Selecting a home inspector based on price alone may be the most expensive mistake you
will ever make!

Top 10 Questions

Thank you for visiting our website. Most visitors to any home inspection website are purchasing or selling a home, or have a home renovation project in progress. If you have visited other sites, as you should, you have surely seen the word certified used with astonishing frequency. It seems that everyone in the profession is certified by someone. Therein lies the problem for the consumer. Not all certifications are equal!

Certification can be obtained by taking correspondence courses, going to class for a few evenings, or if an inspector is in a hurry to get certified, taking an online exam without having to prove who they are. One television reporter actually took and passed the exam, using their engineer for help on an few questions. When choosing an inspector, always look for the International Code Council Residential Combination Inspector Certification. Verify that the inspector actually has an active R5 certification by checking the International Code Council list of certified inspectors at www.iccsafe.org.

With all of this confusion, the consumer is often parted from their money by someone calling themselves a certified home inspector. People are taken in by radio and television advertisements offering to allow them to “never pick up a tool again”. Do you want your home or building inspected by someone who doesn’t use a ladder, flashlight, electrical tester, etc? They are taught more about how to keep from inspecting areas, such as attics, crawl spaces and electrical panels than what to look for in those areas. Most are not taught to inspect to a recognized standard, such as the Standards of Practice of the Georgia Association of Home Inspectors (the most stringent of any professional association in the United States). Many are taught to inspect any home in 20 minutes to two hours, including writing the report.

The bottom line is that it usually takes much more time than two hours to inspect a home, even a small home built on a slab. Do you really think a two hour inspection (including report writing) can be as exhaustive as one that takes three or more hours, with the report prepared after the inspection is completed? Ask the inspector what part of the inspection is being left out. He or she may not know because they do not have enough education about home inspections to know the difference.

You will find that some inspectors also do home repairs, renovations, or are even builders. They don’t practice the profession full time. Often they are basing their findings on what they think is a reasonable practice, not on code or construction knowledge. Some will even make repairs on properties they inspect. At ProSpect, we do not engage in activities that could be construed as a conflict of interest.

You probably didn’t pick your building or home because it was the cheapest one you looked at. Be wise and don’t choose your home inspector just because they are the cheapest. You are paying for the inspector’s knowledge and experience. If you pick the inspector based on price alone, you may get someone who is lacking in one or both of these areas. The quality of your inspection may only be discovered when you resell the property. If the next purchaser selects a well qualified professional inspector, he or she may find numerous items the cheap inspector overlooked. You may be asked to make repairs to items that have been present since you bought the property.

Please read the article “10 Questions to Ask Your Home Inspector” to find out what questions to ask when interviewing any inspector. Feel free to print the article and use it as a guide in selecting your inspector.

If you have questions that are not answered to your satisfaction on the website, please Contact Us.