Consumer Awareness Guide

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Hinson & Jung, LLC

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    Pete Jung's Consumer Education Message

Hi! Thanks very much for allowing us to help you during your home buying experience. I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide you with information about home inspections and help you choose a home inspection company.

This information has been collected and arrived at by talking to buyers – sellers –real estate agents and inspectors from Maryland, Virginia and DC. One of the main things that I’ve learned is that home inspections are the subject of much confusion. In fact, people have so many misconceptions about home inspections that I decided to offer this consumer education message so when you select a home inspection company, you can make an informed intelligent decision.

Misconception #1: You should wait as long as possible before getting your home inspection.

 No. Waiting until the last minute to get your home inspection leaves you in a position of not having the information that you need to make an informed decision. Also your contract will likely have specific dates in it that if you don’t respond in a timely manner then you will loose the opportunity to cancel your contract on a house and still receive your earnest money back.

One of the problems is that if the home inspection turns up something significant then a specialist is generally required to help you understand the depth of the problem.

Inspectors are like general practitioners – they give the home a physical examination, looking for symptoms of problems. If they see an indication of a problem, they will recommend you have it checked out further by a specialist, one that can determine the specific cause of the problem and recommend any necessary corrections. This is similar to a doctor suggesting you see a specialist if he discovered a problem during a physical. For instance if the doctor discovered a skin problem he may refer you to a dermatologist.

You need to schedule the inspection as quickly as possible and have it done as soon as possible. There are a couple of other things that will help with this that I will mention in a later section.

Misconception #2: You don’t need a home inspection if you are getting a home warranty.

 No. As you probably know, there are very few perfect homes. A home inspector is going to inspect for any major problems that you need to be aware of concerning the structure of the home and the mechanical aspects of the home.

Home inspections on a regular basis turn up items that are simply too expensive to fix and may not be fixable. If you move in and are relying on the home warranty you may end up with items that the warranty doesn’t even begin to cover.

In addition, as you may know, if someone tells you not to worry - that the warranty will take care of any problems with the home this should be a red flag. Home warranties are not designed and will not cover pre-existing conditions.

One of the best reasons to have an inspection is to help prove that a problem that shows up later is not pre-existing.

Misconception #3: You need to have an inspection done for each home you are considering.

 No. To have a home inspection done on every home you are considering would cost you a small fortune.

Most often you are not going to need to have an inspection done on every home you are considering when you are armed with some basic information. 

In most cases you don’t want to invest your money on a home inspection until you have found a home you are completely comfortable with and have put a contract on. This helps insure that the seller is locked in to completing the sale if everything checks out and that you have a deal all ready negotiated.

If you do the inspection prior to a contract you actually give the seller an upper hand as you now have a vested interest in the home and will feel more inclined to not negotiate as hard or be as effective.

Misconception #4: The company that offers the lowest price is the company you should hire.

 Maybe – but not usually.

Point #1: The Company that offers the cheapest price is generally showing you a couple of things. One that they are new and or that they don’t really know what their cost is, meaning they are likely not to be in business for long. If you are only concerned about one or two items you can probably have a specialist come out and look at it for less than the inspection, or you can even have a friend or relative look at it and give you their expert advice.

On the other hand, if you want a through inspection that gives you information on every major system – if you want to know the status of all the major systems in the home – then you need to hire a company that does it full time and specializes in looking at more than just a few parts of the home. You want to hire the inspector that understands that they are working for you and no one else. You are their main concern and making sure that you understand the condition of the house is their first priority.

Because hiring someone to do a home inspection for you is something that most homebuyers only do once every 3 –5 years you are likely not even going to realize if you received a poor inspection until it is too late. So remember that the price you pay may not give you the information that you are hoping for with many inspectors.

Many homeowners have learned that the low price they pay for a cheap inspection also means there is less standing behind that inspection.

And if you have hired a cheap inspector, you too may have experienced the problem of getting back in touch with him when and if there was a problem or if you needed a re-inspect and he was too busy to get you taken care of in a timely manner. Also many cheap inspectors will not have the ability to take care of all the inspections that you may wish or need and you end up having to call someone else to do other parts of the home.

