Home Inspector

Macdaddy4738

Macdaddy4738

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
So it's official, I accepted a counter offer on a house today. I'm looking for a good home inspector around the Troy area. Any recommendations?
 
Do your own inspection and save 400 bucks.
 
Actually, majority of the lenders will not require a "home inspection" the only one that's "required" is the FHA inspection & appraisal.
 
No transfer of liability with home inspectors anyway.

Read the fine print they assume no
Liability for anything they find or don't find.

Call local contractors in your area to find a good inspector.

The realtors will mostly know the ones that will only tell you what you want to hear.

I had separate termite, electrical, Hvac, a general contractor and a separate home inspector look at our house before we closed. Each separate contractor went more in depth than the home inspector in their specific field, but the home inspector did a good job of looking at the house as a whole and documenting all issues.
 
Still, it's worth it. I found a lot of them that do everything, don't inspect AC units or septic systems though. So you gotta have those done separate.

Every single thing you find from here out can be negotiated or you can void the contract. It has paid off for me both times to get an inspector. Actually, here's the time when you make enemies with the owner.:flipoff2:

If it's on a septic system, it's wise to at least do a flow test from the distribution box with a garden hose. But a pumping is wise as well. I was even able to negotiate cause my baffle had fallen down. It was an easy pvc fix but still, it about paid for the septic inspection.

Plus it's a piece of mind if you plan on living there any length of time.
 
Pay me $400 and I'll drive down and walk through it with you and hurt your feelings, cause that's what you really want.

On a serious note, find some friends in the construction world and have them meet you there. You need a framer/carpenter/roofer/HVAC guy to walk you around.

What year was the house built? Slab or craw space? How many different additions have occurred and were there permits pulled. Get info from county GIS to help you figure out things. A home inspector is a waste of money if you have some common building knowledge.
 
ecoast said:
... that might not fly with the lender.
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by law a NC lender can not require an inspection...fed entities are excluded.
Its a FFHA (Fed Fair Housing Act) thing.

Fabrik8 said:
$400 is worth the transfer of liability in many situations.
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Again NC law, an inspector's exposure is limited to the cost of the inspection only. You have no recourse beyond that amount.
 
On a related note - do NOT do FHA financing at any cost. W/ the new rules you get really screwed in the long run.
 
What new rules?
 
The PMI equivalent on new FHA loans is permanent and cant be removed at any LTV ratio.
 
6BangBronk said:
Still, it's worth it. I found a lot of them that do everything, don't inspect AC units or septic systems though. So you gotta have those done separate.

Every single thing you find from here out can be negotiated or you can void the contract. It has paid off for me both times to get an inspector. Actually, here's the time when you make enemies with the owner.:flipoff2:

If it's on a septic system, it's wise to at least do a flow test from the distribution box with a garden hose. But a pumping is wise as well. I was even able to negotiate cause my baffle had fallen down. It was an easy pvc fix but still, it about paid for the septic inspection.

Plus it's a piece of mind if you plan on living there any length of time.
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It's on town water/sewer.

GotWood said:
Pay me $400 and I'll drive down and walk through it with you and hurt your feelings, cause that's what you really want.

On a serious note, find some friends in the construction world and have them meet you there. You need a framer/carpenter/roofer/HVAC guy to walk you around.

What year was the house built? Slab or craw space? How many different additions have occurred and were there permits pulled. Get info from county GIS to help you figure out things. A home inspector is a waste of money if you have some common building knowledge.
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The first time I looked at the place, I brought the Chief Building Inspector with me (who is also a licensed contractor). He gave it a good report. I know it needs a new roof within the next 6-7 years, and probably a new heat pump installed in that same time frame. I have guys to do all my trades if needed.

Built in '65, added on to in '85. It looks well done though. It's a partial crawl with a 500 sq. ft. finished basement, split level. This county wasn't required to get a full inspections office until 1985 so there would have been no permits. I've crawled through most of the house. Couldn't get in the attic because the hatch is in the woman closet which is completely full of stuff. The crawl needs the insulation tucked back up, but it seemed dry. Didn't smell moldy or anything like that.

RatLabGuy said:
On a related note - do NOT do FHA financing at any cost. W/ the new rules you get really screwed in the long run.
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I did USDA. It too has essentially permanent PMI, but it scales with whatever the loan is, so it goes down every year. Frankly, with the cost of the PMI, broken into the 30 year pay...it comes in much lower than a full 20% down payment anyways.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
Built in '65, added on to in '85. It looks well done though. It's a partial crawl with a 500 sq. ft. finished basement, split level. This county wasn't required to get a full inspections office until 1985 so there would have been no permits. I've crawled through most of the house. Couldn't get in the attic because the hatch is in the woman closet which is completely full of stuff. The crawl needs the insulation tucked back up, but it seemed dry. Didn't smell moldy or anything like that.
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I'd definitely request they move the stuff so you can get into the attic. I'd guess a lot of the wiring is up there and it'd be good to see, plus then you can se what the insulation situation is; '65, it could be just piles of rock wool. Plus then you can really see what the condition of the roof is.

