Home inspection software

Buyers should’ve listened to inspector before purchase

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, June 24, 2008.

Inman News

Dear Barry,

Before we sold our house, I repaired a roof leak above the bedroom, and just to confirm that the repair was good, I climbed into the attic during the next two heavy rains. No leaking occurred. The people who bought the house hired a home inspector. He didn’t find any problems with the condition of the roof, but he disclosed the water stains in the attic and recommended further evaluation of the roof by a licensed roofing contractor. The buyers did not follow that advice and proceeded with the purchase. A few weeks later, it rained again and two roof leaks occurred. When the buyers contacted us, we asked them to get three written estimates for roof repairs. Instead, they sent us one estimate for a completely new roof. We repeated our request for three repair estimates, but they insisted that we should replace the entire roof. What do you think we should do? –Lesley

Dear Lesley,

The buyers were advised by their home inspector to have the roof evaluated by a licensed roofing contractor. They chose not to follow that advice. By disregarding the inspector’s expressed recommendation, they failed to exercise due diligence and are therefore in no position to make demands at this time. By waiving the home inspector’s recommendation, they were, in effect, accepting the roof in as-is condition.

A second vital point is that their home inspector did not cite any physical damage or other observable defects on the roofing itself. He merely reported evidence of past leakage in the form of water stains in the attic. If roof replacement is necessary, that fact should have been reported by the home inspector. The lack of such disclosure indicates that the home inspector regarded the roof as needing possible repair, rather than total replacement.

Given the buyers’ acceptance of the roof as reported by their home inspector, and given the inspector’s lack of major defect disclosures, it would appear that the buyers’ demand for a new roof is unreasonable and overreaching. Unfortunately, this does not guarantee that they will not continue to pressure you for a new roof or to use legal pressure to achieve that end.

What you need at this point is a detailed written report of the roof’s condition by a qualified expert, with lots of pictures of the existing roof. It would also help to have the buyers’ home inspector reinspect the roof to see whether he will confirm or alter his original findings. If the buyers are intent upon pursuing the demand for a new roof, they should cooperate with this discovery process.

Dear Barry,

I recently discovered about 3 to 4 inches of standing water under my house. I pumped out the water and removed the plastic sheets that covered the ground so the soil can dry out. Once the ground is dry, should I spread lime over the surface to help prevent mold? And should I also reinstall the plastic sheets? –Steve

Dear Steve,

Mold prevention is not necessary unless you have moisture on cellulose materials. Wet soil will not support mold growth. Therefore, lime is not needed on the ground surface under your home.

The purpose of the plastic membrane is to prevent ground moisture from evaporating and causing humidity and condensation in the crawlspace. If faulty ground drainage causes flooding above the plastic, then the plastic serves no useful purpose and does not need to be replaced.

The primary concern in this case is the drainage problem. To solve this, you should have the property evaluated by a geotechnical engineer (drainage specialist) to determine the water source and the best means of preventing future water intrusion. The engineer might recommend French drains around your home, a sump pump under or around the building, and possibly both. Once this is done, replacement of the plastic membrane may be advisable, but additional foundation vents might also be needed to minimize humidity and condensation.

Following is a great article by an acquaintance of mine named Barry Stone that should be read by all involved in the real estate profession.

Dear Barry,

As editor of a paper that publishes your column, I’ve received complaints from real estate advertisers who find the tone of your articles to be anti-Realtor. After reviewing some recent columns, I tend to agree with them. When recurrent articles deal with unscrupulous real estate agents, a negative theme and negative perceptions can form. The tone of such articles creates an “us vs. them” mentality that isn’t good for anyone involved. I realize there are bad agents out there, just as there are bad inspectors, and you have written about both. But I think you should touch on other topics for variety. Readers would be better served if, for example, you would address the item-by-item details of a home inspection. –Mark

Dear Mark,

Let me begin by praising the numerous first-class real estate agents with whom I am personally acquainted. There are many outstanding Realtors who bring credit and good repute to the real estate profession — hard-working agents who truly represent the best interests of their clients; who conduct their work with the highest ethical standards; and who truly deserve every dollar of the commissions they earn.

The intent of this column has never been “us-versus-them,” nor has it been to paint real estate professionals with a broad brush, either positive or negative. As you say, there are good and bad agents out there, just as there are good and bad home inspectors — just as there are good and bad members of every profession.

