This blog was written and endorsed by the home inspectors listed at the end. It is in response to my blog "Beware of Home Inspectors". Mr. Onofrey was the first home inspector to contact me and expressed great umbrage at my language that a home inspection "was a waste of time."
Mr. Onofrey's email was followed by several more home inspectors making various rebuttals to my blog. I challenged Mr. Onofrey to give a rebuttal to my blog and what follows is a response fashioned by the various parties listed at the end.
I would point out that I have now revised my original blog using the language "a waste of time." and replaced it with the following:
In rebuttal to the blog post "Beware of Your Home Inspector"
Trusting Your Home Inspector
As with any other service that one might procure, perhaps even the services of an Attorney, it is advisable to select or choose your Home Inspector wisely. An old adage comes to mind, "you get what you pay for". On the other hand, to suggest that a home inspection is a waste of time or that one should be wary of Home Inspectors in general is not an accurate statement, is not indicative of the superior service that most Professional Home Inspectors provide and is not supported by the current available data. For instance, in the year 2007, Licensed Texas Home Inspectors completed an estimated *175,805 home inspections out of a total of ?270,469 single-family property sales in the state. Of those 175,805 inspections there were a total of ??5 (five) Texas Real Estate Commission actions against inspectors in 2007. This translates into an actionable complaint rate of 0.0028%. One would be quite challenged to find a comparably low rate for any other service industry in the Nation.
Professional Home Inspectors across Texas and Worldwide save their individual clients thousands of dollars on real estate transactions regularly and millions of dollars cumulatively by identifying defects that are in need of repair or by identifying minor problems that can possibly turn into big problems if not corrected promptly such as plumbing and roof leaks, moisture intrusion and the like. Professional Home Inspectors provide leverage for clients to negotiate repairs as a condition of the sale or repair dollars out of the final cost of the home. This would include instances where the Inspectors provide information that might lead a buyer to decide to cancel a contract on a home they have determined is a "money pit" as a result of an inspection. Home inspections are not perfect every time, nor are they intended to be technically exhaustive, but a Home Inspector is your best advocate and best choice to go through the home and provide you with a snapshot in time of the general condition the home so that a buyer can make an informed decision. You would be hard pressed to find a better qualified professional to assess the condition of an entire home within the typically imposed time constraints of a real estate transaction at a comparable cost.
Professional Home Inspectors are better equipped than Engineers and Architects for their ability to report on all home components and for their cost effectiveness to consumers. This is not a slam on any given profession. It's just a fact. Where Engineering is the application of science and mathematics and Architects are involved with design and superintending construction, neither credentials suggests specializing in observing and reporting with which the Professional Home Inspector excels.
In the case of an air conditioning system, the credentials of a licensed HVAC technician supercedes those of the Professional Home Inspector acting as a generalist, but you have to ask yourself this question; Do you go straight to a Cardiologist, an Oncologist or a Neurologist for a physical checkup or do you see your general practitioner first and take action upon her/his referral(s)?
The common sense approach during a real estate transaction would be to seek the advice of the Professional Home Inspector before that of the Licensed Electrician, Licensed HVAC technician, Licensed Plumber, Roofer, and Structural Engineer etc., Consider the limited amount of time for all of these different trades' people to be contacted and scheduled, the amount of time to compile their data and write their reports and get them to the client and their agent in time to respond to them before the contingency date of the contract expired. Consider the need for someone specialized in each of these areas to read and explain the variously formatted reports in layman terms to the client, agent and seller.....and then, the fees that would probably range in the (conservative) area of a total of $1500 to $2000 instead of the typical $300 to $500 fee for a home inspection. The economics of the transaction dictate what the consumer gets. The Texas Real Estate Commission could write Standards of Practice that dictate an overly detailed and technically exhaustive inspection, but this is not acceptable to Real Estate Agents and their clients (the home buyers and sellers). The consumer is getting what they have demanded; a qualified, competent, well trained and dedicated Professional Home Inspector.
In summary, licensed Texas Real Estate Inspectors and Professional Inspectors Worldwide have proven themselves overall as a group to be trustworthy to consumers as evidenced by their performance in the field and for the value that they provide in return for the minimal cost of an inspection. More and more well-informed home buyers are choosing to hire and consult with inspectors during the home buying process each year. To suggest that a home inspection is waste of time is potentially damaging to any home buyer that may choose to follow that course of logic.
Mandatory educational requirements, proctored examinations, background checks, continuing education, conformance to industry Standards of Practice and Ethical Codes combine to help safeguard that a consumer is more likely to find and hire a competent and professional inspector, than not. Protect your self interests during the purchase of a home. Understand fully the condition of the home you are going to purchase. Do this with confidence by carefully selecting and hiring the Professional Real Estate Inspector of your choice.
* Based on 65% total home sales 2007
? Data from Real Estate Center at TAMU
?? Data from TREC reports
Provided in cooperation,
John A. Onofrey TREC#6546
Top 2 Bottom Inspections
Houston, Texas
www.texasinspectors.net
Mike Boyett TREC#7290
Capital City Inspections
Austin, Texas
www.capitalcityinspections.com
Richard W. Washington, TREC #7238
Katy, Texas
www.rwhomeinspections.com
Ron Dawes TREC 7602
Plano, Texas
www.Performance-Inspections.com
Barry Adair, TREC # 4563
ADAIR INSPECTION
Garland, Texas
www.adairinspection.com
Kenneth Lott
1Look4u Property Inspections
http://www.1Look4uPropertyInspections.com
Karl E. Gerhauser
Absolute Home Inspection, LLC
www.absoluteinsp.com
Jeffrey R. Jonas
Critical Eye Property Inspections
JRJ Consultants
Owatonna, MN
www.jrjconsultants.net
Curt Goyette
SC RBI 2395
Kingfish Home Inspections
www.homeinspectorsc.com
Gerry Beaumont
Education@nachi.org
Clearwater, Florida
Joe Burkeson IRC #5280678-R5
Square-One Inspection Service, LLC
www.Square-OneInspection.com
Peter Doane
Realty Check Inspection Service
Olympia, WA.
www.RealtyCheck1.com
Jeff Pope
JPI Home Inspection Service
Santa Clarita, CA
www.jpinspectionservice.com
Christopher Currins
IL.Lic.450.0003704
CBC Home Inspections
www.cbchomeinspect.com
Brian K Doles
Colby Handyman Services & Inspections
Atlanta, GA
www.colbyinspections.com
Chris Duphily
A2Z Home Inspections
Dingmans Ferry, PA
www.poconohouseinspection.com
Brian Hoagland
Hoaglands Inspectright, Inc.
Melborne, FL
www.inspectright.com
Steve Radabaugh
Preferred Property Inspections
Columbus, OH
www.inspect-myhome.com
Robert Elliot
Chicago Property Inspections
Harwood Heights, IL
www.chicagopropertyinspection.com