I did USDA. It too has essentially permanent PMI, but it scales with whatever the loan is, so it goes down every year. Frankly, with the cost of the PMI, broken into the 30 year pay...it comes in much lower than a full 20% down payment anyways.
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Interesting, but you also have the up-front insurance payment that they roll into the loan (so you end up financing extra) + do they still have an extra % added to the interest rate?
You have a flaw in your logic above too, that 20% paid down to get out of PMI is *your money* that lowers the debt of the loan. You basically still have the $$. The amount of money paid to FHA PMI is literally $$ lost, you never get that money back for anything. You're just padding the fund to cover other people's bad spending decisions.
To compare them, add up the total $$ paid out (including everything) overt he 30 years, you'll see.
And keep in mind that PMI is tax deductible today, but there's no guarantee it will be next year.

W/ the new rules you'll pretty much always be better off doing a conventional load even w/ PMI than the FHA if you can at all swing it.

Think about it this way - who knows when, in 5 years maybe, you could have an unexpected windfall from an inheritance or something. W/ conventional you could use it to pay down the loan enough to eliminate the PMI. W/ FHA you're stuck no matter what, for 30 years. And the way interest rates are right now, probability is that a re-finance w/ a new loan to make the switch will net you a higher rate than now.
 
RatLabGuy said:
I'd definitely request they move the stuff so you can get into the attic. I'd guess a lot of the wiring is up there and it'd be good to see, plus then you can se what the insulation situation is; '65, it could be just piles of rock wool. Plus then you can really see what the condition of the roof is.



Interesting, but you also have the up-front insurance payment that they roll into the loan (so you end up financing extra) + do they still have an extra % added to the interest rate?
You have a flaw in your logic above too, that 20% paid down to get out of PMI is *your money* that lowers the debt of the loan.
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DUH! I feel stupid for that thought. Totally understand what you're saying.
 
If insulation is hanging down, that's a sign of it being wet.

Fiberglass insulation loses 36% of r-value when the moisture content is raised 1.5%.

Check the moisture in the wood, this will tell you more than a "moldy smell".

Most of the molds humans "smell" live on the exposed soils.

The molds that cause wood rot, typically aren't as noticeable to a normal sniff test.

Mold, Powder post beetles, termites, asbestos, and lead paint are all concerns.

Asbestos was still used during the time it was built as is lead paint.

Home inspectors are great for documenting a whole house inspection for negotiations, but individual specific contractors are far better in their own field of work as their scope will be more specific, but more thorough.

For reference, my home inspections was $375, the roofer came by at no cost, and showed me the 5 years remaining on warranty.

The Hvac inspection was $88, and worth it as he checked the heat exchanger and refrig pressure levels and temp changes.

Termite inspection was $90.

General contractor, plumber, and electrical contractor came by for free to check over all reps practice systems, and the overall integrity of the house.
 
GotWood said:
On a serious note, find some friends in the construction world and have them meet you there. You need a framer/carpenter/roofer/HVAC guy to walk you around.
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So I opted to go this route. Electrician and plumber will do it for free (well, the plumber is going to kick my ass in a round of golf..). HVAC and the building contractor are fairly well priced, so I'll come out at around 200. Definitely the best way to go here.

I feel like everything is going too well with this purchase.
 
I used a pretty reputable home inspector and feel it was a waste of my 400 bucks that I paid him. We had agreed on a time to meet at the house and when I got there he was already there and said he had been there an hour or so. (Red flag one) there were many other issues that I feel should have been in the report and would have given me some things to negotiate on price. The biggest issue that pissed me off about his "inspection" was he said it looked like the toilet in the master had leaked around the ring, and recommended the sub floor be replaced..... Just the subfloor I asked, he said yep.
So I had them tear out the floor and replace it befor we bought the house.



Yep it was just the subfloor.....
image.jpg
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The new piece of osb is what they replaced.....
All this was visible from underneath....


Am I bitter lol yeah just a lil, but I also kinda blame myself for not crawling under there also. Kinda hard to do with a two year old in tow though......

And don't get me started on the mold............

You may be better off going with your contractor friend and the other guys. Friends are usually brutally honest!
 
^^^^ what he said. Find someone that will hurt your feelings. It doesn't mean it's a bad house, just helps to have an idea of what you can live with.
 
You guys are expecting more than most inspectors can deliver. They can't see everything and they can't do anything destructive.

They will typically find 90% of the issues. Some are better than others. An inspector that is also a GC is typically better.
 
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