Among the contingencies written into your offer for your
dream home, none are more important than the home inspection clause. With this,
you are legally permitted to obtain a complete inspection of the property to
check for any unknown problems that could end up busting your budget. From
foundation issues to outdated, unsafe electrical systems, issues discovered
during a home inspection could save you a ton of time and money when deciding
whether to acquire a new piece of property. With this in mind, don’t trust just
anyone to give you an all-clear on the condition of a property. Just as you
took the time to find the perfect property for your needs, you should put
proper effort into ensuring the qualifications and trustworthiness of a home
inspector before trusting his or her word on the condition of your potential
home. So, where do you start when searching for a great home inspector? Let’s
take a look at some methods for ensuring that your inspector is the best
available for your needs.
In the best case
scenario, you’ll search for an inspector before submitting an offer on a home.
By doing so beforehand, you can take your time when meeting inspectors and
avoid restrictive time constraints.
With your offer on a home accepted, the clock begins ticking
on your period to get a home inspection. With tight deadlines and high pressure
come less opportunities to interview and analyze home inspector options.
According to Front
Door, finding an inspector before locating and offering on your dream
property is the best way to remove the pressure to hire the first inspector
that comes your way. Taking the time to find the best inspector to fit your
needs is definitely a worthy venture, as his or her report on the condition of
your home could be your last opportunity to find potential problems before
signing a purchase contract on the property.
For a list of
experienced inspectors with which to begin your search, depend on the knowledge
of your real estate agent, as well as friends and family, to avoid wasting time
with unqualified, unprofessional options.
In addition to various online home inspector review
databases, home inspectors depend a great deal on word-of-mouth advertising to
spread the reviews of their services. If you’ve got family or friends who’ve
recently purchased a home in the area, consulting with them about their home
inspection experience could be a great way to begin the hunt for the inspector
you need. If not, your real estate agent should have working knowledge of a few
inspectors in the area with good qualifications and customer feedback. In any
case, depending on your home searching team is a great way to weed out
inspectors who aren’t good for your particular needs.
When interviewing
potential inspectors, ask plenty of questions. The answers you receive should
give you a better idea of the qualifications of each home inspector.
According to US
News, there are seven important questions that you should ask each and
every home inspector. Professional organization affiliation, professional
background, years of experience and training, the average length of
inspections, the main aspects of inspection, whether or not you can attend the
inspection (this shouldn’t be a problem) and the type of report they provide
are all major topics of discussion for interviewing professional home inspectors.
If you’ve got other questions relating to your specific home search, don’t
hesitate to let them know. Sometimes, the way a question is answered is just as
revealing as the answer itself.
Protect your own
interests by ensuring that your home inspector carries an errors and omissions
(E&O) insurance policy. If there’s a problem with your inspection, you’ll
probably need this policy to recoup potential losses.
Even the very best of home inspection professionals can make
mistakes, so ensuring an insurance policy is in place to protect you in the
event of an oversight is an important detail to consider. If a major issue is
discovered after moving into your new home, an E&O insurance policy will
allow you to get the costs needed to correct the problem without dealing with
the possibility of a bankrupted inspector and a lawsuit. Having protection when
making an investment as large as a new home is never a bad idea, so taking the
extra time to ensure that a policy is in place could pay huge dividends in the
future. If you’ve got any other questions or concerns regarding finding the
perfect home inspector for your needs, depend on the knowledge and expertise of
your real estate agent to guide you through.
Chris G. writes about Leander homes for
sale and Texas politics.
Sources:
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2014/04/27/7-questions-to-ask-when-choosing-a-home-inspector
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