How to Pick a Home Inspector

Q: I need to know how to pick a home inspector. On your website, you stated that people need to research the person they hire to do a home inspection. Can you please provide the methodology and resources with which to do this.

Most websites are populated with ‘ringers’ and their only purpose is to inflate positive reviews with no real basis in fact. Some of these sites would be the last place in the world to check. Besides the Better Business Bureau and the state’s attorney general’s office, what other sources would provide accurate information?

Finding A Great Home Inspector

A: You’ve asked a great question and it’s worthwhile going over some information on finding a good home inspector. First, talk to people that you trust. If you like your real estate agent, that agent can (and should) give you some names of qualified home inspectors they work with regularly. You can ask friends and family to suggest a few people they’ve worked with – and that they liked and had a good experience with. You can also ask any local builders, architects or developers you know.

Now, if you don’t know anyone to ask, you’ll need to start your search online. We don’t recommend simply doing a web search for home inspectors. Be aware that the top spaces in any search browser are typically reserved for those companies paying for space. While they may be great, they could also be terrible. Just understand that they are advertising.

Other types of real estate websites may purport to review home inspectors but actually only list firms that have paid the sites to show their names. Some have better lists of professionals in some areas than others. Sites like NextDoor and Angi (formerly Angie’s List) offer free basic listings and charge for bigger, better listings, and also offer ratings with prices. Angi also sends business to members of their Pro Network. Finally, there are ratings websites for every sort of industry – but you don’t know if they’re real, if they only rate companies that pay them, or if the ratings and reviews by “customers” are real or fake.

Home Inspections: Mold Comes Back To Bite

Once you’ve collected a list of home inspection companies, you need to interview them to find out what they will do for you.

In his law practice, Sam has seen inspectors provide reports that indicate that the home inspector was simply checking off boxes but didn’t really do a thorough inspection of the home. Other home inspectors didn’t provide long inspection reports but Sam could tell that they were thorough in their inspections. You should directly ask the inspector what kind of inspection they do, how long it typically takes and what sort of report you can expect (and how quickly).

Today, home inspectors often use digital cameras, moisture meters, infrared cameras, drones, and electrical test kits. Each of these tools helps a bit in uncovering items that you might not see with your naked eye. Digital cameras help in viewing areas of homes that might not be visible such as crawl spaces or areas behind furniture. These cameras also assist the inspector and you in locating problem areas and recording exactly what the problem was and where.

Bad Home Inspection: How do we report him?

Inspectors use moisture meters to let them know if certain areas of a home have water infiltration or moisture problems. They use infrared cameras to see whether furnaces and air conditioning systems are working right and whether electrical panels are running hot.

They use drones to look at roofs, around homes to determine if trees are too close to homes and other potential problems with roofs or siding that might not be visible from the street. Lastly, they use electrical test kits to make sure that wiring to outlets was done correctly and that outlets are properly grounded.

When you decide to hire a home inspector, you should ask what tools and technology they use in their home inspection. Recently, Sam reviewed home inspection reports where the home inspector used none of these tools and others where the home inspector used all of them. Sam’s experience has been that the inspectors that use most or all of these tools (depending on what the conditions of the property call for) generally produce better home inspection reports. The homeowner can see the problem in the report and can have a better understanding of the issue to make a determination as to whether the home is right for them or not.

Home Inspection Uncovers Serious Issue

Over the years, we’ve fielded questions from readers where home inspectors have noted possible problems with a home. We suspect that some of these issues could have been investigated further, and possibly eliminated or confirmed, on the day of the inspection with some of these devices. The point is, when you hire a home inspector, you should inquire about their inspection techniques and the tools they use to help in the inspection. It can save you time and money.

When interviewing the inspector, ask if you can come to the inspection, taking notes, video and photos. If the inspector doesn’t want you tagging along, it’s a red flag. You’re paying for this inspector and they should be your window into the mechanical and structural systems. Is the inspector polished, professional and respectful? If not, you may not want to do business with them. Ask them to provide a few recent references – from inspections done recently, not a dozen years ago, and preferably similar to the home you’re buying. In other words, if you’re buying a 100-year old multi-story Queen Anne, you want to talk to a customer who is the owner of a similarly-aged property.

Home Inspection Misses

You can’t do enough research on the people you hire. Look up the inspectors on your list using a web browser to review what comments or complaints they have received. You can also read reviews and make a determination to see if those reviews are real or not. You can investigate whether the inspectors are licensed by the state in which you are hiring them, whether they are members of ASHI or ASHRAE. (American Society of Home Inspectors or American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.) These are the two main organizations for home inspectors.

While membership in these organizations does not mean that the home inspector you hire is good or bad, it at least indicates that the home inspector has taken steps (typically hours of class and an exam) to be a part of an organization and may continue to educate themselves in the home inspection arena.

Lastly, does the home inspector have any complaints against them with the Better Business Bureau or the state’s attorney general’s office? If so, you might want to take a pass. But remember, some home inspectors may not be members of the Better Business Bureau and may be great inspectors.

Home Inspections: home inspectors make mistakes

And some will miss things or make mistakes. Ultimately, you have to make the decision on hiring a home inspector based on all of the information you can find and the sources that provided you with the information.