Is Your Home Inspection Accurate? When To Get A Second Inspection?

There isn’t much in the way of research to tell us how many home inspections may be inaccurate. With 95% of home sale involving an inspection, there must be at least a few inaccurate home inspection reports produced every day. The thing is, how do you know if your home inspection report is inaccurate? And, just as importantly, what do you do if you have a home inspection report that doesn’t give you a reliable picture of the property?

There are both subtle and obvious signs that your home inspection report isn’t giving you the correct information, but, in order to “read” these signs, a buyer or seller must take an active part in the entire sales process.

This includes:

As a buyer:

• Knowing what to look for when you view a home.
• Researching and interviewing home inspectors before hiring one.
• Being clear about the role of a home inspector, their scope of work, and what you should and should not expect to see in the report.
• Utilizing the expertise of your real estate professional.
• As a seller:
• Having a clear picture of your home’s defects before placing it on the market.
• Knowing precisely what a home inspection report should and should not cover.
• Preparing your home to ensure the inspector can do a thorough job.
• Being available to answer questions, point out details, and provide additional evidence for the home inspector.

Signs The Initial Home Inspection Isn’t Accurate
As a buyer, when you go to view a home, you should be on the lookout for the subtle signs that something could be wrong under the surface. By doing so, you are not only arming yourself with the kind of information that will help you make an informed initial offer on a home, but you are also giving yourself a way of assessing the accuracy of the home inspection report.

How To Tell
Well, imagine that you view a home and see several water stains on the inside of the kitchen cabinet under the sink. This could indicate a current or previous water leak, which, in turn,  could be viewed as a warning sign that there may be other problems under or behind the cabinets.

You submit an offer, which the seller accepts and you then commission a home inspection.

Once you receive the report, you see that there are a handful of minor items listed, but the evidence of the water leak is not included. This could be the first warning sign that a home report isn’t accurate.

If you have made a note of a potential defect and this has not made its way into the report, you should wonder what else has been missed.

Another indicator which should raise your suspicions is if the inspection itself takes much less time than it should. The average 1800 square foot home should take somewhere around three hours to inspect. A home inspector who has sprinted through a property much more quickly should raise warning flags over the accuracy of their final report.

Finally, you may be purchasing a home which has already had an inspection, but the sale has fallen through for some reason, so the property is back on the market. In this case, the seller may be under an obligation to disclose any defects discovered the first time around. If they are not in the home inspection report you commission, chances are you should be suspicious that your home inspection report could be inaccurate.

When Does the Home Inspection Usually Take Place?

Reader question: “We are about to buy our first home, and I have some questions regarding the home inspection process and time frame. When does the home inspection usually take place? Does it happen before or after the purchase agreement is signed? And is there a way to back out if the inspector finds a serious problem?”

The home inspection usually takes place shortly after the seller accepts the buyer’s offer. Once the purchase agreement has been signed by both parties, the house goes into escrow. This is typically when the home inspection takes place, at least in a standard real estate transaction.

And yes, the buyers can back out of the deal if the inspector finds a serious issue. Many buyers include a home inspection contingency within their purchase offers, and for this very reason. It gives them a way to back out without losing their earnest money deposit (if they made one).

When the Home Inspection Takes Place

1. The outline below shows when the home inspection takes place, in relation to other steps in the buying process.
2. The home buyer finds a suitable property and makes an offer to purchase it.
3. The seller accepts the buyer’s offer, perhaps after some back-and-forth negotiations over the price, closing date, seller concessions, etc.
4. The buyers provide a copy of the signed purchase agreement to their mortgage lender (if they are using a home loan purchase the property). If they’re not using a lender and paying cash, this step is moot.
5. The buyers will then hire a home inspector to perform a thorough inspection of the property, with an emphasis on the roof, foundation, electrical system, heating and cooling, and plumbing.
6. The inspector conducts the home inspection and reviews any issues or discrepancies with the buyers. He will also provide a detailed inspection report on paper.
7. The buyers decide which items they want to have corrected, and which items they are okay with. They will send their repair requests the home owner/seller.
8. The seller will agree to fix all, some, or none of the requested items. (They are under no obligation to repair any discrepancies noted by the inspector. This is where market leverage comes into the picture.)
9. Home buyers usually have the opportunity to back out of the deal, if they are unwilling to accept any issues noted in the report. This is why it’s important to include a home inspection contingency within your purchase offer.

So that’s when the home inspection takes place during a regular real estate transaction. It happens when the house is “in escrow” — this is the period of time after the purchase agreement has been signed, and before the final closing date.

As a home buyer, it would be wise for you to have the home inspected sooner rather than later. That way, if the inspector uncovers serious issues you are not comfortable taking on, you can back out and move on to the next suitable property.

Foreclosures, Short Sales and Auctions

Everything mentioned in the previous section pertains to a standard real estate transaction, where the home buyer presents an offer to the homeowner. In such cases, the home inspection usually takes place shortly after the offer has been accepted by the seller. But there are other cases where the inspection might occur earlier, later, or not at all.

Distressed properties are a good example. If you are buying a foreclosure home that is owned by a bank (thus removing the homeowner from the picture entirely), you might not have an opportunity to inspect the property.

The same is true for homes that are sold at a real estate auction. When you bid on a property at an auction, you might not have an opportunity to inspect it beforehand. So the process varies depending on the type of home you are buying, and whom you are buying from.

If you’re planning to purchase a distressed property, I recommend working with a real estate agent who is familiar with the process. He or she can tell you when the home inspection takes place in this kind of scenario.