3 More Tips for Finding The Right Home Inspector

The answer to this question if you live in the San Antonio or New Braunfels area would be to call one of the home inspectors at Ensure Home Inspections of course. If you live outside of our service area, we can give you some advice as to what you should look for in a home inspector.

 

Verify they are licensed / certified

1) First and most important, if you live in a state or area where home inspection is a regulated trade, then you need to verify your home inspectors license. For instance, anybody that wants to inspect any home that is subject of a real estate transaction in the State of Texas needs to acquire a license from the Texas Real Estate Commission. Mine for instance is TREC #23813. Florida is another state that requires licensing, as well as Washington, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, and a bunch more. If they don’t a license and you live in a state that requires licensing, don’t hire them. Period.

 

Verify that they are insured

2) Are they insured? In most states that require licensing, E & O insurance, or errors and omissions insurance is also required. E & O insurance is what home inspectors use to insure potential home-buyers that if they fail to find a deficiency that they should have, the home-owner will have some recourse. Beware though, as every home inspector on the planet at this point will have a “limitation of remedies” clause that limits an individuals ability to sue the inspector. General liability insurance is also a good thing to look for in an inspector, as it shows they acknowledge the risks of the profession. Climbing around attics means that eventually you will step somewhere you thought a joist was but wasn’t and put your foot right through someone’s ceiling. When that happens, general liability is there to ensure that the hole gets repairs quickly and correctly.

 

Ask them how long it will take to perform the inspection

3) Ask them for a reasonably accurate time estimate of how long the inspection will take. If they say less than two hours, move along. If they say less than 3 hours and the home is 50 years or more older, 2500ft² or more in size, or the home has an accessible pier-and-beam foundation, move along. Using the TREC Standards of Practice as our guide, there is simply no way on earth that anybody can accurately observe and/or test all the components we are required to test in less than two hours unless they are practicing time-trials. There’s just no way. Inspectors that give you longer time estimates are performing a more accurate and thorough inspection than the guys that race through it to get to the next job.

There are a lot of different variables here, but these items are key for this post. Are you looking at hiring a home inspector and would like more info on what to look for? Email us!