We Hired Our Home Inspector!

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As mentioned in a previous post,  in the initial meetings with a builder you will want a good realtor and attorney for contracts and negotiating. But, what about the stages that follow?  Three words: Independent Home Inspector! 

It is very likely that no matter what state you are building in there will be county inspectors coming in throughout the build. I called our town office to find out their procedures. They said, "we perform about 20 inspections during the build including a 3rd party electrical inspection". This is great news! The more eyes on the project the better! 

Despite having the county inspections, we feel, for numerous reasons,  it is in a homebuyers best interest to hire an independent inspector as well.  When I spoke to the town they mentioned that,  "our inspectors do not correspond or work with the homebuyer, we work directly with the builder but you can request copies of the inspection reports."  This is not a bad thing, but definitely a reason we are hiring our own inspector. We want someone who has our best interests in mind, who will go to bat for us if necessary, who will hold RH to manufacture and state standards, and who works directly with us. 

Good Article:


Hiring Your Inspector: 

Research local inspectors and hire a highly reviewed one! Check their credentials, experience, reviews, costs etc. prior to hiring.  In our area it costs anywhere from $250-$400 each time the inspector goes out to the build site. 

Decide at what phases of the build you want your inspector on site. This seems to vary depending on the homebuyer, but  Darryl and I chose to hire our inspector for the following stages of the build: 

1. Foundation
2. Pre-Drywall
3. Final Walk-through prior to closing 
4. 10 Months Post Closing (Just prior to the one year RH warranty expiring, after we have been in the home for almost a year)

Just our opinion, but hiring a great inspector for the build is invaluable when it comes to protecting your major investment! Good Luck! 

Ha-Ha!


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