09/11/2019
NEW HOME INSPECTIONS....
I have been in the inspection business for 26 years and this is a area where people are NOT following through on one of the largest investments of their lives.
I have heard all kinds of explanations on why people don’t have a brand new home inspected.... “It’s brand new the city inspected it while it was being built.”
The city inspector comes out at different stages of the construction process and does inspect for any visible code violations. But that inspector is most having to look at 20-30 other houses on that same day, you hope that he is doing his job correctly.
The home is inspected in all different phases by the city, however they don’t come back at the end and operate everything and see if it is “Functioning as intended.”
If you have ever built a house you know there is always issues that come up during the construction process and 80% of the time they are minor things but while those issues are being corrected the city inspector does not come back out and re-inspect something once he has inspected it and given a “Green Tag” which means it’s all good.
Lights and switches get moved, doorways, windows, appliances I could go on listing things I have experienced during my career. I once did a $7,000,000 new build where they made changes during the construction process when I completed my inspection I was later told that the repairs that I noted were around $400,000. Most of the items would have taken several years before they problems became visible, while others were just improper installation of HVAC systems and water heaters and the homeowner would not found out about them until they sold the home and the new homeowner had a inspection conducted, at that point the cost of the repair is on the homeowner or trying to have the builder fix the problem....
On any brand new home 2,000 square feet or less on average we find at least 75 items that are Deficient or in need of repair.
Don’t wait for the “One year warranty inspection “ like your builder will suggest because the best leverage a New hone buyer has is YOUR CHECKBOOK!!!
Once you sign and take possession of your home... see how often the builder returns your phone calls. Some cosmetic issues that only the trained eye would notice like crooked walls and door openings patches in sheet rock will not be covered under One year warranty inspection.
One last thing when searching for a inspector don’t make the mistake of price shopping who has the lowest cost for their inspection... I am not saying that is not important but don’t let that be what makes you choose one inspector over the other. All it takes is one missed item by the inspector and that $25-$30 price difference is easily a $100 repair. When choosing a inspector ask friends, co workers, etc and also look at the inspectors license number when issuing the license the State of Texas started with the #1 and went up from there the lower the number the more experience the inspector has, and that’s what makes a good inspector someone that seen all the different things that can happen to a home in all stages of it’s life.
We are licensed #1859 and #3393 combined we have inspected 29,000 homes.
