Navigating Home Inspections: FAQs and What You Need To Know
This week on Thoughts from the Crawlspace, Jamie breaks down the most common questions clients have about home inspections, helping you feel confident and informed throughout the process. Jamie starts by discussing inspection costs and what factors can affect the price, like property size and any extra services you might need. Then, he covers how long an inspection usually takes (around three hours for an average home) and why the age of the property can change that timeline.
He also explains why it’s valuable for clients to be present during the inspection so they get a full understanding of what’s found.
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Episode Highlights
- Breakdown of typical home inspection costs and what influences the price
- How long a home inspection usually takes and factors that can extend the timeline
- Why being present during the inspection is beneficial, and when the best time to join is
- Key insights for homeowners, buyers, and real estate pros to confidently navigate inspections
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
02:40 - Inspection Costs and Process Overview
11:00 - Assessing Roof Lifespan
14:25 - Common Questions Home Inspectors Receive
18:34 - Deciding on Home Inspection Outcomes
Transcript
Welcome to Thoughts from the Crawl Space, a podcast where our goal as home inspection experts is to support and serve our community.
Speaker A:Whether you're a homeowner, home buyer, real estate agent, or investor, we believe everyone deserves solutions to their homeownership challenges and inspiration along the way.
Speaker A:Your path to success starts here.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Thoughts from the Crawl Space.
Speaker A:Today we are going to dive into some frequently asked questions that we get both before the inspection and after the inspection.
Speaker A:We hope you all are having a great day.
Speaker A:By the way, wanted to jump in and answer some of these questions before you get into the process so you're not unsure of what to do next and how we can help you on these things.
Speaker A:So, number one, the number one question we probably get when we get a phone call is how much does an inspection cost?
Speaker A:Well, there's a lot of variables involved with an inspection.
Speaker A:We try to maintain a simple pricing plan, but simply put, all houses are different.
Speaker A:Every buyer or seller has different needs, and we want to meet those needs in the best way that we can.
Speaker A:So the best thing that I can tell you is to call our office, but I will give you a little bit of information on that.
Speaker A:A minimum fee on an inspection is going to start around $400.
Speaker A:We have additional services such as sewer line scans.
Speaker A:Those can run around 250.
Speaker A:Mold testing can be around 350.
Speaker A:And so you can see if you add on several of these things, water testing, well inspections, radon testing, and then if we do any environmental testing such as asbestos or lead, all those are additional fees as well.
Speaker A:So with anything, you kind of get what you pay for.
Speaker A:And just because someone charges more doesn't mean they're better.
Speaker A:But I think it does reflect possibly they know their value.
Speaker A:They know the value that they're giving out to you as they go ahead and do this inspection and the services that they provide.
Speaker A:Now, one thing our call center will do is they will analyze your house, the age of it, where it's located, and recommend a few things based on that knowledge.
Speaker A:For example, if you have large trees in the front yard and it's a little bit.
Speaker A:Has a little bit of age to it, maybe 20, 30 years at least, they're going to recommend a sewer line scan just simply because we don't want you to be caught unaware of what's going on.
Speaker A:We don't.
Speaker A:We want you to be protected as much as you can within what your budget is, is, you know, can handle.
Speaker A:So asking how much an inspection costs, there's a lot of variables, but there's a basic fee and then we can add additional services to make sure the inspection experience is very broad and covers all avenues of the house.
Speaker A:Another question we get, how long will it take?
Speaker A:Well, again, this varies a little bit.
Speaker A: square foot house or a: Speaker A:But in general, with one inspector on an average size house to say 2,500ft, it's going to roughly take three hours.
Speaker A:And that can again, the age of the house has a lot to do with it.
Speaker A:It's not necessarily the size, but it's more the age.
Speaker A: that was built in, you know,: Speaker A:Just because there's a lot more things to look at, most likely different building standards.
Speaker A: In: Speaker A:A lot of homeowner interventions, if you know what I'm saying.
Speaker A:And so an older house is definitely going to take longer than a newer house.
Speaker A:Well, another question, can I be present during the inspection or my family?
