The premier source for home inspector news and information. Whether you're a homebuyer or a licensed home inspector, you'll find valuable insight on the world of home inspection training and competency on this blog.
You've made the choice -- you want to green your home inspection career. You can add solar sales strategies and business practices to Allied's Home Inspection Course for only $88.
The Business of Solar Course provides you with knowledge of applications of solar energy in homes and business -- from solar electric systems to solar modules. Learn how to promote the environmental, health and financial benefits of solar energy.
Take your home inspection career to the next level -- eco-friendly homes are the wave of the future. Enroll today and be in on the ground floor!
With today's green-conscious consumers, environmental changes often begin at home. While families still recycle and install compact fluorescent bulbs, there has been an increased shift toward more dramatic, life-changing improvements -- from installing solar PV panels to solar thermal systems (replaces traditional water heaters). Homes that have fewer environmental impacts are on the rise, meaning more career opportunities for home inspectors.
The "green" movement is one of the fastest growing trends in America. With homeowners wanting to save money and make their homes environmentally healthier, home inspectors have a unique opportunity to upgrade their services. By adding "green" to your career, you can create new direction for your business -- and improve the environment at the same time.
Allied's Green Home Inspection Program prepares you to start a groundbreaking career with your ability to provide home inspections and target renewable energy sources. Going green will give your business and career an advantage -- find your niche in the home inspection field with your knowledge of the business of solar. Advise your clients how to make wise energy choices. You will be prepared to:
- Assess a home to determine how green it is
- Advise people how to improve the "greenability" of their homes
- Prepare people to highlight green aspects when they sell their home
Solar energy uses sunlight to generate electricity, heat and cool air, heat water and more -- creating opportunities to replace non-renewable resources with more "earth-friendly" renewable resources. Solar energy is naturally replenished in a short period of time and environmentally safe -- making it an ideal choice for energy solutions throughout the home.
Your home inspection career can gain an exciting edge with your knowledge of solar energy solutions and business practices. It is an opportunity to increase your career potential while assuming a positive role in the "green" industry. Turning a home into a green home can add value to the property and increase energy efficiency. Go green in your home inspection career and start a career that makes a difference every day.
Home inspections are something that everybody thinks they know a thing or two about, but like most things, professional thoughts and perspectives on a subject are always worth listening to. Maryland real estate professionals Bob and Donna McWilliams recently addressed home inspections in The Capital newspaper.
The McWilliams believe there are misunderstandings about what a home inspection is. The home inspection doesn't address cosmetic issues, just structural ones. Items like scrapes and scratches to wood are not considered defects. A buyer must decide for themselves whether they are prepared to buy a house with a color of paint they dislike, and are prepared to pay for the repainting once they buy the house.
They advise sellers not to try to conceal problems with the house. The ethical and legal thing is to let the buyer know about any structural problems with the house. Honesty is the best policy.
For home sellers, they agree that deciding what to fix up before you put your house on the market is an important consideration. Many home owners have a list of projects they've wanted to do; if they're left incomplete at the time a house is on the market, it can mean losing money when you sell your house.
The McWilliams also point out that home inspection requirements depend on the contract with the buyers. All home inspections have the inspector look at the structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing parts of the house, but there may be other items written into the contract. Older homes, for example, may be checked for evidence of asbestos.
When it comes to old homes the couple notes that the home inspection standards of today can't always be applied to a house built one hundred years ago. They cite the example of a floor that isn't level in an old house, yet is structurally sound: a home inspection can't list this as a defect. Buyers should realize that a home inspection is not a tool to force home owners to update and rehabilitate everything in a house that a buyer doesn't like.
They also have highlighted their rule of thumb for home inspections:
"Everything should work and function as it was intended. The dishwasher should wash dishes; your roof should keep the rain out; the water heater should make hot water and so on. That doesn't mean that it has to be new or work as efficiently as the latest technology, but things should simply be in operating condition -- no more; no less."
Labels: home inspection issues, home inspection requirements, home inspection standards
For home buyers and investors, the global economic recession and the housing slump present an array of opportunities for those who can identify good bargains. At the heart of the housing decline has been a number of bad home loans, which has resulted in more and more foreclosed properties coming onto the market.
