Topic How to spot a bad home inspector

Home inspections are a valuable tool for both buyers and sellers. They allow the former to gain vital information to negotiate prices, while the latter require inspections to gauge the property value. Home inspections are becoming increasingly more common among home buyers in the New York boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. These inspections can be rather costly.

Therefore, this necessitates having a competent home inspector who can provide you the best home inspecting service. In deciding the right service, it is essential to first sift through all the qualities a home inspector shouldn't have. This article will enable you to do just that and provide you with a standard that allows you to judge whether a home inspector is right for you.

1) Research

Whether you're employing the services of a company or an official contractor, you must conduct thorough research before reaching a decision. Your research should broadly cover two areas.

Firstly, make sure you check the validity of your inspector's certification. You can consult the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to confirm the reviews and ratings of your servicer. An important thing to remember while reviewing credibility is that the prospective inspector is licensed in the state you live in. For example, the housing laws and standards in North Dakota differ drastically from those in Queens or Brooklyn.

Secondly, use association guidelines to measure the work done by your inspector. The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) is the ultimate guide to the practices and ethics required of a licensed inspector. Having the proper know-how of inspector conduct is essential to evaluate their quality. For instance, you should know your inspector's errors and omissions insurance. These allow you to receive compensation for any oversight on the inspector's part and reflect the seriousness of the latter's work.

2) Review Samples and Prioritize Details

At times, seemingly competent home inspectors give you an idyllic image of your prospective house. This should always be treated with suspicion.

An excellent way to analyze the quality of your inspector is by reviewing samples of their past work. According to most association guidelines, inspection reports should be around 15-70 pages long and contain extensive detail about each minute aspect of the house.

A competent report would, for example, contain passages on the mechanics, foundations, electrical and plumbing facilities, and the interior and exterior conditions of the house, among other things. These are just the bare minimum. An inadequate home inspector would be subpar at these, but a skilled one would provide a complete picture of your house by contextualizing it within its region. For instance, a home inspector in Queens or Brooklyn would think about issues such as traffic and access to public spaces as a determinant of a valuable house.


These two broad variables should provide you with the necessary tools to employ inspectors who are skilled at their job and who go beyond to provide a complete image of your prospective buy or sale.