Speaker A:And without a doubt we would definitely say yes.
Speaker A:Now, when to come to the inspection?
Speaker A:It depends.
Speaker A:You don't really need to be there for the full three hours.
Speaker A:We can get you all the information you need within a few minutes at the end of the inspection.
Speaker A:So we highly recommend coming toward the end of it, maybe the last 30 minutes.
Speaker A:If there is some things you want to do there, if you're meeting some contractors, if you're measuring for blinds or furniture or carpet or whatever, then we would recommend you show up just a little bit earlier so that you're not holding the inspector up at the end of it.
Speaker A:But in general, the inspection is going to take about three hours.
Speaker A:A little longer on bigger houses, a little smaller, a little shorter on smaller and newer houses.
Speaker A: For example, if we're doing a: Speaker A:So what about your family?
Speaker A:Well, that's a good question.
Speaker A:Number one, we want to give you the information, but we understand, especially if you're a first time home buyer, you might love to have your family there.
Speaker A:You want to show them the house, you want to have the comfort of having another set of ears there to hear what the inspector has to say.
Speaker A:And that's perfectly fine.
Speaker A:We just ask that you don't come create a situation that's a little bit too distracting.
Speaker A:Sometimes it could be too distracting for the inspector himself, and it may not allow you to get the information you want.
Speaker A:Sometimes sellers have a problem with multiple people coming into their house and walking around.
Speaker A:So okay that with your real estate agent before you bring the family.
Speaker A:And if you have babies or young kids, that might be a time to have a babysitter or a family member watch them.
Speaker A:We want you to be able to focus on what you need to know.
Speaker A:And we all know that babies are awesome, but they also have short attention spans, and young kids have short attention spans.
Speaker A:And they may not let you focus on what you want to focus on.
Speaker A:So another question is, when will I get the report?
Speaker A:And these first few questions are on our website.
Speaker A:So if you forget anything I'm saying, you can go to it and figure out by reading it.
Speaker A:But we will.
Speaker A:You will get the report in most cases, the same day.
Speaker A:We send it as soon as possible.
Speaker A:As soon as we have written it to our satisfaction, given you all the information that you need, we email it out and you get it the same day.
Speaker A:In rare occasions where it's a really difficult house or, you know, we have events planned after the inspection and we're not quite done with the report, it possibly would be the next morning, but definitely same day in 99% of the cases and within 24 hours in almost all circumstances.
Speaker A:So what kind of things will be on the report, you might ask?
Speaker A:Well, I'm glad you asked.
Speaker A:So on the report, we're going to primarily look for health and safety hazards, structural problems, water penetration, insect damage, and then systems or components that aren't working quite right.
Speaker A:Most homes that we inspect have a little bit of age to them.
Speaker A:They've had some things go wrong over the years.
Speaker A:They're not perfect.
Speaker A:There's been settling, there's been shifting, there's been homeowners in and out.
Speaker A:And we're not really looking for cosmetic items.
Speaker A:We're not.
Speaker A:We can't move carpet, we're not going to move furniture, we're not going to disassemble anything.
Speaker A:We can't see inside walls.
Speaker A:But what we can do is look for things that would devalue the property, major problems, things that are costly to fix, and that could be a, you know, kind of could be something that seems relatively simple but isn't.
Speaker A:And Then just anything that would be a health or safety hazard, we definitely want to look out for those things.
Speaker A:And those might be really simple fixes.
Speaker A:You could add a handrail to a stairs and you've massively improved the safety of that stairs.
Speaker A:But those are the main things we're looking for.
Speaker A:We're not really there to nitpick the house.
Speaker A:If you're buying a new house and you want to do a blue tape inspection where you go around and highlight cosmetic things for the builder to fix, that's different.
Speaker A:We don't do anything with that.
Speaker A:If your trim is scuffed, if your trim's missing, we don't care if your walls are bright pink, we don't care if you have chipped paint here and there, we really don't care unless it's moisture that has caused that.
Speaker A:So just know that going in, what we're there for and what we're not there for.
Speaker A:So a couple other questions you get that we get.
