Q & A Session With Your Home Inspector

Buying a home is everybody’s dream and probably one of the biggest investments some of us will ever make in our lifetime; well, some of us spend the rest of our natural lives paying for it! Having a home inspection done on the property is of course important if you want to know whether your dream home is ready for your family to move in or not. It might turn out that the house is not worth it after all and you can either use this information to haggle for a lower price or simply walk away from the deal.

Naturally, a few questions about the home inspector that will be inspecting your home and the home inspection process are bound come up. For a start, you want to know that you’re getting your money’s worth, and secondly you don’t want to end up with a shoddy home inspection exercise that leaves you with piles of repair or replacement costs in future.

Therefore, it‘s important that every home buyer asks these 5 questions to the home inspector(s) before hiring.

#1 – Are you registered or affiliated to any professional home inspectors association?

First, you want to establish that you’re dealing with a competent person who has deep knowledge of the ins and outs of the industry. You can’t afford to waste time and money on wannabe home inspectors, remember that.

This of course will paint a clear picture of what they are capable of accomplishing if hired. The logic here is… if a higher public authority say… the NHICC (National Home Inspector Certification Council) can vouch for their ability and recognize their certification(s) as a qualified home inspector, then you can trust their expertise too. However, this is not enough to qualify a home inspector.

Note: You are allowed to ask for proof of registration or affiliation (membership card, licenses, certifications). Any professional will understand and actually produce this evidence for you on the spot hoping to win you over; and without taking any offense at all. You can also ask whether they continue to take any more certification courses to advance their skills. If they are NHI certified the better.

It might seem like an obvious thing to do but Michael Del Greco has noted that very few clients ever ask to see proof of certification or licensing. He humorously points out that his license has only been good for his wallet in all his years of experience. Michael claims he can count the number of times he’s had to produce his license to a client. Check out more from his informative personal view:

Questions To Ask Home Inspectors During Home Inspections

I can count on one hand the times I have been asked one of these important questions.

First question you should ask is one that I have yet to be asked by any home buyer since 1993 despite having 10,000 or so clients (except by a few who have read this). “May I please see your home inspector license”?

Please ask. I have been carrying ID’s in my wallet for years not only because I am required to do so by law and so once a year or so I get to show them to a client. If your inspector can’t find his or hers it is time to stop the inspection and try again with another company… see more real experience questions

#2 – Can I be there during the inspection?

Not many home inspector’s will answer “no” to this question although a few would rather you just sit and wait for their report. The reason why you want to be there during the inspection is simply because this is the time you get to learn key details about your new home. You get to find out where all the main shutdown switches are, or to formulate your own opinion and prioritize the problems pointed out during the inspection. Here you can continue to ask for more clarifications on all problems the home inspector identifies as you go about the inspection. You will be surprised that some problems uncovered during this exercise will only take cheap and easy DIY fixes. Here is what Tara-Nicholle Nelson has to say about this issue:

5 Questions to Ask Your Home’s Inspector

Your home inspector’s job is to point out everything, within the scope of the inspection, that might need repair, replacement, maintenance or further inspection – or seems like it might be on it’s last leg. But they also tend to be experienced enough with homes to know that no home is perfect. Many times, I’ve asked this question about an item the inspector described as “at the end of its serviceable lifetime” and had them say, “I wouldn’t do a thing to it. Just know that it could break in the next 5 months, or in the next 5 years. And keep your home warranty in effect, because that should cover it when it does break.”… read more

#3 – How much will it cost me and how do I pay you?

This is very important for the overall success of the deal. Go over the numbers and see if you can agree on a price because this will determine whether business will proceed or not. Actually, it determines whether you get to ask question #4!

Once you agree on a price, try to find out how the home inspector wants to be paid; check, PayPal, credit card or cash? Finally, this is the best time to throw in some bargaining skills and try to haggle for a discount especially if the mode of payment chosen by the home inspector has extra transaction fees.

Paul Wilson however seems to think that the question of price should come last. He also goes on to say that cutting corners in order to save a few dollars is not always the best idea. “There will always be someone who charges less! The question is – are they your best choice?”, he adds. Here’s an extract from his article:

20 Questions for your Home Inspector

A question that almost always gets asked first and yet should be in fact, one of the last and least important in your decision process. What good is a $50 discount if the inspector you are hiring isn’t the most qualified or experienced available. When you are about to make one of the largest decision and investment of a lifetime, this is not the time to think about saving a few bucks by cutting corners. You need experience on your side and lots of it!

