How a Home Inspection Can Save You $$$

I have had the opportunity to many, many homes over the past 5 years. Every once in a while I find someone who is unwilling to order a home inspection when considering a property. This normally happens when the client is buying a new construction home. I strongly discourage this practice for all buyers. In many cases a home inspection can save the buyer hundreds or thousands of dollars in the long run. Also, at least in Florida, a buyer may save hundreds and in some cases thousands by having a wind mitigation inspection conducted. I interviewed a popular and very experienced local home inspector for his views on some issues. Here are the questions and answers.

1. Tell me about what a home buyer should expect from their Home Inspector?

The top 3 in my opinion are technical knowledge, professionalism and experience.

2. I know that some home buyers feel like they do not need a professional home inspection when buying a new construction home through a builder. What is your take on this?

Unfortunately, the construction process has a lot of areas in which the quality control process is degraded. Often you have one or two builder's representatives trying to stay on top of the quality control process for 50 or 60 homes! Most builders provide a financial incentive to their reps for closing a home early, sometimes resulting in important quality steps being overlooked or ignored.

3. Aren't most new construction homes inspected by a city inspector?

Yes. The county / city inspectors unfortunately inspect for Code NOT Quality!. The Florida building code in particular has numerous "Gray Areas" which are open to interpretation. A perfect example is the electrical system on a dwelling. Contrary to popular belief, Florida does NOT have its own electrical code!!! The NEC (National Electrical Code) is the governing standard. When a home is "signed off" for electrical code compliance, all outlets in the dwelling are not tested for polarity. Many times we've done a new construction dwelling and found numerous outlets either mis-wired or not functional at all. It is important to remember: CODE COMPLIANCE DOES NOT EQUAL QUALITY.

4. What are the most common types of issues that you discover when conducting a home inspection?

Lack of regular / interval maintenance of main systems, (i.e: A/C coils / condenser units). Organic debric on roofs, non-standard electrical installations (overloading circuit breakers, tapping off of low amperage circuits, etc).

5. Have you ever found issues with a home that were not readily observable to a buyer that would have cost the buyer lots of money to correct in the absence of a professional inspection? If so, provide some examples.

1. A/C ducting pinched, mis-routed.
2. Electrical circuits oveloaded.
3. Incorrect polarity of electrical outlets.
4. Leaks at chimney flashings only visible from attic space.
5. Non-standard plumbing installations resulting in low pressure or other issues.
6. Moisture intrusion behind walls only detectable by calibrated equipment.

6.What advice do you give home sellers about having their properties inspected prior to placing the home on the market?

1. Exterior walls / siding freshly painted and clean.
2. Landscaping trimmed and away from any exterior dwelling surface.
3. A/C system recently serviced and operating at maximum efficiency.
4. DOCUMENTATION!!! (Recent re-roof documents, permits for additions, etc.)
5. All interior systems and appliances in good operating condition.
6. Access to all confined areas (attic / crawlspace /etc.
7. Current termite bond.
8. BASIC MAINTENANCE OF THE HOME!!!

7. I have heard that having a home inspected for wind mitigation can help to reduce home owners insurance costs. Is this true? Where can people go to find out additional information about this?

Florida Statute 629.0629 REQUIRES insurers to offer Florida homeowners discounts on the Windstorm Portion of their policy for certain favorable wind-resistive features of the roof, based on the age and location of the dwelling.

8. Tell me about yourself, your company, website etc.

Not enough room in this area to describe all of our services! Please visit our website at www.teamaccutech.com for a comprehensive description of our services and company.

For more information about how getting a home inspection can help you with the sale or purchase of your next home. Or for more information about Florida's Wind Mitigation discounts please visit http://www.teamaccutech.com

As always for information about my services. You can visit my website at. http://www.MattSellsJax.com