INSPECT TO PROTECT
It’s common knowledge that it’s important to have a house inspected before buying it, as a protection of your investment. “You really need to have one done to avoid buying a money pit and also to make sure you understand what you’re buying and what’s going on with the house,” says Stan Garnet of Inspectors Associates Inc. Buyers will want to make sure that any repairs can be paid for by the seller before closing. “A lot of times, new homeowners will have another inspection at the end of the home warranty, about a year after they close on the house, to make sure that any additional repairs are covered,” adds Mike Bales of Tyler Home Inspections and the board of directors of the Georgia Chapter of the National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI). Occasionally, home sellers will have a home inspection done before putting the house on the market so they’ll have it to show potential buyers.

Unfortunately, though, people who have been in their homes for years often don’t even think about having an inspection. “There are people who have inspections done every so often, but it’s not as big a market,” says Keith Gipe, director of education for the Tim Birch Technical Academy and the Georgia Association of Home Inspectors (GAHI). “We’d love to see more people having regular inspections to make sure there are no underlying problems.”

Often, issues with a home that can become more serious over time are difficult for homeowners to spot, and it takes a pro to point them out. Depending on the age of your home, you should consider having an inspection every one to five years.

PLAYING HOUSE DETECTIVE
“The overall purpose of a home inspection is to determine visually the condition of the property at the time of the inspection,” Gipe says. The inspector will check both the interior and exterior of the home, not for cosmetic defects, but for issues that are or may become serious problems.

When it comes to the outside of your home, no detail should be overlooked. “Probably the most important part of the house is the exterior and the ability to keep water away,” Garnet says. Your home inspector should check all the exterior walls, the roof, gutters, downspouts, caulk and seals around windows and doors, flashing and chimneys. They also should be on the lookout for other ways moisture can enter the home. Does the ground slope toward the home or away from it? Are there bushes, trees and vines growing on or too close to the house? All of these should be noted in the inspection report, along with details on the basic structure of the home.

Once inside the house, there’s still a lot of detective work to do. The inspector will check your heating and air-conditioning, plumbing and electrical systems, along with your insulation and ventilation, fireplaces and any solid-fuel-burning appliances. Often, inspectors will notice major issues that a homeowner didn’t even realize existed. “I know an inspector who went in to do a radon test, and while he was in the home, he noticed that the water heater and furnace were in a small, sealed room in a newly finished basement, and the lack of ventilation posed serious fire and carbon monoxide hazards,” Garnet says. “It ended up that the basement had been finished without a permit.” Luckily, the home inspector informed the homeowners of the problem so that they could have it remedied as soon as possible.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN INSPECTING
Having a thorough, professional inspection of your home is actually pretty simple and inexpensive. The experts agree that for an average-size home, a good inspection should take between three and four hours. “If you ask a potential inspector how long it will take, and they say less than an hour, walk away,” Gipe says. “You definitely can’t be very thorough in that short a time.”

As for cost, it will vary a good bit depending on the size and age of your home. For an average-size three-bedroom house, the inspection will probably be between $300 and $400. Of course, larger houses will cost more, and older homes often require more thorough inspections than newer homes. Discuss the cost and length of the inspection ahead of time, and don’t automatically pick the inspector with the lowest price—they probably won’t provide a very complete service. “Overall, the cost of an inspection is worth it when you consider the thousands of dollars it could cost to fix an undetected problem later on,” Garnet says.

Before the inspection is performed, make sure you have a written agreement with the inspector on cost and what will be checked. At the end of the inspection, you should be left with a detailed report. “We fill out the report on-site, while taking pictures, then we can pull out a laptop and plug the information and photos right into our program so we can give the homeowner a thorough report almost immediately,” Bales says.

A good inspector should take the time to go over the report with you in detail, pointing out problem areas and helping you prioritize what repairs should be made soon and what might be able to wait a little while if you can’t afford to do it all at once. Because a home inspector will make no money from any of the actual repairs, they should be able to give you an honest, unbiased view of what needs to be done. If you have this information to show the repair company, chances are they will be less likely to charge you for unnecessary repairs.

FINDING A PRO IN THE KNOW
Since there are currently no licensing laws for home inspectors in Georgia, take care when searching for the right person. “Not all home inspectors are created equal,” Garnet says. Look for inspectors that are members of professional associations, such as NAHI, GAHI or ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors), and read over the standards of practice and code of ethics for each organization. “Anyone can take a quick weekend training class and become an inspector, but if they don’t join a professional society, they don’t have any standards that they are required to adhere to, which is pretty scary,” Gipe says.

Most professional organizations require a minimum number of hours of training and education and will not allow inspectors to become full members until they have completed a certain number of home inspections. Research the company you choose, and as always, recommendations from friends and the Better Business Bureau can be helpful.

Whomever you choose, if it’s been years since your home has had a thorough inspection, it may be a good idea to go ahead and get one done. Remember, even a house that looks perfect on the surface can have serious underlying problems. “Most homeowners don’t know there’s a problem until something breaks,” Garnet says. “Just remember that your house lives and breathes and wears out, and it needs regular attention. It can’t hurt to plan ahead.”