Banks now own tens of thousands of homes across the country and they are eager to sell the homes as quickly as possible. This doesn't mean that banks are "giving homes away," but it should be stressed that banks are not in the home-owning business; they are lending institutions that make their money on home mortgages.
According to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosed properties, the overall foreclosure activity continues to register at a high level compared to 2008. When home owners can't pay their mortgage and get foreclosed on, the bank's first move is to sell the property at an auction. When the house doesn't sell at auction, the property reverts back to bank ownership, becoming what's known as a Real Estate Owned (REO) property.
These REO properties are very enticing for investors and home buyers because they are often listed slightly below the market value. While REO properties have proved popular for their value, some have been purchasing these bank-owned homes without having a home inspector look at the property.
"REO properties are sold in 'as-is' condition -- the condition the house was in when it was repossessed. Any savings on the purchase price can easily be offset by unforeseen repairs on defects not apparent to an untrained eye," said Kylene Golubski of home inspection company Inspect-It 1st. "In the worst cases, repair costs can escalate to the point where a buyer will fail to recover a return on their investment."
When banks become owners of a property, they don't do repairs the way a typical investor would. They will send a team to the property to shut off the electricity and disconnect the toilets, but they have no interest in maintaining or repairing the property. Potential home buyers should understand that the property may have a number of defects, and only a home inspector will have the expertise to determine what's not functioning correctly in the house.
According to Golubski, the home buying process can require "a lot of money and accurate information regarding the condition of its systems and components is required to make a smart decision." She urges buyers to consider the benefits of a home inspection: "For a couple hundred dollars, an inspection can either save you thousands on unforeseen repairs, or give you peace of mind. Either one is invaluable."
While banks typically will not lower their asking price based on home defects (as an average homeowner might), the discovery of defects allows a potential home buyer to "walk away" from the property.
While it's normal for buyers to become emotionally invested in an REO property that fits their needs and is offered at a good price, one must have the sense to walk away from a property that will require too much repair work. The only way to arm one's self is with a professional home inspector.
Labels: Foreclosed House, foreclosed properties, home buyers and investors, professional home inspector
Home inspection plays a very important role in the real estate process. When people buy or sell a home, they rely on a home inspector to provide an accurate and reliable inspection of a property. A home inspector tells them about the condition of the home and helps them avoid buying a house that needs major repairs. It is the perfect way to get an in-depth and impartial opinion of their next home… before they buy it.
The main purpose of the home inspector is to provide an objective viewpoint on the condition of a specific home at the time of inspection. The inspector does not evaluate the cost or value of the property, but provides a close examination of the following:
- Structural Components: Foundations, floors and walls.
- Exterior Components: Siding paint, windows, decks, garage doors, etc.
- Roofing: Coverings, flashings, chimneys, etc.
- Plumbing: Piping, fixtures, faucets, water heating and fuel storage systems, etc.
- Electrical: Wiring, main service panels, conductors, switches, receptacles, etc.
- Heating: Equipment, safety controls, distribution systems, chimneys, etc.
- Air Conditioning and Heat Pumps: Cooling and air-handling equipment, controls and ducting, etc.
- Interior: Partitions, ceilings, floors, railings, doors and windows, etc.
- Insulation and Ventilation: Attics, walls, floors, foundations, kitchen and bathrooms, etc.
A home inspector will additionally perform the following services (sometimes for an extra fee): mold sampling, radon testing, asbestos evaluation, pests/wood destroying organisms, carbon monoxide testing, lead testing, and more.
There are three steps involved with each inspection. First, the house inspector will evaluate the physical condition of a property, including the structure, construction and mechanical systems. Second, he or she will identify the items that should be repaired or replaced. Third, he or she will estimate the remaining useful life of the major systems (such as electrical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning), equipment, structure, and finishes.)
Although home inspections are primarily visual, an inspector may use a tape measure, survey instruments, metering devices, and other equipment, such as concrete strength measurer, to aid in his or her inspection. The house inspector will keep a log of their work, take photographs, and file a formal report. The inspection usually takes two or three hours (depending on the age and size of the home).