Speaker A:Frequently, concrete is a part of every house.
Speaker A:I can't think of one I've seen that isn't whether it's the walls, the sidewalk, the driveway, whatever.
Speaker A:So frequently we will see cracks in the concrete that the buyer is concerned about.
Speaker A:So how do you know if a crack is worth getting upset about or upset's not the right word, but providing further evaluation on or repairs and one that isn't.
Speaker A:Well, generally there's kind of a rule that we follow, and it can vary a little bit, but let's say it's a basement wall and we see a crack whether it's vertical or whether it's horizontal or whether it's diagonal, those all have an effect on it.
Speaker A:Diagonal on a poured concrete wall, or, excuse me, horizontal in a poured concrete wall is not a really good sign.
Speaker A:But let's just say it's your normal vertical crack.
Speaker A:If that crack is on the same plane, in other words, side by side, and one side's not shifted more than another, then that's one aspect of it.
Speaker A:The other aspect, is it more than a quarter inch wide.
Speaker A:And if it is, well, we've got some issues there.
Speaker A:Just remember, concrete doesn't just crack on one side of the wall.
Speaker A:So if you see a crack, it's cracked all the way through.
Speaker A:And some cracking is normal.
Speaker A:You get curing, it cures, it dries out, it cracks a little bit.
Speaker A:But if they're offset, that means something's moving.
Speaker A:If it's wider than what I just mentioned, a quarter inch, well, then we got signs of a bigger problem, and that's going to need repair.
Speaker A:If their hairline cracks, they can still allow water entry, but in general, they're not typically not really structurally significant, but something that is know even if it has water coming in, you don't want that, so you're still going to want to get it repaired.
Speaker A:So there's a lot of variables that go into it.
Speaker A:Whereas if we see something like that on the floor of the basement, typically depending how the floor is poured, it's not a structural part of the house, definitely needs to be there, but it was poured separately after the footers and after the walls were poured.
Speaker A:And so cracks in the concrete on the floor are not as significant.
Speaker A:Now, cracks in the floor can allow water.
Speaker A:If you have a high water table and you have excessive hydrostatic pressure, they can also allow radon gas to come in.
Speaker A:So there are some things you can do with them to seal them up.
Speaker A:And that's a good plan.
Speaker A:But as far as structure, not a humongous deal.
Speaker A:If you see cracks in the concrete floor, because that's just what happens, it settles.
Speaker A:And the soil is not all virgin soil underneath there, especially around the edges.
Speaker A:So concrete's going to naturally settle a little bit after it's been poured.
Speaker A:How long does my roof have left?
Speaker A:This is a question we get a lot.
Speaker A:One of the first questions they ask, quite frankly, and I don't blame them, it's a high dollar item.
Speaker A:It's something that you know is going to be a big expense when you have to go repair it.
Speaker A:So your first question, you want to know how long you got before you have to fork out the money for it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so that's a difficult question to answer.
Speaker A:Sometimes we can kind of give you a ballpark idea of how much life your roof has left.
Speaker A:Your typical architectural shingles, some call them dimensional shingles.
Speaker A:If it's one layer and it's a normal pitch, such as, you know, maybe 8 and 12, which is kind of average, you know, those.
Speaker A:Those tend to go about 20 years, maybe 25, depending on the orientation to the sun.
Speaker A:How many trees are around it, how much shade it gets.
Speaker A:Overhanging trees can deep shorten the life.
Speaker A:However, shade can help extend the life if it gets the right kind of shade.
Speaker A:So we're going to give you a good idea of the condition of your roof.
Speaker A:We can't tell you exactly how long it's going to last.
Speaker A:We don't know that.
Speaker A:How long do you want to fight your roof?
Speaker A:Is it as soon as you get a leak?
Speaker A:Is it as, you know, when you have consistent wear patterns throughout it, or is it until they fall off the roof and you got to, you know, replace them, or when they blow off, when they get brittle, they get a little air, you know, they.
Speaker A:They curl a little bit, the wind catches them and it can tear them off.
Speaker A:So it's difficult to predict.