As in all businesses and professions, the home inspection industry has its share of bad apples. I take no pleasure in telling you this, but some are unethical – and, sadly, a few are dishonest. By their lack of  deep concern for others besides you they may leave you hanging and missing vital information that you should have to make a complete and informed decision. This is another reason you want to make sure you hire an inspector that has your best interest at heart. You want to hire an inspector that is less influenced by others. The cheaper the inspector the higher the chance he is concerned about others besides you.

Then you’ll find other home inspection companies – professionals like me who work hard to earn your trust and respect.

Misconception #5: If you are buying a brand new home you don’t need an inspection.

 Simply not true. Many people believe that if they are buying a new home that everything is new and going to work perfectly.

Nothing could be further from the truth. While buying a new house is great because no one has lived in it and everything is brand new, from the carpet to the roof, this does not mean everything was put together right.

If fact over my many years of experience I have found that we find some of the strangest problems and situations in brand new homes.

In one case we discovered that the main sewer drain line from the house had been collapsed under the weight of the tractor that was used to grade the front yard. The house partially flooded during the inspection.

Another time the builder some how forgot to have any insulation put in the attic. That would have been a costly electric bill.

And just one last example, was the home that both of the standing showers had been installed with no shower pans. Water literally ran down the exterior walls when the showers were tested. Since this was on the outside of the home, it may have been months or years before it was discovered.

Of course the builder in each case went back in and fixed these items. And I am sure he would have done so even after you move in, but don’t risk it. We have found that you have a lot more leverage to get these and other items fixed even quicker before you close on the house.

My recommendation is that you don’t put yourself or your family through having to chase the builder down that may or may not really care and fix the problem in a timely manner while your family has to work around the problem.

Misconception #6: FHA or VA has inspected the house and/or the appraisal will cover me.

Absolutely not. While having FHA or VA do an inspection on your home is useful and they are likely to call out a number of concerns, this is far from a complete inspection. In fact the bottom line is that these inspectors are working to protect FHA or VA and not you.

On top of that these inspections are only about 30 minutes to an hour long at best and usually 30 minutes is pushing it. A real inspection that has your best interest at heart is going to take significantly longer. It is unusual for an inspection to take less than 2 hours on smaller homes and many inspections have been known to take longer depending on the size and condition of the home.

Then the appraisal will cover me – Right? Wrong!

The thought of the appraisal taking the place of the inspection scares the appraiser as much as it should scare you. The appraisal is designed to determine the value of the home for the mortgage company. The appraiser in other words is working for the mortgage company.

The mortgage company simply wants to know if what they are loaning on the house is reasonable. It is not designed at all to pick up the condition of the house, even though some times if there is a major concern the appraiser will bring it to everyone’s attention. However this is hardly an inspection and every appraiser will be glad to tell you so. Unfortunately you rarely see the appraiser and you are lucky if you receive his report until you go to closing.

 Misconception #7: That the home inspection is a guarantee or warranty.

No. If you ask just about any inspection company they will tell you that their inspection is only good for the day and time of the inspection. Which means it is possible that anything can and usually something will likely break at some point after the inspection.

Unfortunately, most inspectors use this like a crutch and use it to cover their mistakes. If you are using a cheap company and you have a problem and the inspector doesn’t answer your concerns satisfactorily then you are usually just out of luck. This is a great reason to make sure that you choose your inspection company carefully.

In my company’s case we even set a certain amount aside and if we investigate the problem and we feel the inspector has made a mistake then we don’t hesitate to correct the problem. The inspector is charged for the oversight from his recovery fund. As far as we are concerned it is in our best interest and yours to resolve any problems as quickly and fairly as possible.

Thanks very much for reading and allowing us this opportunity to help you in your home buying process. We hope you find this consumer message helpful. If you have questions or comments – or if you’d like to schedule us for your home inspection, please give us a call.

End of Consumer Awareness Guide

Thanks very much for reading this!  I hope you found this consumer guide helpful. If you have questions or comments – or if you’d like to schedule us for your home inspection, please call the office at 1-877 875-5566 or simply leave your name and telephone number after the tone. We will promptly return your call.

On behalf of Hinson & Jung, LLC  – I thank you for your kind attention.

Pete Jung