The content of this column is largely dictated by questions and comments from readers, and many of these involve grievances against Realtors and home inspectors. If human nature tended toward praise rather than complaint, I would probably hear from more people who were satisfied with the top-notch agents and inspectors who have served them. Instead, I receive consumer complaints involving very real problems. The purpose of this column is to address those issues from an honest and unbiased perspective; to educate buyers, sellers, agents and others about the pitfalls of real estate disclosure and best ways to deal with property defects.

In the years from 1996 through 2005, the real estate market thrived throughout most of the United States, and this booming activity caused many people to enter the real estate and home inspection professions. As a result, there were many inexperienced home inspectors, with little ability to provide home buyers with adequate disclosure. Unfortunately, these novice inspectors obtained referrals from misguided real estate agents, and unsuspecting home buyers made bad purchase decisions on the basis of faulty inspection reports.

Some of the agents who referred those inspectors were novices themselves, unaware of the vast quality differences among home inspectors. At the same time, there were experienced agents who should have known better, but who failed to exercise ethical discretion when referring home inspectors to their clients.

So what is the solution?

Leaders in the real estate profession, including brokers and Realtor associations, need to provide agents with better clarity regarding disclosure. This emphasis should be two-fold. First is the matter of ethics: Buyers should be fully informed of property defects because total disclosure is the only honest way to do business. It is the way that everyone wants to be treated. Second is the matter of legal liability: Faulty disclosure exposes agents and sellers to potential lawsuits. If the altruism of ethical disclosure is not sufficient cause, then the need to avoid litigation should be. For either reason or for both reasons, disclosure of property defects is good for everyone.

Agents should become familiar with the best home inspectors in their areas of business and should recommend only those inspectors. Many good agents have made this a practice throughout their careers. When other agents follow that good example, consumer complaints will cease to fill my inbox, and articles that offend agents will no longer be necessary.

To write to Barry Stone, please visit him on the Web at www.housedetective.com.

By Steve Tytler

Everett Herald

Question: Our friends recently bought a house and they had a pest inspection done. The person who did the inspection suggested a lot of repairs, which seemed excessive to me. The same company that did the inspection then turned around and suggested that they do the repair work because they were also in the construction business. This seems like a conflict of interest to me, especially since other people said the work wasn’t necessary.

T.A., Snohomish

Answer: You are absolutely right, that is an obvious conflict of interest, and your friend violated my cardinal rule for hiring a professional inspector — never hire an inspector who also works as a contractor. Such an “inspector” may actually be a salesperson in disguise, trying to drum up repair business for the contractor. That’s why many pest control companies offer “free pest inspections.”

Now, before I get a flood of hate mail from pest control companies, let me point out that it is common practice in that industry for the pest inspector to be the same person who does the pest control work. I would hope that most of those inspectors are honest, and do not recommend unnecessary work. But why take the chance on getting a biased opinion when you can hire an impartial building inspector?

I recommend hiring a professional building inspector who makes a living doing inspections only — not repair or pest control work. Washington state law requires home inspectors to be licensed pest-control consultants, so be sure that the license number appears on the inspector’s report. A good inspector will give you a complete structural report on the house, including a pest and dry rot report.

And because he or she has nothing to gain by recommending repairs, you can be confident that you will not be paying for repairs and/or pest-control treatments that you do not really need.

Another reason to hire a full-fledged home inspector rather than a pest inspector is that most “pest” problems cannot be solved by traps or chemical spraying alone.

For example, carpenter ants are everywhere. They will come into your house. They look for wet, unvented wood. If they find it, they stay, and if they don’t, they move on. You won’t get rid of carpenter ants by simply spraying for them. You must change the conditions that attracted the ants in the first place, such as soil-to-wood contact, a poorly vented crawl space, etc. A good building inspector will spot these problems and recommend permanent solutions.

Here are some other tips for choosing an inspector:

Ask how long they have they been in business. Some inspectors claim to have “20 years experience,” but 19 of those years might have been in the construction industry, with only one year of actual experience as an independent home inspector.

Get references. Talk to former clients to see if they were satisfied with the inspection report they received. It is not uncommon to hear complaints from unhappy homebuyers who discover serious structural defects after moving into a home that was supposedly in “good condition” according to the report from the inspector they had hired.

