Choosing a home inspector is a crucial step in the home buying process. It is a decision that can have a great impact on your satisfaction with your new home. The home inspector tells you about all the hidden problems in the house you are planning to buy. You may not be able to spot the covered issues, but a trained home inspector can find potential problems and prevent you from making a worthless deal. So, learning how to select the most reliable home inspector is imperative, especially for first time home buyers.
With so many home inspectors claiming themselves as the best, it is not easy to pick a trustworthy inspector. It would help if you were smart enough to find the one whom you can rely on. To help you in choosing the right home inspection company, I have jotted helpful tips below. Make sure to read them all.
- Ask for referrals – If someone from your friends, relatives, or neighbors has bought a house recently, don’t hesitate to ask them for a good reference. Chances are there that you may get the name of a well-qualified home inspector. Your people will also warn you from not hiring an inspector they had a bad experience with.
- Search online – If you don’t get any good recommendations from your friends or relatives, then use the internet. Search for the home inspectors in your area. Check their website for services, and then shortlist the ones who meet your needs.
- Read reviews – After shortlisting the home inspectors, the next step that you should do is to check their reputation. Read online reviews and see what past clients have to say about the work of a home inspector. Chances are there that you will be treated the same way as the previous clients were. So, only keep those home inspectors on the list who have all the positive reviews.
- Check qualification – Many home inspectors start providing inspection services without taking the required training. The authorities do not even license them. Their entire motive is to make money. They don’t have the proper knowledge and can guide you wrong by providing the incorrect report. So, make sure to check the qualification of the home inspector before hiring.
- Check the insurance – While selecting the home inspector, checking the insurance is among the most important tasks you should not skip. Many home inspectors are there who conduct the inspection process without having any insurance. The major problem with uninsured home inspectors is that they may hold you or the seller liable if they get injured during the inspection.
Furthermore, insurance is important because, during the home inspection process, the workers have to climb in attics and wander through basements. So, if you don’t want to worry about being sued at the time of the mishap, hire an insured home inspector only.