it.”
The house also had extensive termite damage, a broken sewer line, torn and damaged asbestos materials in the basement, and old wiring, yet none of this was reported by the inspector, who claimed to have more than 35 years of experience.
The client eventually won his case in court, but what really gets Robitaille is that the home buyer had called him for a home inspection in the first place, but rejected his $400 fee for the other inspector’s $150. “I want to tell them, ‘You can pay me now, or pay me later,’” says Robitaille, who runs Able Home Inspections in Saugus.
“My job is to protect the buyers,” says Robitaille. “Buying a house is emotional. You probably assume there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s like going to the doctors -- do you really want to find out what’s wrong?”
Years ago, an inspection was an afterthought. Many home buyers will give a thorough once-over to a used car, but not to a half-million-dollar money pit that will clock in as the biggest investment of their lives. If a homeowner hired one at all, they often opted for “bargain” inspectors recommended by their real estate agents – who represent the seller, not the buyer. But what they don’t always realize is that was often in the agents’ best interests to provide fast, easy inspectors.
A state home inspection law passed last year prohibits real estate brokers and salespersons from directly recommending a specific home inspection company or home inspector, unless they are officially the buyer’s broker. It also requires that all inspectors to be licensed by the state.
“Ten years ago there were no standards. Anyone could be a home inspector,” says William Goddard, an inspector in Marblehead. “Today, the reports are far more extensive. We’re doing efficiency tests on boilers we didn’t do 10 years ago, using moisture meters to check for moisture behind walls.”
Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or are buying a home for the first time in several years, there’s a lot to know about the home inspection process.
How to hire an inspector
• Pick one BEFORE you find a house. Today’s home sales can be very fast-moving process, yet finding the right inspector can take research. And spring is busy time for the state’s mere 500 licensed inspectors. Upon request, agents can provide a list of licensed home inspectors prepared by the Board of Home Inspectors. Better yet, get referrals from those who do not have a vested interest in the sale, such as your attorney, and past clients of the inspector. Look beyond a guy wielding a flashlight and a license, and check experience, credentials, association membership, and special training in such areas as asbestos, lead paint, and pest control.
• Do the homework. “Educate yourself about houses and the systems in a house before you start looking for a house,” says Bridget McGuiness, a rare woman inspector who runs Corrosion Check in Swampscott. “As you attend open houses, you may be able to bypass houses that require more work than what you can afford.”
• Look over the P&S. Some purchase & sales (P & S) agreements allow the buyer only 5 days from the signing of the P & S to obtain an inspection, but you can try for 14 days from when the agreement is signed -- many good home inspectors are booked more than 5 days in advance, and you may want some wiggle room. Also, a buyer wants a clause that allows them to cancel an agreement for any reason if not satisfied with the inspection findings, and get the deposit back. More restrictive clauses may try to limit this to "major defects and/or hazardous conditions...". Ask your attorney to review this.
• What will the inspector do – and not do? A standard inspection covers areas such as foundation, sills, beams, support columns, sub-floor, basement, attic insulation, roof structure and covering, walls, doors, floors, windows, electrical, plumbing, central heating and cooling systems, fireplaces, and chimneys. But ask how long will they spend on an inspection? Will they climb on a ladder to inspect the roof, or use binoculars from across the street?
• Be prepared to hire licensed specialists to cover questions about structural integrity, termites, land composition. “I always check for pest activities, rot and so forth, but most inspectors are not licensed exterminators,” says Goddard, of Goddard Association Home Inspections.
• Fees. An average 2000-square foot home inspection will cost around $175-$500, more if it’s an older or larger home, less for condos. Fees are based on house size, style, age, location, type of structure & optional services requested. “If it’s an antique home, I have to check out the mortars and timbers for powderpost beetles and rot,” says Goddard.
• Hire experience. You want someone trained in construction and building maintenance standards, and licensed by the state Division of Professional Licensure. He or she should be a member of affiliations that require certification, such as American Society of Home Inspectors. Robitaille, who is a member of ASHI, also founded the Independent Home Inspectors of North America, which requires members to sign a pledge stating they do not actively solicit real estate agents for home buyer client leads.
• Ask for a sample report. A simple checklist may lack the details and advice of a narrative report. Is the information thorough and clear? Does it cover potential safety hazards?
• Check references. Ask for the names and telephone numbers of clients who used that home inspector more than 3 months ago – some problems can take a while to surface. And also check with the Better Business Bureau or attorney general’s office.
• Ask about their policies on errors or overlooked problems. Does the company have insurance for mistakes and omissions? Will the individual inspector ask you to sign a waiver limiting liability? Will they refund their fee if you are dissatisfied?
Once you’ve hired the inspector:
• Attend the home inspection. Not only will you be armed with your own questions about the house, you’ll learn first-hand about your future home’s quirks.
• Inspectors should be loaded for bear. Check whether your home inspector is equipped with such tools as a flashlight, level, an inspection mirror, and a ladder, gadgets such as outlet testers, gas and carbon monoxide detectors. Robitaille says most good inspectors can now only do one inspection a day. “Now I’m using expensive carbon monoxide detectors, electrical circuit analyzers, and electronic moisture meters; then it’s back to the computer to write the report, and include some digital photography.” But, he adds, “The most important thing an inspector can bring to the inspection site is experience.”
