Thread: The House was Just Inspected

I did an inspection yesterday for a buyer on a house that had already been inspected by a relocation company. He said the listing agent wanted him to just use the relo inspection report but he wasn't sure what to think so he asked me to take a look at the report. There were 4 defects listed for the entire house: a window sash, some cracks in the poured concrete foundation, and a couple other things. I told him the house might be very clean in terms of defects but I have never seen a house with only 4 defects so he opted to have me inspect it as well. And from experience having done work for a relo company at one time, they don't pay very well which may cause some inspectors to not look as hard as they could.

Now two months have passed since that relo inspection but I have a hard time believing none of these conditions existed at that time.

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These relo inspections have always caught my eye.... they seem to be very cursory and basically.... lame. Which I suppose is fine in some places (and, as long as a buyer realizes its limitations) but in my state (Oregon) once you're claiming to do a "home inspection" it must meet certain creteria... as in SOPs which are based off of ASHI SOPs.

Along the same lines are the foreclousure companies (banks) sending in contractors to look a house over and make a list of recommended repairs. I doubt these guys are certified HIs yet they're basically doing a home inspection... and being paid for the repairs in many cases.

Not sure about things in other areas but in Oregon the enforcement is minimal (budget cuts, blah, blah) but when they do get someone they nail them pretty good.

These crappy relo inspections are really doing a dis-service to any buyer relying on them exclusively... and, unfortunately, they're often marketed as "the house has already been inspected" - kind of like the FHA/VA.... "it's been inspected by the VA. Why do I need an inspection?"

Originally Posted by Matt Fellman

These crappy relo inspections are really doing a dis-service to any buyer relying on them exclusively...

Relo inspections are for the relo company, not the buyer, right?

Had the opportunity to inspect a SF home that was "Pre-inspected and "Certified" Move In Ready" by the selling agency. They even had a special sign hanging from the for sale sign proclaiming that statement. My client had a copy of the report that he let me read after I was finished.

The "Certified" HI missed several items of importance during his inspection but the worst, and most potentially dangerous, was the water heater TPR discharge pipe that not only traveled sharply uphill in its routing but was actually kinked at one point. The water heater and piping were obviously original to the home. It's difficult to see in the photo because I couldn't get a good angle on it and still use a flash.