Picking a home inspector...

UTfball68

UTfball68

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Location
Granite Quarry
Alright ladies and gents...I took the plunge, and my offer was accepted. Time for the fun to begin. After finding out my company pays my mortgage if they relocate me in 2-3 years (my only hang up to buying a house), I figured now was the time to buy with interest rates as low and home prices creeping back up. I sealed the deal on a 2400 sq/ft home with an attached 3 car (all 10' overheads) and a 4 car detached, all on an acre. The house was originally built in the 70's, but was renovated and added to in the 90's. Two different eras of home building, alot of square footage, and I know there are alot of inspectors that specialize in different areas with different certs. First do the certs mean anything? A company that has come highly recommended to me is NACHi certified and is local, another company out of Charlotte has about 5 different certs and also comes highly recommended. Will the era gap in build dates be a problem area, or will an inspector worth his salt be just fine??? Should certs mean anything in my decision? To my very untrained eye, the heat pump/AC units (2 smaller units) look like they've been there since the renovation (15-20 years old, which I know is old). Will anyone do more than just a visual inspection? If these go out, would they be covered by the 1 year warranty? Anything else I should be concerned about, or research???
 
Nothing to add.... but I had no idea who you were til this, haha just saw this on your Facebook also. Congratulations on the garage, house sounds nice too!

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tireburner1975 said:
Nothing to add.... but I had no idea who you were til this, haha just saw this on your Facebook also. Congratulations on the garage, house sounds nice too!

Sent from my DROID RAZR
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Alright...now I have no idea who you are??? Should I be scared??? But thanks.
 
UTfball68 said:
If these go out, would they be covered by the 1 year warranty? Anything else I should be concerned about, or research???
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Are the sellers offering an add-on home warranty?
If so, the answer is most likely Yes, although IMO the warranty ins. co. is a pain to deal with and will have lots of hoops to ump through.

Congrats on that garage situation though that soudns awesome.
 
After buying a few houses over the years this is what I do now. I have the home inspection, but I also have a person from HVAC / plumbing / electrical at least come out and look those items over also looking at their input. From my times of using home inspectors they usually only specialize in one thing. That was what they were prior to being a home inspector. I would also recommend a home warranty for the first maybe 2 years then drop it as it covers less every year.

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RatLabGuy said:
Are the sellers offering an add-on home warranty?
If so, the answer is most likely Yes, although IMO the warranty ins. co. is a pain to deal with and will have lots of hoops to ump through.

Congrats on that garage situation though that soudns awesome.
Click to expand...

Thanks...garage space was my top priority. Some folks want the curb appeal, some want the updated kitchens and bathrooms...I wanted garage space for my toys. House isn't too shabby either, nothing too major to bring it in to this decade. And yes, the seller agreed to a 1 year warranty.

krzyabncanuck said:
After buying a few houses over the years this is what I do now. I have the home inspection, but I also have a person from HVAC / plumbing / electrical at least come out and look those items over also looking at their input. From my times of using home inspectors they usually only specialize in one thing. That was what they were prior to being a home inspector. I would also recommend a home warranty for the first maybe 2 years then drop it as it covers less every year.

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Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I think the warranty rate I was given was like $400/yr. I want someone to come out and check the HVAC stuff just because I know how expensive that can be, and the units do look to be about 15 years old if I had to guess. I've been looking and searching and most places say they'll only do a visual inspection unless performing some other kind of maintenance. Well, I'm trying to figure out what if anything needs maintenance out the gate. The plan is to replace the units anyway, was just hoping for a couple months worth of buffer before I shelled out another 5-7k.
 
My most recent experience with a home inspector was missing a $13,000 leaking ass roof on our new to us home. See if you have a leg to stand on, and for what period of time, should they miss something major.
 
^^^I came across a 'how to pick a home inspector' article...and it actually suggested asking if the inspector was willing to stand behind their work and warranty anything they should have caught but didn't. I had never heard that before, and it sounds like it would be difficult and expensive to prove...but offer some peace of mind maybe.
 
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