When the winter season is over, spring begins. The grass begins to grow, and the weather gets a little bit warmer. During this time, most people start putting their houses back on the market. A home inspection company is often asked to investigate potential issues that your home may have, and can save you tons of money when you start discussing the price to sell your home or back out of the property.
The Questions
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who look to contractors rather than hiring a home inspection company. Don’t ever do this, as contractors don’t have a way to tell you exactly what you are wanting from a marketable standpoint. A contractor might tell you what you need to fix but doesn’t understand the positive value of everything that isn’t broken. So… What types of questions do you ask before hiring a Portland home inspection company? Here’s a little shakedown checklist that you want to go through to ensure you’re getting as much information as possible.
- Do you also do home repairs? Or do you simply just do inspections on houses?
You don’t want someone who isn’t a home inspector only, as they have conflicting views on each standpoint. If someone generally does both, then they are biased by the repair perspective as mentioned above. Your best bet is to hire someone to do this AFTER your house inspection. - Don’t be afraid to ask if they’re insured and bonded.
There are so many inspectors out there who don’t have insurance, but they should. If there is something that the home inspector can get hurt doing, they need to have insurance from their company so you aren’t liable for any slips, trips, or falls. - What references do you have?
While you should ask the home inspector for a reference, sheet, keep in mind that most of the references will be those who normally support your inspector more than anything. Just like a job resume, these inspectors are going to put their best references on the sheet, but it’s still important that they have them. - Ask if you can walk through with the inspector.
Some residents think they can’t be there when the inspector is working, however some inspectors will let you. If you’re one of the few who want to be there and do the walkthrough of the home with the inspector, ask if you can go with them. They should let you, and if they do, you can walk around and ask tons of questions (which you should) so you know every detail of the home inside and out. - What do they do?
Ask what the inspection includes, or what the inspector will, and won’t do for their inspection. And be sure you ask this so you know what they’ll be inspecting. - Ask for a sample report from the inspector.
You will normally get a very detailed inspection report when the inspection is finished, however, if you want to see what it will look like (so you know you can understand it easily), ask for a sample report before the inspection. - What types of expertise do you have outside of home inspection?
Some inspectors are better at inspecting property, some of them older homes, some newer homes. Some have the knack to inspect the newer homes that can present problems that the homeowners may not know about. This also depends on the types of amenities you have in your home. - What’s the price?
Of course, make sure the price is mentioned, but ask for it last. This could be saving money by hiring an inspector who doesn’t charge a lot, but you could also be getting what you pay for (shoddy work).
Conclusion
These are just a handful of things you should ask your home inspector. Be sure to get all of the answers before you hire a home inspection for your property. Our favorite home inspection company can be found here https://www.houstonhomeinspectioncompany.com/.