Speaker A:Project.
Speaker A:If I was a prophet, I'd probably do something else besides home inspections.
Speaker A:But we can give you probably a ballpark within five years of how long your roof's going to last, and that way you can prepare for it and plan down the road to do any repairs.
Speaker A:There's also some questions we get as home inspectors that just frankly, we understand 100% why you're asking them, but there's also really no way we can answer these questions probably to your satisfaction.
Speaker A:And so here they go.
Speaker A:Number one, should I buy this house?
Speaker A:So you go into the inspection, what you think of the house doesn't matter at that point after the inspection, sometimes buyers get a little bit apprehensive.
Speaker A:Maybe there's some things that came up they didn't expect.
Speaker A:Maybe now they're now unsure of what they should do.
Speaker A:And so they look at you and they say, would you buy this house?
Speaker A:And so that's kind of a trick.
Speaker A:Gotcha question, right?
Speaker A:They want to know, would I buy the house for their own comfort?
Speaker A:Not actually would I?
Speaker A:But do I think enough of the house to go ahead with the purchase?
Speaker A:And I frequently tell folks, you know what, I would buy any house for the right price.
Speaker A:And the right price is going to be determined by the market and by you and your real estate agent.
Speaker A:And so take all these factors into consideration, any defects you see, and you determine if that's the right price that you want to pay for that house.
Speaker A:And that's ultimately what the market is, what somebody is willing to pay for it.
Speaker A:And so it really doesn't matter what I would do.
Speaker A:I love real estate.
Speaker A:I love buying and being in houses.
Speaker A:And we literally would buy any house for the right price.
Speaker A:Now, the right price might be the land value and bulldoze the house.
Speaker A:You know, that's a legit answer.
Speaker A:We're not going to tell you that.
Speaker A:That's for you to decide.
Speaker A:But we will give our opinion on what condition the home is in.
Speaker A:We're just not going to give you that answer on what you should do.
Speaker A:Another question we get frequently as we're walking through the house is, should the seller fix this?
Speaker A:Let's say we find electrical problems or plumbing leaks or you know, roof shingles that are torn.
Speaker A:And they want to know, well, how's this going to get resolved in this market?
Speaker A:Frequently it's the buyer is buying the home as is.
Speaker A:When you have multiple offers and you have a situation where you're getting an inspection to get the information you want, but you don't really have the avenue to go back to the seller and change anything about it, you're going to have to make that decision.
Speaker A:So frequently we get that question, should I have the seller fix this?
Speaker A:Well, that's way out of our department.
Speaker A:That's going to be a discussion between you and your real estate agent to determine what the next course of action should be.
Speaker A:Obviously, if there are significant health or safety hazards in the house, that's something the seller is going to want to fix for their own benefit.
Speaker A:Let's say the water heater flue is missing or fell off the water heater.
Speaker A:Well, we're pumping carbon monoxide in the house now.
Speaker A:They need to know that immediately.
Speaker A:They need to fix it immediately.
Speaker A:But more, more benign things that maybe are long term fixes or not immediate health and safety problems, it might be something that, that's a negotiation item.
Speaker A:And so we're not there to tell you what to do.
Speaker A:We don't know what you paid for the house.
Speaker A:We don't care what you paid for the house.
Speaker A:We don't know what discussions you've had with the buyer and the seller or between the buyer and the seller and the real estate agents.
Speaker A:So that's completely out of our lane and we're going to stay out of it.
Speaker A:Another question, is this a major problem?
Speaker A:Major has connotations that it's unrecoverable.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Major problem.
Speaker A:We can't deal with this.
Speaker A:What would define a major problem?
Speaker A:Well, I think this goes again to what is your skill set.
Speaker A:We have found main beams in the basement that were completely deteriorated and or cut that.
Speaker A:That would be considered a major problem for most buyers.
Speaker A:But yet the buyer of this particular house, that might be his background, he's got expertise in fixing foundations.
Speaker A:So for him that's not a major problem.
Speaker A:But maybe he has zero skill set in the electrical field and they need a new electrical panel or they have signs that they have problems with electrical all over the house.