 

The amount of the fee should be the least of your worries when you consider how much you are planning on investing in a home. Home inspection is no different than many other professional occupations – you generally get what you pay for. Cheaper is rarely the best. A professional home inspection conducted by a fully qualified individual is well worth the expense… check out the full list

#4 – How long before I get the inspection report?

Once you have the price issue done, or the prices sound reasonable enough for consideration, then you can continue to ask about the inspection report. Some home inspectors will give you full report immediately after the inspection exercise while others will only provide a sketch report and deliver a full report later (usually 24 hrs to a few days).

The main concern here is having enough information to help you decide whether to see the deal through or cut and run. You can also ask the home inspector to give you a honest personal opinion on the status of the house on offer. See if they would consider buying the property if they were in your position. If you’re satisfied with the answer you get, then its time to move to the last question.

#5 – Can you recommend a good contractor for the serious identified repairs or replacements?

Any good professional will be ready to part with this information without butting an eyelid. You know the saying “Show me your friends and I can tell the kind of person you are”? Well, it works on everyone, including home inspectors.

The home inspector should have a solid network of readily available professionals remotely related to their industry. If an inspector cannot name at least five recommendations from the top of their head then this is a red flag; please stop what you’re doing with this home inspector and move on to the next. The inspector should be in a position to point you to a good electrician, plumber, property lawyer, real estate agent or even fellow home inspector.

So there you have it… these 5 questions will definitely lead you to the right decision and the right home inspector. Sometimes you can end up with two to three options interviewing several home inspectors and this can provide a problem by itself. The main thing however is to concentrate on who gives you the best deal in terms of price and all the areas they cover during the inspection. In fact this should come as question #6! How deep does their inspection exercise go?

 

 

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Q & A Session With Your Home Inspector was first published on Home Inspector Experts

from Home Inspector Experts

Give Your Home a Mini Makeover

Things become boring or old when you have lived in a home long enough. That’s the reason why bringing in “freshness” in the form of a mini makeover can help take the gloom away. But what about the expenses? Don’t you need thousands of dollars to renovate your home?

Well, there’s good news… a mini makeover can fit any budget if done right. You can accomplish a lot on a dime especially if you’re from the DIY camp. FYI, this is GREAT for any pre-sale properties as well. All you need is pocket change and lots of creative thinking.

Research is the first step towards any successful mini makeover exercise. Finding out where to find stuff or who to call from friends and family is always a good way to start. A few referrals here and there can take you a long way especially in terms of saving and getting cool ideas. You can expect more discount offers (hiring or buying) when you take this approach.

So, how do you go about mini makeovers?

First of all, sit down and make a list of everything that you think needs touching up. This means every room, the garage, and finally the outdoors if you have a yard (front or back). There’s even more to include in your list if you have a porch, a finished basement, or patio. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, everything needs careful planning.

There is a very interesting piece prepared by Stephanie Sisco where a family in New York gets a complete mini home makeover. Sometime a makeover may costs you nothing but time and organization. Chip Cordelli helps the Bruno family get back to perfect order and scenic beauty in just a few mini makeovers as highlighted by Stephanie:

A Room-by-Room Makeover for an Organized Home

The Bruno family of Congers, New York, wrestled with stuffed closets, mayhem in the garage, and the tyranny of toddler toys. Sound familiar?

Clutter coach Chip Cordelli swooped in with solutions (and inspiration!) for turning classic trouble zones into home highlights. Get even more home makeover tips… view before and after gallery here

Now lets get to places that always come last in most of our mini makeover lists, the basement! Ok I get it… that’s where you throw all the junk that doesn’t fit into the garage, right?

On the contrary, basements can be the ultimate chill spots if you know what to do. What do you think of your very own home bar? Complete with soft music and a TV for those Saturday night games… sounds heavenly right? Well you can have it all and Martha Uniacke Breen knows exactly how you can achieve that. Check out her article on basement makeovers:

9 budget-friendly basement makeover ideas

Don’t leave your basement neglected. A little time and effort can turn your basement into a spectacular space your family loves.

