the-right-Illinois-home-inspector
Choosing the right home inspector for this major investment can be difficult.
Loyalty Issue
I believe impartiality is a key to avoiding complaints. Home inspectors are often asked to whom we are loyal to during our inspection. Some say we are loyal to the client who pays our fee. This is my main belief. Others say our loyalty is to the agent who brought us together with the client. Still others say that we are loyal to the seller whose home we are in. In my opinion, I also believe our loyalty is to the home. We should represent its condition as accurately as possible for anyone who reads our report.
Unlike most professionals, you may not have the opportunity to meet me until after you hire me. With this in mind I need to gain your trust before we meet and do everything I can to keep it after the day is over in hope of you referring me to someone new.
Different inspectors have varying qualifications, equipment, experience, reporting methods, and yes, different pricing. I have years of hands on experience and continue to increase my knowledge and keep in tune with new designing techniques and codes. A good home inspection takes time and a good eye to find things others don't. Ultimately a thorough inspection depends heavily on the individual inspector's own effort.
If you honor me by permitting me to inspect your new or present home, I guarantee that I will give you my very best effort to make you completely satisfied and confident you have chose the right inspector.
This I promise you.
Christopher B. Currins
Q. Before we bought our home, we called five home inspectors to compare quotes for an inspection. What surprised us was the wide range in prices. By shopping around, we saved nearly $200 on the price of our inspection. Why do some inspectors charge so much more for the same service?
A. Home inspectors don't charge more for the same service. In nearly every case, they charge more because their inspection services are more thorough and more comprehensive, because they are significantly more experienced at inspecting homes, and because they disclose more of the conditions that would be of concern to you as a buyer. Inspectors who charge less, particularly those who charge $200 less, are sometimes new to the inspection business and lack the skills to perform the kind of inspection you, as a buyer, would want. Or they charge less because, they are trying to get more Realtor referrals to increase their businesses. The question you should now be asking isn't "why do some inspectors charge so much more?", but rather, "what defects did my bargain home inspector fail to disclose?"
When shopping for a home inspector, the last question you should ask is "how much is the fee?" The primary and essential questions are:
• How long have you been a home inspector?
• What previous experience do have regarding home construction and design?
• What are your professional and home inspecting education credentials?
The purchase price of your home was probably in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. An investment of this size warrants a degree of scrutiny that far outweighs the value of a $200 savings in the cost of an inspection. The defects that await discovery by a qualified home inspector might involve repair costs of several hundred or several thousand dollars. These defects could involve significant safety issues related to electrical, heating, and fireplace systems, the integrity of the roof, the framing construction in the attic, the foundations, ground drainage, etc.
The ability of a home inspector to discover the many possible defects in a home increases with years of professional experience, and home inspectors who acquire high levels of such experience set their prices accordingly and fairly. Home buyers who price-shop for their home inspection are hereby warned that they will get what they pay for.
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