Home Inspection Services in San Antonio TX

Real Estate Inspection for Home Buyers

A Real Estate Inspection, commonly known as a “Home Inspection”, performed using the Standards of Practice set forth by the Texas Real Estate Commission. A vast, vast majority of house inspections performed are for home buyers, whether the property be for a primary residence or as an income property / rental. All home inspection services include inspection of the Foundation, Grading and Drainage, Roof Covering, Roof Structure, Walls, Ceilings, Floors, Windows, Doors, Electrical Systems, Heating System / Cooling System and Ductwork, Plumbing Systems such as Fixtures, Supply Piping, Drains, Water Heaters and Gas Supply, and most permanent appliances such as Dishwashers, Disposers, Ranges, Exhaust Fans. The primary concern of a home inspection, especially on older homes, is “performance”, as in “is this system or component doing its job?”.

The goal of the Home Inspection is to give a prospective buyer a general overview of the condition of the structure at the time of the inspection. A written digital report with pictures will be provided after the inspection is completed, no later than the following morning. After the home inspection is performed, the homebuyer is welcome to review the inspection report and ask questions to the home inspector either at the end of the inspection or over the phone for a personalized consultation. After the report walkthrough and consultation, the homebuyer should have a good idea about what they are getting themselves into with this particular home.

Pre-Listing Home Inspection For Home Sellers

A Real Estate Inspection performed under the exact same Standards of Practice outlined above, but performed for a prospective home seller. A Pre-Listing inspection identifies deficiencies that the buyer’s inspection would identify, so that the seller can repair and address any problems the home has to ensure a smoother transaction. The idea behind a pre-listing inspection is that basically every home buyer is going to want an inspection, even if only for information purposes (such as if they waived their inspection contingency). The seller’s home inspection gets in front of the buyer’s home inspector to point out and identify any major issues that might stop the transaction ahead of time, while reducing the home seller’s liability and creating a sense of trustworthyness by showing good faith.

When a Pre-Listing Inspection is performed, we will inspect the home exactly as we would if we working for a buyer, and then consult with the seller after the inspection to help them understand if any major problems were observed and in some cases provide recommendations for practical repairs. We then provide the same written digital inspection report to the seller’s (and their real estate agent if using one) so that the seller can disclose this inspection report with the listing. This removes the suprise factor of a buyer’s home inspection so that prospective buyers know what they are walking into before shelling out several hundred dollars for their own inspector and helps build trust.

Home Inspections For New Build / New Construction

A Real Estate Inspection performed using the Standards of Practice set forth by the Texas Real Estate Commission for the buyer of a newly constructed home, typically prior to move in. Effectively the same thing as a typical Home-Buyer’s inspection for a previously occupied home, but when inspecting new build homes we refer to building code a lot more often. As mentioned above, home inspections primary concern structural performance, but new build home’s probably haven’t been standing long enough for “performance” to be a useful metric. Because of this, we will much more frequently cite building code and/or material manufacturer’s installation instructions in our report when we justify problems with a house.

Why would a home buyer need to get a newly constructed house inspected? Because builders, and the people they hire, are human. In the Post-Covid19 world, humans make a lot of mistakes. Things get forgotten. Contractors get cheap. Roofs leak shortly after they are installed. Insullation doesn’t get installed in all required places and rarely to the necessary thickness. Brand new furnaces have gas leaks. I could go on for days about all the things wrong with new build homes, especially since 2021. Get your money’s worth out of your builder and get your new construction home inspected.

The home buyer recieves the same walkthrough and consultation as with a pre-existing home. Afterwards, we will email the inspection report, which we recommend the home buyer send to the builder’s representative so that they can tidy up loose ends and problems prior to the home buyer taking possession of the newly constructed home.

11 Month / One-Year Builder’s Warranty Inspection

Yet again, a Real Estate Inspection performed using the Standards of Practice set forth by the Texas Real Estate Commission. If you bought a brand new home within the last year, your house is likely still under some type of warranty. A home inspection at this point will allow you to document things that have occured over time to be fixed, as some problems take time to present themselves. This is also a great opportunity to talk to your inspector and ask questions about what is going on with your home.

Multi-Family Dwelling Inspection for a Duplex, Triplex or Quadplex

While more commonly performed on investment properties, multi-family dwellings up to 4-units are still subject to the TREC Standards of Practice and still need to be inspected in order to evaluate the condition of the property. Yes, this means that a multi-family home inspection is effectively two, three, or even 4 small home inspections wrapped inside one large exterior inspection. Multi-family homes have special needs and conditions that need to be evaluated separately from single-family homes, but they still contain many of the same components. Typically these properties are also occupied, sometimes by less than ideal renters, and this requires even more care to be respectful when inspecting these people’s homes while still inspecting the systems and components that need to be seen.

This inspection includes a consultation at the end, either in person or over the phone, so that the prospective buyer has a good idea of the condition of the property and what the immediate, major concerns are for the structure.

*Rental Property / Home Maintenance Inspection

If you’ve had a tenant in place for 12 months or more, you need a rental property inspection to determine the condition of the structure. Water leaks occur, structural movement happens, things just fail. A home maintenance inspection is a regular home inspection that will allow you to identify and repair any problems your home currently has before they become bigger problems. If you’re comfortable where you’re at currently but think you  might be selling in the next few years, you need to get a maintenance inspection to keep your home in top condition.

Other Home Inspection Services in San Antonio & Surrounding Areas:

• Wood-Destroying Insect or Termite Inspection
• Foundation Inspection
• Roof Covering Inspection
• Infrared or Thermal Imaging
• Irrigation System & Sprinkler Inspections
• Pool Inspection and Spa Inspection
• Water Well Inspections & Water Quality Testing
• Septic System Inspections (Aerobic Septic System Only)