Understanding The Limitation Of Your General Home Inspection
If you think a standard home inspection is pretty comprehensive, you may want to think twice. You may be surprised to know these inspections won't reveal all the flaws a house can have. When your agent hands you the inspection report you'll quickly notice it doesn't show particular areas or items if the home inspector could not get entrance or purposely kept out of the report.
Don't be surprised if this should happen-it's not that the inspector isn't doing his job. It's unrealistic to expect a report to be completely thorough because the inspector can't check past walls, below carpeting, or dig way beneath the ground. Plus what buyer expects an inspector to swim underwater to inspect the pool or hot tub. Unfortunately a normal home has almost 60,000 bits and pieces so it's nearly impossible for an inspector to check each item. An inspector can only realistically check major operating parts such as an electric panel box or an entry door.
Another major limitation is an inspector will only report what they can safely inspect. He or she isn't required to explore areas where their safety may be jeopardized. One house's crawl space may have easy access while another house's may be cramped and wet.
Additional restrictions can occur when a deceptive seller intentionally erects a barrier of boxes or furnishings to block access to a room or portion of the house. If this should occur, ask your agent to contact the seller and request the barricade be removed. If the seller doesn't cooperate the first time, make a second request insisting the seller clear the area for a second inspection, at the Sellers expense.
If your house should feature a pool, hot tub, or sauna, backyard swing set, burglar alarm system, break wall, or dock, the inspector will bypass these during his or her inspection. You might be lucky to see these items as part of your inspection report if the inspector has specialized training in these areas. If you're considering buying a home that may have potential problems, it's best you select an inspector who has years of training in those areas.
Finally every house has a different setup of appliances, heaters, water heaters, and other fabricated items-some which could have been recalled due to safety issues. An experienced inspector keeps abreast of these recalls and will document them in their report. For your own peace of mind, do your own research by jotting down the brand, manufacturer, model, serial number and research the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. That way you'll know if there will be future problems with a prospective house.
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