To become a home inspector , individuals need to enroll in an accredited home inspection school. This will provide them with comprehensive and hands-on training in all aspects of a home inspection career. It will teach them exactly what to look for during an inspection, and provide them with the skills to perform a quality service. They will also know how to prepare an informative and accurate home inspection report.
Home inspection is an essential part of real estate - without it, people wouldn't know the condition of a house before they purchased it. Most people don't have the ability or know-how to inspect all aspects of a property themselves - they need knowledge of plumbing, electrical and ventilation and much more. A trained home inspector can easily step into this role and provide an accurate reporting of the condition of a home and protect the interests of the home buyer.
Labels: accredited home inspection school, home inspection, home inspection school, home inspection training, home inspector
We are careful when we choose a car mechanic or a CPA, but how careful are we when choosing a home inspector? While it's possible to recover from a botched car repair job or an IRS audit, purchasing a home with serious defects can impact your bottom line for years to come.
The Dallas Morning News recently published a great checklist for people to follow when evaluating a home inspector. The checklist gets right to the heart of choosing a quality, experienced home inspector.
The home inspector checklist includes:
Locating the right person: word of mouth information is always the best way of learning about great professionals -- ask your friends and family about good home inspectors; you should also ask your real agent if they can recommend a particular home inspector.
Research: Make sure that the home inspector has a track record of professional service. One place to research their professional history is at the Better Business Bureau -- they can tell you about any past complaints against the inspector. Some states require a home inspector to have a license; if your state requires a license, ask for the inspector's license number and then check with the state to see if it's valid.
Education and training: You want someone who has received a quality home inspection education. Ask them where they went to school and what kinds of certificates the have, along with questions about the nature of their home inspection experience.
Inspection scope: Ask the home inspector what parts of the home he/she will inspect: ask about the roof, the swimming pool and appliances, or anything else you're concerned about or would like to see addressed.
Checklist sample: Ask to see a sample of the home inspection checklist that he/she will use when going through the home. See whether it is a thorough form that will allow the inspector to write up a detailed report or if it a simple, amateur form.
The final report: Find out how the inspector will deliver the final report to you. Will it be emailed, faxed or mailed? Ask if the report will include photographs of the home's defects.
References: There's nothing like talking to an old customer to get a sense of what kind of home inspector the person is. A professional home inspector should be willing to share a list of former customers with you.
Insurance: Sometimes mistakes happen, so home inspectors may have E&O (errors and omissions) insurance, which will help pay for any liability issues that arise as a result of the inspection.
Money: Price, of course, is important. You probably pay a little extra when hiring a car mechanic or a CPA -- use the same approach with a home inspector. If you choose a "cheap" home inspector, you might just get what you pay for.
Customers, who are curious what home inspectors study when they are training, can search the Internet for 'home inspection school' and then scan through the sites to learn about the kinds of training that schools require of inspection students.
Labels: home inspection education, home inspection school, home inspector, home inspector checklist
Most people these days are convinced that they must have a home inspection before they purchase a house. Many of them have heard the horror stories about people who bought homes without a home inspection, and then learned the house had tons of problems when they got the keys.
Thanks to cable stations like TLC and HGTV, Americans are learning more and more about buying and remodeling homes; and in most cases, the programs responsibly promote having an inspection before purchasing a house.
So with that settled: what kinds of defects and problems do home inspectors find? The answer is, you name it, and they find it; yet there are some common defects that can make you reconsider buying a home.
Water damage is one of the big things that home inspectors are on the look out for. Whether it's a damp smell in the basement or water stains on the ceiling, evidence of water damage can point to mildew and plumbing problems.
Another big deal for home inspectors is the foundation of a house. This is something that you would never know how to evaluate or check by yourself, but if your house is built on a bad foundation, it can lead to real problems. A house with a cracked foundation is a big deal -- as a home buyer, you would want to know about a problem of this magnitude before buying a house.
The roof is also a critical area. You probably wouldn't know a good roof from a bad one, but a home inspector can determine how old the roof is and offer some general guidelines of when it should be replaced. Most people don't like to spend thousands of dollars on a roof that can't be seen. Spending thousands on landscaping or a new pool is easy to do, but forking over thousands for a new roof is not an exciting prospect. Because of this, many people own a home and sell it without ever having done any work to the roof. If you are not careful, you may buy a house and then have to immediately invest in a new roof.
