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Stories Tagged - home inspections
News
June 09, 2016 | Joel Schlesinger
House rules
New national standards for home inspections will benefit consumers, industry says
Calgary home inspector Alan Fisher has heard his share of horror stories from homeowners who received less-than-optimal inspections prior to buying their homes.
Sadly, he said these tales of domestic woe are largely preventable given most stem from the unfortunate reality that not all home inspectors are equal when it comes to ferreting out potential issues.
"There are people out there offering a seven-day course where you write the test and you're certified," said Fisher, who owns Calgary-based Integra Home Inspection Services.
Calgary home inspector Alan Fisher has heard his share of horror stories from homeowners who received less-than-optimal inspections prior to buying their homes.
Sadly, he said these tales of domestic woe are largely preventable given most stem from the unfortunate reality that not all home inspectors are equal when it comes to ferreting out potential issues.
"There are people out there offering a seven-day course where you write the test and you're certified," said Fisher, who owns Calgary-based Integra Home Inspection Services.
News
July 19, 2015 | Barbara Balfour
Details matter with home inspections
Not all inspections are created equal, say experts
Shortly after moving into the townhome his home inspector assured him was in mint condition, Faiyaz Sumar had to replace the washer, dryer and microwave.
"The microwave would stop after 20 seconds, and the washer and dryer weren't ventilating properly. The walls of the laundry room were dripping with condensation," said Sumar, who was fortunately able to get the sellers to replace them at their own cost.
"Then we discovered our master shower would run either extremely hot or extremely cold. I just assumed that if you claim to test an appliance, you would run it through a normal cycle. In our case, the inspector may have turned them on or off but didn't check for full functionality.
"If I had any words of wisdom, it would be that you can't just blindly trust what you're told. You need to ask what tests they run and scrutinize what being operational really means to them."
Shortly after moving into the townhome his home inspector assured him was in mint condition, Faiyaz Sumar had to replace the washer, dryer and microwave.
"The microwave would stop after 20 seconds, and the washer and dryer weren't ventilating properly. The walls of the laundry room were dripping with condensation," said Sumar, who was fortunately able to get the sellers to replace them at their own cost.
"Then we discovered our master shower would run either extremely hot or extremely cold. I just assumed that if you claim to test an appliance, you would run it through a normal cycle. In our case, the inspector may have turned them on or off but didn't check for full functionality.
"If I had any words of wisdom, it would be that you can't just blindly trust what you're told. You need to ask what tests they run and scrutinize what being operational really means to them."
News
April 29, 2015 | Brad Stinson
The unwelcome surprise
Understanding the importance of pre-listing inspections
Dear Home Inspector:
We just sold our house, but we are not happy. We had agreed upon a certain purchase price, but the offer was conditional on a home inspection, which the buyer arranged.
The inspection revealed a number of maintenance items that came as a complete
surprise to my wife and I, which then triggered a request from the buyer to reduce the purchase price further. We had no time to look into the actual cost of the repairs and were instantly back negotiating.
