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by Wally Conway,
Host
of the Home and Garden Show on WOKV
As sure as the spring flows at the Fountain of Youth, a home inspection
provides a stream of knowledge to wash away the fears of homebuyers.
But fear may be replaced by frustration if the wrong inspector is
chosen!
Should Tradesmen be Home Inspectors?
There are some who say that the best home inspection is an inspection
where all the trades are represented by a tradesperson from each
specialty. It is said that this situation brings individual and
specific expertise to each system. Reports would then be made separately
to the homebuyer. This argument states that no one knows plumbing
better than a plumber, roofs better than a roofer, or electric better
than an electrician, etc.
 I
will support the idea that no one knows each trade better than a
person specifically from that trade, but that approach to home inspecting
has several glaring flaws.
- Flaw # 1.
To inspect the entire home using individual trades people would
require more then a dozen people. Roofer, plumber, electrician,
framer, mason, heating, insulation, painting, landscaper, pool,
fireplace, appliance, tile, and we still have windows, doors and
more! For scheduling and crowd control alone, this is a bad idea.
However, if we can overcome that problem, then why not? Moving
on.
- Flaw # 2.
It would be difficult to find a dozen or more trades people to
do this inspection without the intent to solicit repair work.
There is no ethics position that precludes each tradesperson from
soliciting work in their chosen trade. That is what trades people
do; they work in their trade.
This "looking for work" mentality puts the objectivity
of the inspection process in jeopardy. While it may be appropriate
for the tradesperson to make suggestions for improvement or
upgrade to a homeowner, this approach is not best suited in
the buying process, where the desire is principally of the inspection
process to determine if exiting systems are functioning as intended,
and perhaps answer component life expectancies questions.
- Flaw #3.
The biggest problem, however, with bringing in a dozen trades
people to inspect a home is one that cannot be overlooked. In
this scenario, NO ONE is charged with the responsibility in putting
all the information together, sorting how each item interacts
with the other, documenting the concerns in a coherent fashion,
and most importantly of all, explaining what it all means to the
homebuyer in the context of the purchase and sale agreement.
If real estate agents have ever found it a challenge to deal with
the issues discovered during a home inspection by a home inspector,
then you have to believe that sorting the detail, or rather lack
of detail, from a dozen different trades people is a challenge that
could be insurmountable!
Talk about a state of confusion!
Let's leave home inspecting to the professionally trained home
inspector and leave the installation and repair of specific systems
to the people who install and repair!
Copyright © Florida HomePro, Inc. and Wallace
J. Conway. All rights in all media reserved.
About the Author: Wally Conway is your weekly Host of the Home
and Garden Show on WOKV, and author of the book "Secrets of the Happy
Home Inspector", available at GoHomePro.com.
Wally's expertise and experience has been sought after by HGTV's "House
Detective", DIY Network's "Finders Fixers", the National Association
of REALTORS®, newspapers, and corporations. As a speaker, writer, and instructor,
Wally blends the right amount of up-to-date information with just the right
amount of humor, insight, motivation, and real-world application. Visit WallyConway.com
for more information!
Reproduction of this article: Permission is granted to use this article
in any media provided that the article is reproduced in its entirety as shown
above, with the authors resource box/bio included including links to http://www.gohomepro.com
and http://www.wallyconway.com
as the original publisher.
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