I offer home inspections to the home buying public in south central Louisiana.  As an inspector, I give my clients information they need to make a more informed decision in regard to the purchase of the house under consideration.  On this page I give basic information about home inspectors themselves because, like houses, they're not all the same.  As much depends on making the proper choice of inspector as making the proper choice of house.

The State regulatory requirements for home inspectors in Louisiana is minimal.  Only 130 hrs of schooling is required, 90 of which must be classroom instruction.  This would seem to suggest that houses are very simple constructions, so simple that the topic can be mastered in just 2 weeks of school.  If that were true, selecting your home inspector would be as simple as shopping for groceries.

With such meager requirements many new hopefuls enter the field each year hoping for a profitable business of their own.  Many of those will leave before the first year is over since the demand for home inspections is less now than a decade ago.  This is good news for the schools that sell the required 90 hour course but not so good for the home buyer who must sift among so many inspectors to find the few who are up to the challenge of adequately advising a buyer on what may be the largest investment of his life.

There is not a single school in all of the United States that is geared towards preparing individuals for a career as a home inspector.

Home inspectors that excel in their profession are almost always self taught.  They are motivated only by an internal drive to become the best.  They read well, write well, don’t mind working hard and generally never stop learning.  These inspectors do not hoist placards above their heads identifying themselves as the elite.  They can be delineated from others only by first understanding some basic facts about the home inspection business and the people who work within it.

The need for the services of a home inspector is very infrequent for most people.  There is little, if any, opportunity to sample his performance.  Home inspection companies sometimes take advantage of this fact by focusing their resources more on simply making the sale and less on the quality of the inspection and inspection report that follow.  In the short run, it can pay better for the inspection company.  Companies that advertise aggressively can profit from that practice much longer if not indefinitely.

It's not uncommon for a buyer to back out of a home purchase agreement based on the results of a home inspection done by a highly skilled inspector.  Decisions to back out are usually not because of trivial findings which may number in the dozens for a typical report.  They're usually because of major or expensive findings that the seller or builder would not accommodate.

It's vital to remember that there is no question as to the value of the dollars that a seller, builder or agent may receive from a home sale.  The only thing in question is the value of the home, which the buyer becomes responsible for if the sale goes through.  It's the same way with the home inspection contract. No one questions the value of the dollars that the inspector walks away with, but the value of the report depends on the skill of the inspector and the amount of effort that he put into it.  It's wise for a buyer to be conscious of these facts when choosing an inspector and later when buying a house.

Termite inspections are vitally important prior to the purchase of any wood framed structure because of the high incidence of infestations by wood destroying insects in this part of the state.  Some home inspection companies offer them for free or automatically include them in the inspection fee, which are both the same thing.  Keep in mind that the termite inspector, who is legally required to be either an employee or contractor of a Pest Control Operator, has a vested interest in disclosing termites or related activity, so as to sell a termite treatment contract.  Treatment contracts are how Pest Control Operators make their money.  When done in conjunction with a home inspection, it conflicts with the ethical need for the inspector to reveal exactly what he finds.  It's a conflict of interest, one of several in the home inspection business.  When choosing your inspector, keep in mind that the expertise required to complete a termite inspection is dwarfed by that required for a comprehensive home inspection.  A ‘free’ termite inspection is a marketing technique designed to persuade the buyer to disregard the home inspector's qualifications and immediately make your choice of inspector based on the offer of a 'free' termite inspection.

'Certified' inspectors, 'guaranteed' inspections and inspection 'warranties' are other examples of the flashy techniques used to convince a potential client that they have found their inspector.  While Certifications do sometimes have value, most are rubbish.  Guaranteed inspections generally involve the return of the inspection fee if the inspection has missed something, but the discovery of a major issue after the sale has already closed can easily make the returned fee look like pocket change.  Inspection warranties contain fine print that excludes practically everything of substance.  Each of these gimmicks is intended to give the impression of a 'security blanket' that assures the potential client of a 'no risk' inspection.  In truth, that 'security blanket' doesn't exist, though the risk of missing something significant can be minimized by a highly knowledgeable and skilled inspector.

The safest way to find your inspector is to keep the above points in mind.  Some inspectors offer sample reports on their websites for you to read.  Read them.  Are they easy to read?  Do they seem thorough?  Do they leave questions in your mind or do they leave you with a complete picture of the condition of the house?  Examine the writing skills of the inspector.  Did he write it himself or did he merely 'click' boxes on his software that inject generic, one-size-fits-all sentences or paragraphs that were written by a software designer who has never even seen the house?  Try to gauge the amount of effort that the inspector has put into the report.  Some inspectors generate on-site reports where the effort invested into customizing and fine tuning the report is zero.  Finally, ask yourself: is this what I want from my inspector?  It's okay to compile a list of questions to put to him by phone or Email.  If he doesn't want to be bothered with questions, maybe he doesn't have your interests in mind.

VIEW SAMPLE REPORTS:    09.21.2010      07.28.2011