Home inspection is big business. It’s also an unregulated business. Two associations—the American Society of Home Inspectors and the National Association of Home Inspectors—issue certifications, recommend standards, and provide continuing education to their combined 8,000 members, but anyone can buy a clipboard and ring a doorbell. In fact, only 32 states even bother to license their inspectors. All the more reason to . . .

Look for a nitpicker: Barry Stone, author of The Consumer Advocate’s Guide to Home Inspection, recommends calling random real-estate agents in the area and asking for “the nitpickiest home inspector around.” This is the guy who’ll have a reputation among agents as a deal killer. “While they may not like to use him on their own deals,” says Stone, “they’ll usually give you a name.”

Verify all claims: If an inspector says he’s licensed, ask for his license number and check it with the state. If he says he belongs to a professional association, ask for its name and verify his membership. If he promises a clear and thorough report, ask to see examples of his work. In short, make him earn your trust.

Ask how many homes he’s inspected: Stone, who’s done 10,027 inspections himself (he numbers each report), warns that this is a learn-as-you-go business. “Look for somebody who has been doing this quite a few years and has done at least 1,000 inspections,” he says.

Watch for a conflict of  interest: According to Walter Molony, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors, if your inspector has ties to the home-repair business, you’re setting yourself up for a biased report.

See if you click: “This is someone who is helping ensure the safety of your home,” says Jim Turner, president of the National Association of Home Inspectors. “Interview him in person. See if you get a good feeling. And he should allow you to accompany him on the entire inspection.”

Don’t be swayed by coupons: When you’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house, does it really matter if you can save 10 percent on the inspection? Igor Smetaniuk, an inspector with 20 years of experience, says that newbies use discounts to build business when, in fact, “price should be your last consideration.”    

Hey You, Sherlock Homes

Recognize these warning signs today, save thousands in repair costs tomorrow

By Joe Kita, Illustration by Tonino Vicari/Tectonic Design

We're in the basement of a vacant 1972 townhouse in southeastern Pennsylvania. Fred Durham and Matt Engler, of Allied Inspection Services, are combing the place like a couple of CSIs. Suddenly, their flashlights illuminate a suspicious seam running along the base of the wall beneath the staircase.

As Engler begins coaxing it open, Durham draws his screwdriver from his tool belt and stands back. He’s been in the home-inspection business long enough to expect the unexpected. But there are no wild animals or stolen banknotes under this staircase—just a moldy humidifier and a few sizable but docile dust bunnies. Durham holsters his screwdriver.

Most home-ownership horror stories begin with the same three words: “And then suddenly . . . ” But Engler, Durham, and their colleagues in the burgeoning home-inspection business know better. There are almost always warning signs in the days, weeks, even years preceding. You just need to know where to search. They clearly do.

“Looks like a ’98,” says Engler, decoding the serial number on the water heater to reveal its year of manufacture. “These things last only 8 to 12 years, so it’ll need replacing soon.”

“Incandescent bulb in the hall closet,” notes Durham. “That’s a hazard. It’s easy to leave a light like that on. When it gets hot, it can touch a piece of material and start a fire.”

“The wires up here are spliced and taped,” says Durham, after popping a ceiling panel to examine a light fixture. “This should have its own junction box. Amateur work.”

And so it goes for the next 3 hours. The result is a 56-page report that the potential buyer can use as leverage for negotiating the price of the house—and as a checklist for future projects if he does purchase the place. The real-estate market bywords used to be “buyer beware”; now they’re “buyer aware.”

It costs $380 on average to inspect a 2,000-square-foot property—a small price to pay for the peace of mind it provides. That’s why home inspections have become more and more popular in the 25 years or so they’ve existed, says Walter Molony, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors.

According to the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), 75 percent of all houses sold in the United States in 2007 were professionally inspected. Molony points out that most states require sellers to make a good-faith disclosure of property condition, but there are things they can overlook, unintentionally or otherwise. “Making an offer contingent upon a satisfactory inspection provides buyers with recourse if a problem turns up,” explains Molony. “The seller will often correct the problem or reduce
the price.”

But here’s the thing: You don’t have to be a doctor to diagnose bleeding. There are plenty of warning signs you can spot in your own home—if you know where to look. That’s why we played house detective with some of the best inspectors in the business. You can’t do as thorough a job as they can, of course, but performing the following inspections once a year could save you thousands down the road.

