What type of Inspections do you perform?

[Mitchell Meeks]

I just read an article in Realtor magazine and they are predicting that more and more people will start using Pre-listing Inspections. I think this is a good idea. Not sure if it will fly too much but just the same.

But for curiousity, what type of inspections do you guys do and percentage? Right now my inspections have been limited to structural and general building. As a contractor I try to push more for maintenance inspections.

[Michael Thomas]

I do a handful of pre-listing inspections a year, most are referrals from RE agents who need assistance in helping owners understand the actual condition of their property.

The rest of my business is around 40% (by revenue) home, condominium and 2-4 unit rental property inspections and 60% specialized water intrusion and IR inspections.

[Frank Bombardiere]

They have become more popular the last 2 years, but they are still pretty rare. I did about 20 of them in 2010. It is a good thing on most homes, but getting people to see it is often difficult to do. They think because they have lived there, that they know what is wrong and don't need an inspector to tell them that. Some realtors get it, but I think many of them don't want to know so that they don't have to disclose what is wrong. The smart ones realize that they don't want to spend a bunch of time and money to list and get a contract on a home just to have it blow up due to unknown defects that come up after inspection.

[Jack Feldmann]

I did maybe 20 - 25 pre listing inspections this year.
Most of my business is home buyers for single family, condos and PUD's.
I did maybe 10 commercial inspections this year.
2 or 3 expert witness cases that went to depo or court, and 4 or 5 that may end up in court if they can't settle.

I was able to refer business to several inspectors across the country this year. Some were ASHI friends, and some were Inspection News friends.

I was also thankful for the referrals that I GOT from my Inspection News friends.

[Vern Heiler]

I do 10-15 pre-listing inspections a year. The thing that stays in the back of my mind while I am doing a pre-listing, is that another inspector will be looking to see if he can find something I didn't!

[Bruce Ramsey]

Not many Pre-listing but probably 1/3 of my inspections are 1 year warranty. Only 1600 possible 1 yr warranty inspections for homes $300K or greater for the upcoming year based on home sales last year in my market area. All I need to do is convince them it is a worthwhile expenditure.

[Matt Fellman]

I've been hearing the "pre-listing inspections are coming" buzz for 10 years now and I just haven't seen any demand for it. This year I maybe did 10 out of 350 houses And, if there were ever a time for it, it would be now when selling a house is so difficult and sellers are trying to really market their place. There also may be a regional component... I've heard they are more common in some areas.

[Ken Rowe]

Listing inspections are very common around here. Both the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul require what are called Truth in Sale of Housing or Time of Sale inspections. The inspections have to be completed prior to the homes being put on the market. In fact, about 10 of the suburbs also require these inspections. Around 5 of them implemented the inspection requirements in the past 3 years.

In most of the cities the inspections are performed by independent contractors, licensed by the individual cities. The licensing includes written and practical exams, meeting insurance requirements, passing the NHIE and being a member of either ASHI or NAHI (nachi membership is not accepted), and of course paying the licensing fee to the city and paying the city for each inspection that is completed.

Some of the cities require the inspections to be performed by their code enforcement officials. They're trying to keep them busy since there aren't many new constructions to inspect.

Each city has different requirements for inspections. None follow ASHI standards. Most include parts of national maintenance code, Minnesota Building Code, Minnesota Gas Code, NEC, and city building codes and local ordinances.

Some cities require some deficiencies to be repaired, some do not. If they are required to be repaired, the inspector must come back and reinspect, after the repairs are made, for an additional inspection fee.

As far as voluntary listing inspections go, I haven't done one in over a year. But, I believe this is do to more and more cities requiring their own listing inspections.

I took the written test for St Paul back in July, and the practical test in September. I passed the written, but they haven't corrected the practical yet, and most likely won't until after the 1st of the year.

[William Brady]

Given the sharp drop in pricing sellers are loosing money and do not want to consider spending on a pre listing inspections. On the other hand I have noticed that older homes are opting for Lead Inspections as a leg up with the competion. If a home is found to be Lead free and then certified as such they like that. Money well spent. Of course this is only for pre 1978 homes. For the purpose of full disclousure I am a Lead Risk Assessor.

[Nick Ostrowski]

I do a handful of pre-listing inspections a year but there isn't much of a demand for them around here. I've had people tell me numerous times they want to have me inspect their home before listing it but I rarely hear from these people about actually scheduling something. Most people around here don't want to spend the money for it when they know the buyer will be getting an inspection.

