Welcome to the informational site to consult when you are buying or selling a home in Florida and looking for information on home inspectors in Florida and home inspections and why they are important. When you are purchasing a new Florida home you should always have a qualified home inspector perform the inspection. The inspector you choose should aim to be unbiased an provide an honest assessment of the overall condition of the house an its systems. The inspector should be locally licensed by the municipality or county in which the practice and be ASHI certified if possible. The American Society of Home Inspectors is the premier governing body for home inspectors in the United States. They provide the certification and training of qualified home inspectors. When the inspector visits your property he should provide a complete, clear and concise report with an executive summary to encapsulate any problems that might be present. The inspector should not mind if you come along for the inspection and many encourage it. It is always a great way to learn about the ins and outs of your new home. When you follow a trained inspector around on the inspection you will not only gain insights into the condition of your new home but also be prepared when his report is issued and understand the severity of any problems so you are not caught off guard. A good home inspector is available both before, during and after the inspection.
A Florida home inspector can save you thousands on the purchase of your new home
A good home inspector can complete his work on a smaller home in about two to three hours. On a larger home the inspection might take up to 4 hours depending on whether he is working alone or in tandem with another inspector. If your inspector is done in a matter of an hour then you probably have not received a thorough inspection and should not agree to pay. Make sure the inspector goes into the attic, under the home (if on a crawl space) and onto the roof to inspect the home thoroughly. Most inspectors will accept personal checks or cash but do expect to be paid at the completion of the inspection and not the delivery of the report.
Most inspectors will deliver the report the following day to either you or your realtor, or both if you request. Many inspectors are available seven days a week during daylight hours. Both you and your agent should try to be present for the inspection to hear any issues that might arise. If the home seller is present it can be beneficial for the buyer and often many questions can be answered at that time.
The actual inspection report should be detailed and customized and contain information specific to your new home as well as some general information about the systems of a house of the homes age that you are purchasing.
As to the question of insurance inspections very often the insurance companies will not accept normal home inspection reports and very often they want to have licensed contractors inspect each of the major systems of the home (electrical, plumbing and roof). Sometimes an insurance company will accept an ASHI certified inspection even if the inspector is not a contractor. Many home inspectors double as licensed professional contractors in the trades so if you can find an inspector to perform both it will save you money. The main home inspection will typically cost between $250-500 depending on the size of the home, if it has a pool, if it is a waterfront home and possibly the age of the home. A typical "four point" inspection which is normally required in the state of Florida will cost around $75-100 and will only cursorily address the major systems. These inspectors will spend little time at the property and their report will be short. You are not normally obligated to provide a copy of your home inspection report to anyone. The only time you might provide a copy to the seller is if it is required under the contract or to ask for deductions on the price for repairs or to request that the seller repair any warranted items found to be defective in the report.
The amazing (and particularly frightening) thing about home inspection is that anyone who pays for an occupational license can call themselves a home inspector. There can be significant differences between the quality of work that one home inspector can do compared to another and the results for the home buyer if they choose the wrong one can be disastrous. Be wary of low cost and low budget home inspectors. Much like realtors in Florida you get what you pay for. If the home inspector is worth hiring don't expect his rate to be significantly less than that of his competitors.
Many Realtors can refer you to a good home inspector but remember to do your own homework. The inspector is likely to be only as reliable as your realtor is.
Many realtors will refer home inspectors to their clients. There is nothing wrong with this practice as long as the realtor you have is a reputable an honest person (most of them are). Get some references for the inspector and call on them. If you are a first time buyer and money is tight make sure you still get an inspection. See if your realtor can defer the payment until the closing or include the costs in the seller paid expenses. It is well worth the money that you will spend and could save you thousands.
The inspection usually begins with the inspector orientating himself on the property and surveying the exterior of the home. Then the inspection begins in earnest with the exterior portion of the inspection. The inspector will check the hose bibs, exterior wall and finishes and other elements of the walls, soffit and fascia. The interior spaces are checking and a general inspection of the walls and structural elements are observed. The inspector will check the plumbing and appliances and open the electrical panel to check the level of service and the condition of the wiring. Make sure the inspector checks outlets as many can be non functional and assure that he opens some of the switchplates and outlet covers to check the condition of the wiring at the outlets and to make sure that there is no knob and tube wiring or aluminum wiring. You also want to see if the outlets are grounded. Ungrounded outlets can be a fire hazard and can damage electronics in the event of a power surge. You also want to avoid bus fuses and fuse panels as many insurance companies wont insure homes with bus fuses. Make sure that your inspector goes into the attic area. This is the only way to get a clear impression of the condition of the truss system and look for any roof leaks as well as get a look at the insulation, wiring and many other parts of the systems of the home.
All good home inspectors will go onto the roof. This is the best and only method to get a clear picture of the roof covering and its condition. One of the first thing to make sure of when buying a home is the condition of the roof. If the roof structure is very weak or is leaking or dated many insurance companies will not insure the home.
The inspector should proceed under the home (when possible). This is a great way to get a look at the plumbing systems and the floor joists and to look for any termite damage.
Many inspectors wont inspect pools but some will (they just charge more). It is beneficial to have the inspector check the filter and pump equipment.
The standard inspection pricing typically includes a computer printed report with a general description of the condition of the home and the general information regarding maintenance of your new Florida home. The report should be accurate and include details regarding any issues that come up in the inspection. The report usually will not include any dollar estimates for the repairs needed but if you ask the inspector they can usually give you an idea of what type of expense you might be facing. They will refer you to some local Florida contractors and trades for the needed repairs to get actual estimate on the costs associated with the warranted items. If there are a number of issues that come up and the real estate contract that you are a party to is an "as-is" contact then you typically have to make the decision to either renegotiate or withdraw from the contract. If the contract includes allowances for repairs then you have to provide a copy of the report to the seller along with your request for the items that are warranted to be repaired. Remember that most contracts do not cover cosmetic defects like cracked plaster and peeling paint. The repairs are usually for the systems of the home like the appliances and roof and electrical and plumbing system.
One Tampa real estate agent and realtors who relies on the information and refers his clients to our site. They refer their clients to our site when they have questions about Tampa real estate home inspections and St Petersburg Florida home inspections. You can visit their site to see Tampa Bay area homes for sale. They always strongly reccomend that their clients use a home inspector on every home purchase of St Petersburg or Tampa Bay real estate that they sell.
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Many busy home inspectors use automated call centers to handle their call when they are on the job either doing a home inspection or in their office. We found an interesting site that talks all about the options in call centers and outsourcing the responsibility of your office staff to save money. You should check out this interesting site about call centers.
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