Getting a home inspection? Don’t live in California
If you’ve ordered a home inspection be thankful if you live in Louisiana, not so happy if you live in California.
At least that’s what the folks at the American Society of Home Inspectors say.
Each year, the society ranks states according to the laws they have in place to protect buyers during the home-inspection process. This year, the society ranks Louisiana as having the top home-inspection regulations and laws. California ranks at the bottom of the list.
The real concern, though, is that only 32 states even have legislation that regulates the home-inspection process. This means that in 18 states, everyone cal simply call themselves home inspectors without taking any sort of training. This is a big concern when you consider that buying a home is the biggest purchase most people will make. Buyers deserve to work with home inspectors how know their stuff.
The 18 states that have no home-inspection regulations at all are Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. If you live in any of these states, make sure your inspector is a member of the American Society of Home Inspectors. At least then you know that they’ve taken classes and passed exams regarding the home-inspection process.
Tags: American-Society-of-Home-Inspectors, ASHI, home-inspection-state-rankingsRelated Stories
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5 opinions for Getting a home inspection? Don’t live in California
Jefferson Otwell
Jan 5, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I am not sure that having some level of state certification actually raises the standard of customer care or competency. Sometimes licensing requirements are based less on competency and more on bureaucratic hoops.
Ali
Jan 6, 2008 at 6:28 am
This is really intriguing because Louisiana has so many other laws and regulations that work against residents and homeowners. I had no idea that 18 states don’t have home inspection regulation. Lots of revealing info here that I wasn’t aware of, thanks for the post!
Dan
Jan 7, 2008 at 5:30 am
Hi, Ali and Jefferson:
Thanks for your comments and for visiting the site. I agree with Jefferson that sometimes state certification is little more than a formality. But I do believe that home inspectors are so important to the real estate transaction that they should have to pass some sort of exam. Inspectors, after all, are the last line of protection for potential buyers.
Joseph
Jan 9, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I agree that home inspectors are very important in real estate. They do need more laws in place that govern this part of the transaction. Especially when there are realtors out there that are friends with inspectors which makes me wonder if certain things are overlooked just because of there relationship.
Cortland
Feb 13, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Good After noon,
I am a licensed inspector in Texas, ranked 4th best state by ASHI. Yes it is very frightening to know that you may be guided by a person who has ZERO knowledge about construction principals if you live in the 18 unregulated states. But the ASHI list is deceiving as well… of the 32 regulated states, there is a HUGE difference between the regulations and what constitutes qualification. Even in some of the regulated states, inspectors are not required to pass any sort of test to verify competency… Think drivers license test here… Many inspectors will say that state testing and education does not make a better inspector, because it only sets a minimum standard… (you hear this argument all the time from inspectors in states where regulation laws are considered) And yes it is a bureaucratic animal… BUT a minimum standard is far better than NO standard!
As an inspector in a highly regulated state, I feel we need even more stringent standards and regulation… I was recently called to inspect a home for a young first time home purchaser after only 6 months of occupancy, and I ended up providing over 75 pages of information to the client, The repair costs will be in excess of $35,000 or almost ½ the value of the home, to even make it legitimately re-marketable. The first inspector (state licensed just like me) and who was hired by the buyer’s AGENT wrote a misleading report about the condition of the home. This is routinely done (especially in down turning housing markets) to essentially lie to the unknowing buyer and misrepresent the home as in excellent condition… so that the highest possible price will be offered by the purchaser. As you know, the buyer’s agent is paid by the seller! And so, reaps a portion of that commission, so the more that is offered to purchase the home, the more the seller and buyers agent reap in commissions… Incidentally the first inspector gave the purchaser a 5 page hand written report.
There is a tremendous amount of shyster that often occurs in real-estate transactions because the commissions can be very good… And ALWAYS hire your own inspector… and interview several of them before you hire one (or two) it’s hard to beat a good second opinion…. You do get those from your doctors right? Why not for your home! Press your state legislators to create a firewall laws to separate home inspectors and real-estate agents from making internal referrals to each other (ethics)… See Massachusetts law as a good standard, to require state examination for a license to practice inspection, and 5 year reexaminations to keep a license… Good luck out there…
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