Reader’s response further emphasizes importance of qualified home inspectors

Q: I just read your column on the bad home inspection. First, who paid for the inspector? If the mortgage company paid, the lender didn’t get their money’s worth. Second, on the question of the open sewerage, that seems like a no-brainer to me, as it was clearly a housing code violation. Third, the disclosure sheet provided by the seller to the buyer clearly misrepresented the homes and increased the likelihood of a lawsuit.

Having a brother and daughter in construction made buying and selling homes for me more “above board.” They were better inspectors than anyone I could hire. That said, I’ve met some very well-educated and reputable inspectors with great construction backgrounds that would not have missed what was described in your column. (I’m not sure anyone got what they paid for.)

Buyers sometimes have stars in their eyes. Some real estate agents and inspectors are not schooled in this stuff and diminish its importance. I’ve been there, too. This is the biggest purchase a family will ever make, and this family is on the hook for the cost of the repairs to their home. That is clearly unreasonable.

The nice approach would be to split the cost with the previous owners. Barring that, a firm conversation with the real estate agent and or the inspector would be needed. If all else fails, get the lawyers. They got a lemon, and you were far too kind.

A: Thank you for your comments. The letter you mention involved a reader experiencing various problems with a home they purchased. Some of the problems they found were quite serious, and we walked the reader through their options.

Your letter poses a couple of issues we want to address. First, lenders usually perform an appraisal of a property to determine the property’s value. But, an appraisal is not an inspection of the property. Lenders want an appraiser to verify (in person, typically, but sometimes on an automated basis) that the home exists as described. You should never rely on a lender to inspect your home, and certainly not an appraiser.

With FHA loans, the lender will send out an FHA inspector to actually inspect the home. But even in these cases, buyers shouldn’t rely on the FHA inspector to get a true sense of what problems the home may have. The FHA inspector may not be looking at the same things as a professional home inspector. The FHA inspector will likely spend 15 or 30 minutes at a home. A good home inspector will likely spend several hours going through a home top to bottom. So, again, you should have your own home inspector go through your home.

And, by the way, condominium inspections may take less time. But you should understand what the home inspector will look at when they come for the inspection of the condo. Most home inspectors will not inspect the common elements of the condo building. This means that you will be buying in a building where your inspector won’t look at the roof, the exterior walls, plumbing and electrical systems of the building.

You need to know this information to make an intelligent decision about purchasing the condominium. Otherwise, you won’t understand what you are getting into. Let’s say, for example, the condo homeowner association has low reserves. And, you buy into the building. Once you’re an owner, you may find out that the association will need to pass special assessments to fund the many repairs the building needs.

In your letter, you mention that the buyer in our original column didn’t get their money’s worth. That may be correct. And, buyers need to understand what a home inspector will or won’t do. They also need to understand the importance of finding a good home inspector. If the inspector is only good at checking off boxes to generate the report, then the report you get may be useless.

You need an inspector that is knowledgeable about construction methods, has performed dozens or hundreds of inspections, has worked in construction in prior work, and is willing to talk to you ahead of time and give you some idea of how this inspection will be carried out. Far too often, Sam’s clients hire inspectors who find small issues with homes but miss the big picture entirely

By the way, many inspectors will carve out the big-ticket items from their inspections. They won’t inspect heating systems, plumbing systems, roofs or electrical systems. If they won’t inspect those items, you aren’t getting a real inspection of your home. And the money you pay may not be worth it.

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(Ilyce Glink is the author of “100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask” (4th Edition). She is also the CEO of Best Money Moves, a financial wellness technology company. Samuel J. Tamkin is a Chicago-based real estate attorney. Contact Ilyce and Sam through her website, ThinkGlink.com.)