BUILDING INSPECTIONS REVISITED

02.28.08

Upon hearing of a homeowner's "grumbling" about how poor their inspection was on a house they purchased, it seems time to re-visit this topic from this agent"s point of view.

While some complaints might be legitimate, it is my opinion that most inspections, when criticized by the "client", are mostly due to a misunderstanding as to what they are supposed to accomplish.

Looking at one Inspection Company's promotional flyer, it has a skeletal anatomy of a house sketch in which 100 points of reference are noted. More than a few of these items are not even accessible to the normal inspection, but a buyer will likely not ever understand that, and the flyer, in my view, really misrepresents the extent to which an inspection is limited..

Inspections are largely "surface" inspections; that is, inspectors can only "reach" areas that are within eyesight of their "probing". Problems usually show up when owners "dig" into their new home for alterations, physical improvements, and the like, and that is when "other flaws" or problems in the home show up.

Building inspections are not "allowed" to go (much) below surface examinations, and buyers cannot expect that from an inspection, until they own the house. Only then might a full accounting of a house"s condition be known.

©2008, R. Leech features