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A Home Inspection is an exercise in Consumer Protection, whereby a qualified Home Inspector performs a basic visual inspection of the property you have made an offer on and gives you a report of their findings. 

What do they look for? Using their brief, three-hour average window, the Inspector is allowed by the Seller, who still owns the home, to walk through the sometimes furnished home and observe, without moving the contents. The inspector can: open and shut doors, windows, and cabinets; run faucets and stop up drains; test outlets and light switches; raise and lower the thermostat, just to name a few.

It doesn’t sound like much, does it? The real work comes from methodically observing all the major home systems/components and looking for warning signs: drips, stains, rust, corrosion, melting, cracks, bad odors, deformation, low flow, components that don’t work and components that won’t last much longer.

A really good inspector notices when things “don’t look right” and advises further investigation by a qualified engineer/contractor/technician who will later have the time to figure out the real scope of the problem and estimate repairs based on current material/labor costs, availability and alternate solutions. Using unqualified internet estimates, Realtor and Home Inspector guesses is a fool's errand that can get you underwater in a hurry. We are not qualified to provide reliable and accurate estimates.

This is the process of due diligence and why you want the most qualified inspector and repair estimators you can find for the biggest expenditure of your lifetime.

This is why it is so important that your trusted Realtor negotiates your contract with a Contingency Clause that grants you a due diligence time frame that allows 10 days for the Home Inspection and 10 days for the Repair Estimate Inspection It is worth waiting a few days to get the best Inspector. The ten days after the Inspection allow you to get on the schedules of qualified engineers/contractors/technicians to conduct Repair Estimate Inspections for an accurate evaluation of the items on the Inspector’s defect list and produce reliable estimate(s) of repair. Only one estimate for big-ticket items is not reassuring. You and your trusted Realtor need this information to factor into your final decision.

You may get lucky with a shorter due diligence time frame but, you are potentially gambling with a lot of your hard-earned family savings on top of your budget-busting offer. It is not uncommon for a Home Inspector to discover $50,000 or more in needed repairs on top of your offer. A roof that is months away from leaking, a new heat pump compressor so loud it wakes up your neighbors, dangerous electrical panels that have a history of catching on fire, cast iron plumbing pipes that need to be dug up to the street, cracked foundations that need fixation,, asbestos popcorn ceilings that fall off on your head, lead paint flakes/dust your children and pets think tastes sweet, hidden structural termite damage, mold problems making you congested, life-threatening radon gas that doesn’t show up until 20 years later, smoke alarms that beep but, don’t go off when there is a real fire…. it all adds up quickly. Or…. just $500 for a new fence gate. You won’t know until you get it inspected.

Sorry, we try not to make this sound all gloom and doom. Some homes inspect so clean we high-five right there with you that only a few piddly things are on the defect list.

Listen, you and your trusted Realtor have invested a lot of time in finding your dream home. You have checked off a lot of boxes regarding price, bedrooms, baths, parks, schools, jobs, commutes, friends and family. The job of a Home Inspector is to give you enough information so that you can make a sound decision for your family. The inspection report is a blueprint for you to manage your limited resources and if necessary, make a plan to save for deferred expenses. Our goal is to give you the information you need to make your dream come true.

THIS IS the cumbersome process of Home Buyer Consumer Protection currently afforded to you under Virginia Law. Many of us are fighting to strengthen your consumer rights (VAREI). Please support your trusted Realtors’ and Home Inspectors’ advocacy with the Virginia General Assembly to make Home Inspections, Home Environmental Inspections and Repair Estimate Inspections a consumer right, not a negotiation.”