For many of our parents or grandparents, buying a home was not the same complicated process as it is today. In some ways their way of life was easier, more peaceful, and in some ways, better. Today buying a home is an extremely complicated process. One of the many difference between buying a home today as opposed to back in the older generations time is the home inspection.

Our parents or grandparents would generally inspect a home themselves. Maybe the difference in the general occupations from blue collar to white collar had an effect on this but more recently, in a residential real estate transaction, the buyer in almost all cases the buyer has the right to ask for an inspection contingency before the home closes.

With the new generation of home inspection contingencies comes many new workers to the field. The true issue now in days is choosing the right inspector. So many inspectors are not truly qualified but are more qualified at pretending to be qualified. The choosing a home inspector dilemma is just another reason why a home buyer should hire a realtor. An experienced realtor will be able to recommend the tried and true inspectors who have been consistent and done a great job continually. Regardless of the realtor suggestion, here are six principles that can be used to choose a qualified inspector.

The first principle is the most obvious, ask an inspector about there qualifications. Sticking clear of yes or no questions and just get the inspector talking about themselves. Pretend that this is a job interview, because literally you are hiring a contractor to work for you. Find out about their personal experience in the industry.

The second principle is to understand the inspector’s scope. Ask what areas of the home he will inspect. For example, a leaky roof can cost thousands to repair, ask the inspector if the roof will be inspected. Or if the pool needs to be resurfaced or is leaking, the inspector should catch that problem and save the buyer the thousands it costs to have the pool resurfaced.

The third principle is to ask the inspector to allow you to view their check off sheet. The ideal sheet will be orderly, easy to read, and each bullet point will have an area to actually write in the comment. Ideally the inspector will be writing lots of notes which shows they are taking their time and really inspecting.

The fourth principle is again to take the hiring process seriously. Most employers ask for a list of numbers as references to past employers before they hire any new worker. Do the same with an inspector, ask for the numbers of past homeowners and call them to check the inspectors work.

The fifth principle is to see if the inspector belongs to any national organizations. Most do not, but the ones that do will usually extra training and certificates.

The last principle is to find out if the company that employs the inspectors carries any insurance that will cover an inspection gone wrong. Say the inspector misses something important, will they take responsibility for that after the homeowner has moved into the home.

Author Bio: Juhlin writes about Gilbert AZ homes for sale, Chandler Arizona real estate, Queen Creek AZ homes for sale and Glendale AZ homes for sale.

Category: Real Estate
Keywords: homes, real estate, buying a home, selling a home, realtor, realtors, loan, mortgage, foreclosure, s