Ask how long the inspection will take. A good, thorough home inspection takes two hours or more, including crawling under the house and getting up on the roof to look for defects not easily detected by buyers walking inside or around the house.

Ask what kind of report you will get. Written reports vary from simple checklists to comprehensive narrative essays detailing the home’s problems. One method isn’t necessarily better than the other, you just want to make sure that the inspector does a thorough job of detailing his or her findings about every facet of the home’s structure and systems.

You usually get what you pay for, so don’t automatically pick the least expensive inspector. Expect to pay $300 to $500 for a quality home inspection.

Ask if the inspector is a member of the American Society of Home Inspectors. This doesn’t necessarily a guarantee a good inspection, but it does show that the inspector has some experience and is making an effort to keep up with changes in the inspection industry. I should point out, however, that there is a political turf war between the home inspectors society and professional engineers, so many inspection engineers are not members of the association. Engineers argue that they are the only ones truly qualified to perform a home inspection. I’ve hired inspectors who are engineers and I’ve hired inspectors who came from a construction background. Personally, I think the number of years experience that the person has a professional inspector is more important that their academic credentials.

If possible, accompany the inspector during the home inspection to ask questions and to make sure that he or she does a thorough job. The inspector may point out areas of concern that never occurred to you, and he or she may also relieve your worries about defects that may not be as difficult or expensive to correct as you might imagine.

The bottom line is, always hire an inspector when buying a home. I know that cash is tight when you’re trying to scrape together enough money to cover the down payment and closing costs, but $300 or $400 spent on an inspection could conceivably save you thousands of dollars down the road.

By Martin Hewitt, Friday, May 2, 2008.

Purchasing home inspection software for your home inspection business is no easy task. It’s easy to flip through a trade magazine and get fooled by a familiar industry name, or be swayed into using what the competition is using. So what should you do?It is important for you to remember that there is often no correlation between price and quality of software. Good software does not have to mean expensive software. Expensive software may or may not have features that are available in less expensive software. Don’t let unnecessary bells and whistles sway you into making the wrong purchase. Home inspection software is a tool to make your job inspecting houses and producing inspection reports easier and less time-consuming. Before making a software purchase for your inspection company consider the following:

What do you need the software for?

What is the main reason behind your decision to purchase home inspection software? Are you buying it mainly for creating inspection reports, or do you need features such as time management, appointment scheduling, car mileage, roadmaps, etc? What are the necessary features the software must have? What are optional features that could be useful? Are they worth the extra price? What is your budget? Will you need to pay for additional licenses? What about upgrades? Are they free or will you need to pay a yearly subscription? Does the software require you to download blank reports and pay for each one you use?

What type of inspection report do you want to create?

Essentially there are three types of inspection reports: Narrative, checklist, and a narrative/checklist hybrid. Checklist-type software certainly makes the job of creating a report much easier for the inspector, but usually limits the amount of information they can provide to their clients. This in turn increases their liability and exposure to litigation. The narrative/checklist hydbrid is more flexible than the checklist in that it usually provides extra space for additional comments or narratives. Narrative reporting software produces reports that are all narrative (devoid of check boxes), and typically gives you free reign to write as much - or as little - as you think is necessary. For a host of reasons, most established and experienced inspectors (and real estate agents) prefer a narrative style report over the others.

Pictures

Do you want to include pictures in your report? This can be a good way to document problems, but pictures can be used against you if you miss something obvious that is visible in a picture. However, the majority of inspectors use pictures in their reports. If you decide you want to include pictures, how easy is it to include them in the report? Is there a limit to how many you can insert for any given problem or defect?

Compatibility

What operating systems will the software run on? If you have an Apple Mac in the office and use a Windows PC in the field, will the software run on both computers? If so, does it allow you to transfer the inspection files from one to the other? Will you need to upgrade your computers or purchase more memory? Be sure to try a demo of the software you want before you purchase it. Most software companies allow you to download a fully-functional demo from their websites. Ultimately, only you will know if you can run the software on any given computer and if it will do all you want it to.

Is Technical Support Provided?

Is help available by phone, fax, email or regular mail? Is help available around the clock? Is there a charge for technical support and, if so, how quick (or slow) is the response time?