• Ask questions. Basically, you want to know whether the house is safe, and if it’s a money pit. Everything else can be fixed, but it’s still wise to prepare a list of questions in advance.
• Be sure the inspector checks EVERYWHERE. For example, the electrical outlets should not only be tested, but the plate unscrewed to check for older wiring and insulation. Are they shying away from the spooky corners? McGuiness recalls one “boy, I’m glad I entered that crawlspace” situation where she crawled into a two-foot-high area that was “dark, damp, and full of spider webs. I went up to the end of the crawlspace where the house sill was located and found that several feet of sill was significantly rotted. A contractor estimated the damage would cost about $20,000 to repair.” The owner’s inspector a few years earlier didn’t catch the damage, and so the seller agreed to pay for the repair. “The seller then hired me to inspect the house he was buying.”
After the inspection
• At the end of the inspection, get a full verbal report from the home inspector. The written report may be due as early as the next working day, and it should tell you the good and not so good aspects of the home, safety factors, the repairs that will be needed, and possible hidden deterioration.
• The report may estimate life left on systems and components of a house.
• Most home inspectors also include photos of problem areas.
• The home inspector should answer any questions you may have, immediately or down the road.
You should not expect the home inspector to:
• Offer to repair, for a fee, any uncovered defects
• Advise either way whether to buy the property. Says McGuiness, “That decision is up to you. “
• Perform certain tests, such as for underground storage tanks, lead paint, drinking water, radon gas, urea formaldehyde foam insulation, asbestos, septic systems and pest control, unless previously agreed. These are often specialty areas requiring separate and additional licensing or certifications.
• Give an appraisal of the value of the home, or even the cost of the repair. “It really irks me when a home inspector says this problem will cost x amount of dollars to correct,” says Kathryn O’Brien, an agent for ReMax on the River in Ipswich and Newburyport. “I’ve actually heard home inspectors say to the buyers, ‘The seller should take x amount of dollars off to repair this problem.’ This is not appropriate.”
• Scare you with horror stories from past inspections. “I’ve had inspectors scare the bejesus out of my clients,” says O’Brien.
• See through walls, lift heavy furniture or make their way through rooms cluttered with items. Says Goddard, “They can’t go inside walls or behind aluminum siding. We’re not supposed to move furniture, although in the bathroom or on hardwood floors I will lift a rug. Sometimes you go into a basement loaded with storage, and we aren’t required to get around that.” If a cluttered room prevents a good inspection, 24 hours before closing you can do a final walkthrough in the now-empty house to check for damage.
• Be perfect. “Inspectors are generalists,” says McGuiness. “Sometimes we know a lot about a few things. Inspectors are human and may make mistakes. Work with the inspector if a problem arises.”
Hire a buyer
Still not sure who to hire? Cautious buyers spend the extra money to hire a buyer’s broker, usually a small percentage of the home price, in addition to a real estate agent.
“A buyer’s broker can do a lot of the work for you,” says Tom O’Donnell, who used Hunneman as his broker to find an inspector and help him buy his first home, a six-room cape on Walnut Street in Lynn, two years ago. “I was paying more attention to the paperwork and making all the deadlines,” says O’Donnell.
“There were no major problems … it needs a vent up in the attic so the heat doesn’t build up, something to do with the drain spots, but those are easily fixed.” In the two years since he’s owned the home, he’s only had a little plumbing done.
As a broker, Kathryn O’Brien often refers Robitaille, who she used on a recent sale on Neptune Street in Lynn, as well as for her own home, a circa 1790 home in Newbury. “I want my home inspector to find every single solitary thing with a house.” O’Brien also swears by home inspectors Jim Tebo in Rockport, Skip Telli in Byfield and Dale Pope in Gloucester. “They are not inexpensive, but you get what you pay for.”
“It’s to the seller’s advantage to hire an inspector,” she adds. “When the buyer moves in, they aren’t going to discover something they don’t like and say, ‘I didn’t know it had x, y and z.’ “
And even new homes come with problems. O’Brien recalled a brand new home in Groveland where the builder did not want a home inspection. She insisted upon one on behalf of her buyers, and Robitaille found two gas leaks.
Many buyers feel pressured to skimp on the inspection to speed up the sale, especially in today’s fast-moving home market. “There’ a lack of inventory which means high demand.,” says Goddard. “When I do an inspection for a client, the seller says ‘Take it or leave it.’”
It’s a seller’s market. “Don’t expect that the inspection will allow you to muscle the seller to reduce the price of the house,” says McGuiness. “If a home inspection discovers unknown or unanticipated problems or issues with the house, then, maybe a seller may be open to negotiating. But that depends on a lot of factors.”
Sandra Miller is a local freelance writer. She bought her home two years ago before the consumer laws went into effect, and is now nervous about those spooky crawlspaces in the basement.