Speaker A:That could be a major problem for them.
Speaker A:So again, major, a lot of times is left up to the definition of the person buying the house.
Speaker A:If you are one that comes from a background that you've not developed skills in maintenance or fixing up a house or fixing anything.
Speaker A:Potentially any of those could be major.
Speaker A:Right, because you're going to have to hire somebody, you're going to have to pay their fee, and you're kind of at their mercy.
Speaker A:And so in that case, electrical issues, plumbing issues, roofing, attic problems, they could all be major.
Speaker A:It's just up to your skill set, your budget, basically, and so forth.
Speaker A:And so keep that in mind when you ask an inspector, is this major?
Speaker A:It really depends on you.
Speaker A:That's a little rabbit trail here, but it's a little like mold testing.
Speaker A:What's the acceptable level for mold in the house or what's the standard we go by and which if something needs remediated or not?
Speaker A:And really there is not a national standard because it's a function of your immune system and how you handle mold.
Speaker A:And so we can't.
Speaker A:We can say this is more problematic compared to the exterior, but it's not going to be cut and dried, that this is a problem for everybody.
Speaker A:It might be for you.
Speaker A:You can't breathe in that room.
Speaker A:Somebody else might be fine.
Speaker A:So same with fixing, quote, major problems.
Speaker A:You know, is a GFCI outlet that doesn't trip.
Speaker A:Is that major?
Speaker A:Well, no, not technically.
Speaker A:That's like a $20 item that you could get fixed.
Speaker A:But you're going to hire an electrician, he's going to probably charge you $150 an hour, plus a service charge.
Speaker A:It might cost $400 to get an outlet fixed.
Speaker A:Well, that's fairly healthy size.
Speaker A:That's maybe not major, but it's certainly significant.
Speaker A:So think of that when you go into this.
Speaker A:And then one of the final questions we get, did my home pass or fail the inspection?
Speaker A:Well, that's your decision.
Speaker A:We tell you what we think.
Speaker A:We go component by component, checking the roof, the attic, the interior, the mechanicals, the structure, et cetera.
Speaker A:And we give you our honest opinion on it based on industry standards.
Speaker A:And then you have to decide, is this house worth it?
Speaker A:We don't have a pass or fail.
Speaker A:We don't have a percentage.
Speaker A:We don't give you a, B, C or D.
Speaker A:We don't give you any of that.
Speaker A:We're just giving you our honest opinion.
Speaker A:And then it's up to you to decide, do I want to move forward with this purchase?
Speaker A:Do I want to move forward with some concessions?
Speaker A:Do I want to back out of this deal?
Speaker A:What do you want to do?
Speaker A:And that's ultimately up to you.
Speaker A:We're there to give you peace of mind.
Speaker A:That's our number one goal.
Speaker A:Peace of mind about a I love this house and it's going to be a good house or b I have some concerns about this house and I would have more peace of mind if I didn't buy it.
Speaker A:And so we Nobody likes that.
Speaker A:You've put a lot into finding this house.
Speaker A:Your real estate agent has put a lot into helping you find this house.
Speaker A:But there's just sometimes it's not the right fit.
Speaker A:It's kind of like when you were dating great guy, great girl.
Speaker A:Maybe it's just not the right fit for a marriage and so you move on.
Speaker A:And so that happens sometimes it does take more work.
Speaker A:But this is a big commitment and we are there to give you that peace of mind one way or another.
Speaker A:We love your questions.
Speaker A:We love you coming to the inspection.
Speaker A:We work for you.
Speaker A:We're there to serve you.
Speaker A:We can't wait to do it.
Speaker A:So please give us a call, help us to give you peace of mind one way or another on the house, give you the information you need, and pass this on to someone you might you think might be looking for a house soon.
Speaker A:Hopefully it'll answer some of their questions and make them less concerned about the process.
Speaker A:We'll talk to you next time.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening.
Speaker A:This week you can catch up on the latest episode of the Thoughts from the Crawl Space podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Speaker A:For more information about Gold Key Inspection services, go to goldkeyinspect.com.