Ease of Use

Perhaps the most important factor to consider is ease of use. That is, how easy is the software to use when you are on the job and trying to perform a thorough inspection while also creating an inspection report that will be well received by your clients and their agents? Do you have to jump around the screen, opening and closing windows all the time? Does the program allow you to use the entire screen? How easy is the software to use on a laptop? How about one with a touchscreen?

Ultimately, poorly designed software that does not meet your needs will result in a waste of precious, and often very limited, time spent in the field. If the software is overpriced as well, then that is simply a waste of good money.

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, April 29, 2008.

Inman News

Dear Barry,

The home inspector I hired never mentioned that the floor tiles and air duct insulation contain asbestos. Shouldn’t he have pointed this out? –Robert

Dear Robert,

Asbestos is generally regarded as “outside the scope” of a home inspection and is typically not mentioned by most home inspectors. For home buyers, this leaves a gap in the disclosure process. For home inspectors, the issue is one of legal liability. If any material is disclosed as a potential source of asbestos, the inspector may be held liable for other possible asbestos materials that were not mentioned in the inspection report. For this reason, the home inspection industry has excluded asbestos as a consideration during home inspections.

If asbestos disclosure were included in home inspections, complications could ensue because there are so many common building materials that might contain asbestos. Examples include sheet vinyl flooring, asphalt and vinyl floor tiles, adhesive mastics, acoustic ceiling texture, old heat-duct insulation, asphalt composition roofing materials, plaster, stucco, drywall, joint compound, and more. In most cases, these do not contain asbestos, although with some materials, such as acoustic ceilings, asbestos content is common. Those materials that contain asbestos are usually not hazardous if they are undamaged and allowed to remain as is.

It could be argued, however, that home inspectors should point out potential asbestos in some cases. For example, many home buyers plan to remodel and renovate the homes they buy. Interior renovations often involve, for example, the removal of acoustic ceiling texture or of sheet vinyl flooring. Unless alerted by their home inspector, the new homeowners could remove the material without consideration of the potential for asbestos exposure. Ceiling texture that is scraped off or vinyl flooring that is torn off could release asbestos fibers into the air of the home if proper removal procedures were not used.

Another example would be old insulation on warm-air ducts installed prior to 1973. Duct insulation that appears as gray cardboard, sometimes with a foil veneer, is certain to contain asbestos. If the material is undamaged, it can be left as is. But it is common for such material to be torn in places or to be detached from the air ducts. Home inspectors in those instances would do well to recommend further evaluation and repair by a licensed asbestos contractor.

The pros and cons of asbestos disclosure have been debated among home inspectors for many years. On one hand, there is the need to provide vital information to home-buying customers. That argument weighs in favor of measured and limited asbestos disclosure. On the other hand, there’s the fear of liability and lawsuits if asbestos disclosure is not comprehensive and thorough. That consideration favors a total avoidance of asbestos disclosures of any kind. The controversy is an outgrowth of the freewheeling practice of litigation, an ongoing threat to businesses and professions throughout the nation. The proliferation of cases, whether frivolous or justified, has taken its toll on home inspectors everywhere. In the end, each home inspector must decide whether to confront or avoid the practice of asbestos disclosure.

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, April 28, 2008.

Inman News

Dear Barry,

My husband and I disagree over how to treat the termites in our home. For the past 27 years, he has sprayed poison wherever we’ve seen frass particles. I’ve heard that termites must be professionally exterminated, but he says that termites are a permanent problem in our area and that they will always return after extermination. What is your advice? –Ninel

Dear Ninel,

Here are some vital termite facts to help settle your domestic debate:

1. Termite colonies continually increase in population. The older a termite colony is, the more mouths it has to feed. A 5-year-old colony may contain a few thousand termites. A colony that is 27 years old could have a census of millions. Consider how much wood that many termites could eat on a daily basis.

2. Termites live deep within the recesses of the wood members of a structure. They eat tunnels in the wood framing until all that is left of a stud, joist or rafter is the outer veneer.

3. When termite tunnels become clogged with frass (termite poop), the little “wood-munchers” make small holes to expel these particles from their domain. The frass that you see in your home is a small sample, compared with what could be found in the attic or inside the walls.

4. Insect sprays cannot penetrate into the structural framing members where termites live, eat and multiply. The only way to eliminate them is to have your home professionally exterminated. Postponing this process ensures the continued consumption of the wood components of your home.