This is the year I'm finally going to get the certification I need to perform my own WDI inspections. I find the evidence on my own without looking for it and I've found evidence that was missed by one of the inspectors who I sub the WDI inspections out to too many times.

[William Brady]

Nick,

It's funny you should say that you find termits and regular pest guys do not. For me it is just the oppisite. I have a license to perform WDO inspections but it's just book knowledge. When it comes to finding them I have followed pest guys around to try to learn the practical aspect and realized that I should leave the pest inspetions to those who know how to do a good one. I just don't feel comfortable in the area. Down here it is even easier since 95% is slab on grade no basements or crawls. Tubes on the outside and then interior.

A funny story. Several years ago while still living in NYC I had a pest guy who wanted to do inspections of homes that I was inspecting. The first time we did one of these I am standing in the kitchen with the buyer the reator and the seller. The pest guy is downstairs and after a couple of minute he shouts out Hey Bill come down and look at what I found. The realtor went white with fear and the seller and buyer were speach less. Of course his interest was the remediation work and not the inspection. I decided at that point that I did not want anyone to think that I was in on his deal, so I stopped teaming up with him or anyone else.

[stanley frost]

william i'm interested in becoming a lead risk assessor. Any info you would care to share would be appreciated.

[Bill Barnes]

We have seen a minor surge in pre-listing inspections in the area but can't put a finger on why all of a sudden. We've marketed the concept over the past 4 years. We've even developed a marketing package for the top producing agents in the market area that they can use if they choose as a sales tool. It shows a select few pro's and cons along with a brief summary description of the major systems (age and probability of replacement in coming years...).

The agents in the area in the recent past have seemed very hesitant to want to disclose anything let alone wht may be discovered during a pre-list inspection. With the market swing to a "buyers" market, its all about making the property more desrieable to potential buyers.

We still have a boat load of vacant foreclosures to deal with before we feel we'll see a swing in pricing for occupied homes on the market.

Have a great new year!

[Darren Miller]

I've done several pre-listing inspections in the past. Last year I did 2 in one month and both houses sold rather quickly with both sellers calling and thanking me for helping sell their house so quickly.

Now, I'm more curious as to if anyone has inspected a house that was pre-listed inspected and if you ever found major problems the other guy missed.
How did that work out for the guy who 'missed' the problem?

I'm not a fan of the scam (that's right, I'll call it like it is) of the 'move-in' program one organization promotes. I think that gives the potential buyer a false sense of security and they may waive their own inspection.
I have yet to find a 'certified' house in my area, but when I do...

[William Brady]

the Lead certification is a long one but feel free to call me and I will explaing how Texas works. I am licensed in Texas and certified with EPA Region 6. 575-522-3088

[Ted Menelly]

I've done several pre-listing inspections in the past. Last year I did 2 in one month and both houses sold rather quickly with both sellers calling and thanking me for helping sell their house so quickly.

Now, I'm more curious as to if anyone has inspected a house that was pre-listed inspected and if you ever found major problems the other guy missed.
How did that work out for the guy who 'missed' the problem?

I'm not a fan of the scam (that's right, I'll call it like it is) of the 'move-in' program one organization promotes. I think that gives the potential buyer a false sense of security and they may waive their own inspection.
I have yet to find a 'certified' house in my area, but when I do...

I find things in every home that other inspectors missed, every home, not just one here and one there. They could probably say the same for me but no one has ever come back on me for anything real all these years.

As far as how it worked out for the other guy I believe it was a non issue and was negotiated by the Realtors or they signed a contract they thought was binding limiting them to the liability. They probably got the other inspectors money back at best and moved on..,..no pun intended.

[Scott Patterson]

I did a dozen or so pre-listing inspections this year, all were for clients of one agent who will not list a home without a pre-listing inspection. I don't really care for them all that much but it helps to keep the lights on.

Several years back I started to diversify with the type of inspections and work I performed. I perform commercial and residental draw inspections; Phase inspections for folks building a home; Litigation support for lawsuits; forensic speciality inspections for folks that have a problem; EIFS/Stucco inspections and radon mitigation system inspections.

With this combination I have been able to keep my head above water while many inspectors have had to close their doors or get a job at Walmart to pay the bills.