Types of Home Inspections

All reputable lending institutions, real estate brokers, home appraisers and Realtors recommend that home buyers obtain this type of inspection prior to the purchase of a home. This purpose of this inspection is to find and describe problem conditions that exist within a home at the time of the inspection. Only a properly trained and licensed professional should be trusted to perform this type of inspection. I typically spend 3.5-4 hours performing a buyer's home inspection. During this time I will examine all of the major components of a home for function, safety, and proper design. A home buyer's inspection is a critical component of any real estate transaction. I routinely identify problems in homes that cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair that were not disclosed to the prospective buyers of the home. I also frequently find numerous safety hazards in homes that could easily result in fatal injuries to unsuspecting homeowners. Some of my clients have saved themseleves from financial ruin simply by hiring me to do their buyer's inspection. The costs of fixing many of the problems I identify can often be negotiated into the sales price of a home, easily saving you thousands of dollars. The cost of hiring me to do your home buyer's inspection is next to nothing compared to the value, safety and peace of mind my inspections offer.

This is a relatively new type of inspection that is becoming increasingly popular among smart home sellers. This inspection is performed in much the same way as the buyer's home inspection. The purpose of a seller's inspection is to prepare a home for a quick pain-free sale. Most sellers make the mistake of waiting for a prospective buyer to do an inspection to identify the problems that exist within thier homes. As the number of problems found in a home continue to grow many potential buyers will no longer be as enthusiastic about purchasing your home. Even if they do decide to purchase your home they will generally want the problems to be fixed or the sale price of the house lowered to cover the costs. A smart home seller can avoid much of this hassle by hiring me to do a seller's inspection a month or two before listing their home for sale. This will give them plenty of time to make repairs and improvements themselves or hire reasonably priced contractors. When the prospective buyer does his or her home inspection the home inspector will be significantly less likely to find problems that could delay the sale of your home or reduce your asking price. Your Realtor can also use your seller's inspection as a marketing tool to speed up the sale of your home and in many cases prospective buyers will be less likely to feel the need to hire their own home inspectors.

Most new homes come with a 1 year or in some cases a 2 year home warranty paid for by the contractor or the property developer. Anyone who buys one of these homes should hire a home inspector to perform a warranty inspection about one month prior to the end of the warranty. I perform this inspection in the same fashion as the seller's home inspection with the exception that you will not have to cover the costs of fixing most of the problems I identify. With a home warranty inspection you can often have thousands of dollars in repairs made to your home at little to no cost to you. My home inspection report is the tool you need to take advantage of your warranty. My home inspection report can serve as documentation in court in the event that a contractor refuses to honor your home warranty. Without a warranty inspection many contractors will simply ignore your requests for repairs until your warranty expires. Don't let this happen to you! Hire me to do your warranty inspection while you still have time.

Regardless of what the building contractor may tell you I know from experience that many new homes are far from perfect. I can do a standard home inspection with a well documented report that you can use to get your contractor to fix the problems I identify before you move in or at least before your new home warranty expires.

If you are relocating to a city or town somewhere around Knoxville TN I offer some special home inspection services to assist you in your move. These services can be tailored to meet whatever needs you may have. For instance if you or your spouse cannot actually see a house in person prior to purchasing it I can do a home inspection supplemented with hundreds of photographs or hours hours of video recording. I can help give you as good of an understanding about your home and neighborhood as possible without you actually viewing it in person. Give me a call to discuss your needs and find out what I can do to help.

If you just want a single component or a few components of your home inspected give me a call. For these inspections I price based on driving time, inspecting time and report writing time.

I am currently performing re-inspections free of charge to those who have hired me to do any one of the inspections mentioned on this page. If you negotiate for something in the house to be repaired prior to your purchase or you have hired a contractor to make a repair of an item I identified as in need of repair, I will re-inspect the repaired work at your request to ensure that the repair was made in an acceptable manner.

These inspections cover the same items as a buyer's inspection, but at a lower cost.