1. Site
Walk around your property on a rainy day. Make sure there are no clogged gutters and that all water is being channeled at least 6 feet away from the foundation. “Real estate agents say location, location, location. I say moisture, moisture, moisture,” says Igor Smetaniuk, of Top to Bottom Inspections in Glen Spey, New York. “Moisture is the key element in a home’s demise. It can cause rot or invite insects.”


2. Foundation
Take a flashlight and examine your basement walls, both inside and out. Any cracks less than ⅛ inch wide are usually due to normal settling. Anything larger, especially when accompanied by displacement—an inward or outward bulge—suggests a major structural problem. “Displacement denotes possible soil movement, either behind the basement wall or under the foundation itself,” explains Jim Turner, president of the National Association of Home Inspectors. “And that may indicate a significant problem.”

3. Exterior
Check for gaps and degrading material around all doors, windows, light fixtures, vents . . . basically anywhere the shell of the house has been pierced. Seal or replace as necessary. Also check the home’s skin—whether it’s brick, vinyl, stucco, or stone—for any signs of cracking, buckling, or separation. Cracks more than ⅛ inch wide in mortar (but not the weep holes) or stucco should be patched.

4. Roof
Widespread cracking and curling of shingles means the roof needs immediate replacement. If the shingles are intact but the majority have lost their gravel surface—which protects against sun damage—the roof will need to be replaced in a few years.

5. Chimney
If possible, check the cap or cover to be sure it’s clear of debris and that there are no openings where water can leak down the flue. Also look for cracks in the surface material—freeze-and-thaw cycles and general settling could make the chimney structurally unsound.

6. Attic
Most attics are marginally ventilated, causing a big ball of heat to sit over the house in summer, which raises cooling costs and even shortens the life of the roof (by baking the shingles). Check that all existing vents are clear and consider installing a thermostatically controlled attic fan. Also look for dark discoloration of wood or areas of compressed insulation. Both are signs of water leaks.

7. Garage
If it’s attached to the home, then the walls and ceiling must be finished and intact in order to meet fire-safety codes. Any holes for ductwork, attic ladders, or even a pet door are violations and put you and your family in danger. Many fires start in garages, and these safeguards are designed to slow the fire’s progress.

8. Plumbing
Nudge each toilet with your leg. If it moves, then it needs to be resealed at its base. Otherwise, water may be seeping into the floorboards below with every flush. Sewer gases can also seep into the home this way.

9. Water Heater
“This is the single most potentially dangerous component in the home,” says Turner, who owns Building Inspections and Construction Consulting in Upland, California. In fact, poorly maintained water heaters have been known to explode. Find the pressure-relief valve and make sure it shows no signs of leakage; also ensure that the pipe extending from it is the same diameter as the valve and isn’t plugged or capped. Finally, set the temperature to no more than 125°F. “Overtemperaturing” is what usually causes water heaters to explode.

10. Electrical
Open the door to the circuit box and look for any holes in the cover panel that don’t contain breakers. If you find any, temporarily cover them with duct tape to prevent curious kids from sticking in fingers and being electrocuted, and then fill the holes with “knockout plugs.” Inspectors will remove the interior cover panel of the electrical box and check for “double lugging”—that is, multiple wires running from one breaker, which is a fire hazard. Leave that to the pros, though.

11. Heating
Make sure there’s 36 inches of clearance around your furnace and that there are no combustibles in the general vicinity. Also check all exhaust pipes for cracking and proper venting to prevent carbon monoxide from seeping into the house.

12. Cooling
Condensation drains on all types of cooling units tend to get blocked with algae and spiderwebs—or overgrown landscaping—so clean these out annually.

13. Kitchen
Open your oven door and push down on it. If the stove tips forward, then either it was never secured to the wall or its antitip bracket wasn’t installed properly. This is a safety hazard for children. Also, at least once a year, check under the kitchen sink to make sure there are no leaks.

14. Interior
Inspect various corners of the floor for tiny pellets. “These are termite droppings,” says Barry Stone, owner of Action Home Inspection Service in Atascadero, California. “If you look at them under a magnifying glass, they’re actually shaped like little footballs.” If you find even a few, call an exterminator.