Puzzled about the Home Inspection Process?

My name is Pam McAlexander. Having been in the mortgage business since 1986 and working alongside my husband, who’s been a home inspector since 2000, I have had a lot of opportunities to offer advice in this field. We have conducted approximately 5,000 home inspections in this time period. We have also worked directly with mortgage companies who provide renovation loans. The services we provide for those types of loans involve a similar home inspection that went several steps further. We would detail out the work needing to be done to these houses, pricing the work using average contractor pricing, and preparing contractor bid packages for the buyers to use to obtain their contractor. We’ve overseen approximately 3,500 properties under renovation that we conducted the initial home inspections for as well. My husband and I have owned our own inspection business since 2000. I believe when you have this type of knowledge and you can pass that information along to help people, you should make it readily available. Together, we’ve found there is a lot to teach people about this process and found this to be the best way to get the word out. We really wanted to bring the home inspection process right to you, as it should occur, without having to be the one actually conducting it. During the entire home buying process, there are many pieces, that when you put them all together, fit just like the pieces of a puzzle. I’ve created several pieces to this book so that all parties: the buyer, seller, realtor, contractor, or home inspector, can work together to accomplish the same goal. This book will start with the home buyer and what to check for when hiring a home inspector. Even if you’ve owned one or more houses in your lifetime, there are still things that buyers never thought to check when they decide to put a contract in on a house. I think you’re so excited about the house that you don’t think about something as simple as “Which light or outlet does that switch operate?” Also, you assume that your realtor or the seller already knows everything that might be wrong with the house and that they’ve already brought all the obvious things to your attention. If you’re a first time homebuyer and you came from living at home, or were in a landlord situation, you will gain some very valuable information from this piece. The most important piece being: Mom and Dad aren’t fixing it! And, you don’t have a landlord anymore!!! You’re on your own, welcome to homeownership. Next we move onto the home seller. This process can be so easy for you, as long as you take the time to cover a few simple steps before you even think about listing your house. This piece is geared towards what to look for, how to correct it, and why it’s important to take care of it before the buyer’s home inspector finds something. Also, it will tell you what your role in the home inspection process should be. Then we get to the realtor. Most realtors are advised by their brokers on what role they should play in this whole process. Sometimes you listen, and sometimes you just wing it. Know how to prepare your buyer’s for the home inspection. Know what to communicate to your sellers to prepare them for the home inspection. Know what should and should not be done at the home inspection (on your end). Understand that just because a contractor made some repairs does not mean they were done properly (even if you know the contractor personally). For those contractors or “handymen”, hired by the buyer or seller to “fix things” prior to settlement, know what’s expected of you. Know what you’re obligated to provide as a warranty of the work you did. Best of all, know who’s paying you and when to expect payment. And for those individuals already conducting home inspections or those wanting to get into this field, there are some very valuable tips that will lessen your liability, educate you more, and most importantly, possibly even help you to get repeat business. Lastly, don’t you think some handy maintenance tips would be helpful? Knowing what requires an annual maintenance and what needs to be checked more or less frequently could also benefit a homeowner. Hopefully, you’re all aware of basic tips like making it a part of the Daylight Savings Time to check and change the batteries in your smoke detectors. But do you know how frequently you should change the filters on your furnace or HVAC (heating, ventilation and cooling) system? Do you know what to do or when to call someone if your toilet keeps running or the garbage disposal locks up? The primary purpose behind this book was to help people take responsibility when buying a property. The secondary purpose was to help them be a little more educated and to try to prevent them from “learning the hard way”. Buying a house is one of the largest expenses you’ll probably make in a lifetime, so it’s best to be as informed as possible with what to expect. I trust that you’ll be able to come away from this book a lot more prepared for “the process”, or in the case of having owned homes before, a little more prepared the next time around.