Have you recently decided to purchase a home? Are you looking for a great inspector to make sure your investment is a worthwhile endeavor? It’s likely you’ve been told by your realtor, friends, or family to make sure you have a home inspection performed. And certainly we at INSPECT, INC. would tell you that you need look no further, you can rest assured that we are a sound choice. But how do you, the consumer, ultimately choose a home inspector that you trust is reliable, and what attributes make a great one?
You don’t want to follow someone’s recommendation or hire a mutual friend only to find that he or she missed an important defect in your home. While there are many important qualities in an inspector, such as professional affiliations and continuing education, the number one factor guiding your inspector search should be experience level – specifically the number of years that the inspector has been an active home inspector and the number of inspections he or she has personally performed. The number of inspections should reach well into the thousands, preferably around 5,000 or more, and with that many inspections in their history, it is likely an experienced inspector will have been actively inspecting for a decade or longer. Sufficient experience is the one characteristic of your home inspector that you must insist on, otherwise there is no point paying for a professional inspection!
The single most effective way for an inspector to develop their essential skills is through experience in the field. Classroom exercises can only teach the basic flow of a home inspection and usually involve following a simple check-list through a home. While this education is essential to building a good foundation, it is the many yea
rs of hands-on experience which teaches an inspector where problem spots occur and how to quickly identify them. Certain building styles have common defects, and homes built in different eras have unique building materials that are prone to specific problems. Having a truly qualified inspector can mean the difference between a dream-come-true and disaster: The discovery (or lack thereof) of defects, unbiased disclosure, and a clear understanding of all the home’s components are all essential to making a sound investment.
Buying a home is likely the single biggest investment you will make in your lifetime. Making sure it is safe for you and your family is the most important reason for having a home inspection. Michael Doetsch, owner of INSPECT, INC has personally performed more than 11,000 inspections over the past 25 years. You can rest assured that INSPECT, INC. is a team of home inspectors with extensive experience who are at the top of their field, and we will provide you with the information you need to make an educated decision about your investment.