While it's important to stress that home inspectors are neither electricians nor experts on county code violations, they should be able to spot defective or poorly installed electrical wiring in the house. When you're talking electricity, you're talking about safety for you and your family.
Discovering some of the problems mentioned above will be enough to scare away some home buyers, but problems like these can also be powerful negotiating tools if you really want the house. Your real estate agent should be able to use this kind of information to do one of two things: either request that the owner lower the price, or ask the owner to fix the problem before you purchase the house.
Home buyers must ask themselves how badly they want a particular house and what kinds of compromises they are willing to make. The bottom line is that all houses have problems; it's just a matter of your comfort level when you make the decision to buy.
Labels: home inspection course, home inspector course
Ah...the do-it-yourselfer age! It has given us Home Depot, Bob Villa and (unfortunately) the botched handyman project! If there is one common pastime all home inspectors love, it would have to be sharing home inspection photos of bizarre, and sometimes downright dangerous, problems they come across during a real estate inspection.
Home inspection websites and journals never fail to publish humorous photos from their home inspection contributors. And just as no two snowflakes are alike; it seems the same holds true for any two messed-up home improvement jobs. When you become a home inspector, expect you'll come across a few memorable home owner quick-fixes by.
This Old House's website has gotten into the act as well, publishing 23 gems on their website. Without giving away too many surprises, these photos will show you how a radiator hose from a 1945 Pontiac, a dead rodent and aluminum foil all factor into some funny photos. Click here to check them out.
Although it doesn't take too much expertise to see that something is wrong in extreme situations, most common home inspection problems aren't as easy to spot. And that's why a solid home inspection program is essential for anyone who wants to start a professional home inspection career. And these days you don't need to go much further than your laptop to get the necessary training, because online home inspection courses are just a mouse click away.
Starting a home inspection business will involve lots of serious steps on your part, but at least you know they'll be humorous moments when you can put your home inspection checklist down and have a laugh.
Labels: home inspection, home inspection business, home inspection training, home inspector, real estate
Many people mistakenly think that insulation is only for homes in cold climates; and while this was true as recently as thirty years ago, everything has now changed. These days you're as likely to find insulation in Miami as you are in Maine, and the reason is the same in both cases - energy efficiency. And if you want to become a home inspector, this is an important development to keep in mind.
So for home inspectors in warm climates, one of the first tasks in the home inspection process is to learn if the house has insulation, which is becoming more important as larger numbers of Americans rely on air conditioning to cool their homes. Proper insulation in a warm-weather home will help reduce a home owner's energy bill. When looking at your new home inspection checklist, this question won't be as pressing because all new homes, wherever they are built, will have insulation.
There are three spots where one will find insulation: attics, walls and floors. To check out the attic, locate the crawl space opening in the ceiling and take a look and see what's between the rafters. Generally it shouldn't be necessary to climb up into the attic, but if you must, then be sure to wear a face mask.
Determining whether there is insulation in the walls is a bit trickier. Overall a good strategy is to take off one of the plates covering an electrical circuit box (make sure you first go to the circuit breaker box and cut the electricity). There's usually a little gap between the wallboard and the circuit box where you can slip in a screwdriver and learn if there is any insulation present; a flashlight may even spotlight the furry pink stuff as well. If you have no luck, try another electrical circuit box in the room, if that too turns up empty, you probably have your answer.
Finally, home inspectors must check to see if the floors are insulated. This is much easier than checking the walls, for all one needs to do is get into a crawlspace to see if there are insulation bats in between the floors joists. If the house has a basement, it's as easy as taking a stroll down the cellar steps and looking up at the floor from below. Starting a home inspection business means you'll cover the house from top to bottom.
Just as a home inspector must be insulated against the vagaries of weather, prospective home inspectors must protect their future careers by enrolling in an accredited, home inspection program. Online home inspection courses come in all shapes and sizes, so it is important that a distance education home inspection school be an accredited member of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). Allied Schools
Labels: allied home inspection scool, home inspection, home inspection course, home inspection process, home inspector