Basements are often the spinster relatives of the rest of the house, says designer Robin Siegerman, principal of Sieguzi Kitchen & Home Inc. and author of Renovation Bootcamp: Kitchens. If you have a finished basement but it’s outdated and you want to make it more inviting, or drywalled and insulated (and therefore suitable as a casual living space) but otherwise bare, you can spruce it up without spending a lot of money…. here are 9 more ideas

Your basement is not the only neglected part of your home. Your garage and more specifically your garage door can suffer a lot of neglect from homeowners. Needless to say your garage door is part of your home’s front face and therefore adds to the aesthetic value of the entire estate.

Here are a few tricks to give your garage door a new facelift without as much as touching your wallet. Find out how you can get and use this garage door makeover kit from this enhancing and improving your biggest investment video from DSpaceTV. DIYers will surely love this:

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Give Your Home a Mini Makeover was first published on Home Inspector Experts

from Home Inspector Experts

Protecting Your Biggest Investment

Some people struggle to own one, while some own a few… but all the same, owning a home is one of the major investments anyone can achieve in their lifetime. It therefore goes without saying that your hard-earned investment will definitely need protection.

There are several way to protect your home;

• Title Examination / Insurance – less understood but very very important!
• Homeowner’s Insurance – also vital for any homeowner
• Burglar proofing – for obvious reasons
• Regular Home Inspections and Professional Remedies (if and when suggested)
• Fire proofing – fire detectors and alarms, sprinklers, extinguishers…
• Regular General Maintenance – quick replacement of broken or missing parts

This might seem a lot… (probably because it is!), but every home owner who wants to live in peace and enjoy their investment will definitely have to cover the list highlighted above. It’s an on going process that only stops when you either die or sell the property. Constant improvements like repainting and good general maintenance to prevent problems like moisture, mold, termites or other pests also help to boost your home’s equity. This puts you in a better position as a seller, or when borrowing from lenders.

Protecting your biggest investment might seem like an obvious thing but Kimberly J. Howard points out a few facts that most homeowners overlook. Even paying down your mortgage loan to remain free of any debt is a way of protecting your biggest asset too! However, her main focus is on “physical protection” and this is what she has to say:

Protecting Your Greatest Asset – Your Home

Your biggest investment is likely your home. You can protect it – in ways that go beyond staying current on the mortgage.

A home is more than a financial investment. It is an emotional investment. The feeling of owing your dream house is the experience of a lifetime. You relish having something that’s all yours – a place where your own style statement tells the world who you are.

There are three crucial areas to focus on: access control (security), fire prevention-response and maintenance… here are the details

But wait… before you get in over your head with excitement as a new home owner, please turn your attention back insurance and more specifically… “Title Insurance”. Please also note that the title examination and insurance process should come before you close! Imagine the shock when you buy a home for your family then get kicked out 2 years later on a technicality just because you did not follow due diligence?

Warning: You can lose EVERYTHING on a home purchase deal for failure of securing a title insurance policy that would probably cost you $250! one-time premium.

The NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) has given a detailed guide on how home buyers should go about protecting their property investment from matters touching on title insurance. The publication also highlights the importance of learning about title insurance as a home owner or prospecting buyer. Here is a sneak peek of the informative article:

TITLE INSURANCE
Protecting Your Home Investment Against Unknown Title Defects

Most first-time home buyers are familiar with various types of insurance (e.g., auto, life), but are unaware of what title insurance is, and the role it plays in real estate transactions. In the rush to close such transactions as quickly as possible, title insurance is typically an area that consumers commonly overlook in the home buying process.

If you borrow money to finance the purchase of a home or property, a lending institution will likely require you to buy a title insurance policy to protect its interest. As a consumer, it is in your best interest to be well-informed about title insurance, how title insurance works and key areas to be addressed when purchasing title insurance… do you need title insurance?

Now that you have title insurance catered for, it’s time to find out how home insurance works in general. Knowing what’s covered and what’s not covered in your policy is very important and it could save you some serious financial loses in future. Did you know most home insurance policy owners get dropped by their insuring company for making too many small claims?

Well, for those still in the dark about home insurance and what is legally covered in most policies, here’s a short video prepared by Central Insurance titled “Insurance 101 – Homeowners Coverages”. Check out the video:

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Declutter For Pre-Listing

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Protecting Your Biggest Investment was first published on Home Inspector Experts

from Home Inspector Experts