Choose Your Home Inspector Wisely

Hiring a professional home inspector before purchasing a home is a smart thing to do,

but how does one find a non-bias inspector?

Only one state recognizes the potential conflict of interest when a real estate agent selling a home also recommends a home inspector to the buyer. Massachusetts is the only state that prohibits an agent selling a home from being involved in the inspector selection process.

Some people may ask, “what’s wrong with the real estate agent recommending a home

inspector to a prospective buyer?” The answer is: A selling real estate agent works for

their client (the seller.) A home inspector works for the person who hires him/her (the

prospective homebuyer.) There have been many cases of unhappy buyers and at least

one court case involving agent referred home inspectors.

http://lawlibrary.rutgers.edu/courts/appellate/a6252-99.opn.html

One home inspector association, the Independent Home Inspectors of North America

http://www.independentinspectors.org/, advocates for the removal of real estate agents

from the home inspector selection process. This organization was started to give

prospective homebuyers a chance to obtain the services of non-bias professional home

inspectors. IHINA director, Dennis Robitaille, admits membership is growing slowly due

to the dependency many inspectors have with real estate agent referrals.

One in five homeowners said they wish they’d inspected the home more carefully before moving in— a according to a survey by Trulia.

In order to compete with other bidders, many homeowners are signing contracts and moving in without getting a professional home inspection. Or hiring the cheapest home inspector, rather than one certified by ASHI.

In competitive markets like  it’s not rare to just forego a home inspection or say you won’t ask for any repairs. People that are doing that and purchasing properties that they could possibly have to dump tens of thousands of dollars into later.

This is the kind of mistake that Trulia real estate expert Michael Corbett says is a “disaster waiting to happen.”

“I would never waive an inspection,” he says. “I would pass on the house before I’d waive on an inspection, mainly because I may get to a house and realize [too late] that there are issues.”

BUYER BEWARE!