Do you need a Home Inspection in Lake Mary?

You've decided to sell your home but do you really need a Home Inspection?  Depending on your Realtor they may or may not, suggest a Home Inspection.  Be assured your home will be inspected.  The buyer, will as a rule, opt for the Home Inspection. 

Without hesitation you put your home on the market, paint and fix it up a bit, and stage it per your Realtor's specifications.   Your home looks perfect and the price is right.  Now you have an offer, and the buyer asks to have the Home Inspection.  Is your home ready?

Many items frequently go unnoticed when preparing the home for sale.  Most items are easily rectified if you only knew what the Home Inspector would find.  The dilemma is, if you and your agent cannot find what is wrong, you cannot fix it. 

Once your home is inspected by the buyer’s inspector it is often too late to undo the damage done.  The buyer and their agent, report in hand, now has their demands of items to be repaired.  They will surely ask for a reduction in the price of your home.  To fix or not to fix, do you reduce the selling price even further?  You decide to make all the repairs noted on the inspection report.  You hold firm to your original price but the deal falls through.  No problem another offer will come, you think.

Has your home shown recently?  It is in fine condition everything is repaired per the buyer’s inspection report.  The problem is, at this point, too many people have heard about the inspection and what was wrong with the property.   The buyer’s agent had first-hand knowledge of the report.  How many other agents was the buyer’s agent connected to?  How many other agents were in their office, in their realtors association, and in their immediate realty network?

In this Inspector’s opinion, the Sellers Home Inspection is an invaluable tool.  It puts your house in perspective and lets you choose which items you will repair and which you will not.  Many of the realtors that I deal with on a regular basis recommend their client initially have the inspection.  Being prepared gives you the upper hand in the real-estate transaction.  The buyer’s agents have a network of colleagues which they will regularly communicate with.  Once the report has been made available to the agent, that is what they remember.   Many homes have been on the market for months, even years, before they sell.  It is a buyers’ market and you need every advantage that is available to you.  You can choose to have an inspection and be in control of the transaction or let the buyer be in the driver’s seat.

Frank Carr is the Owner / Inspector at First Choice Home Inspections in Deltona, FL serving Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Lake Counties. Formerly in the building trades, Frank’s focus is a safe home in the Orlando Metro and Daytona Beach areas of Central Florida and building FCHI. We believe that consumers have the right to expect the highest standards of thoroughness, fairness and effectiveness from their home inspector and that is exactly what we provide.
 
First Choice Home Inspections
Residential Home Inspections in Central Florida
(386) 624-3893 
Website:  http://1homeinspector.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FirstChoiceHomeInspectionsLlc
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-choice-home-inspections
Google+:  https://plus.google.com/+FirstChoiceHomeInspectionsDeltona
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1stChoiceHomeIn

What is the best time to Schedule a Lake Mary Home Inspection?

Why is it not a good idea to schedule a summer home inspection in the afternoon?

There are many systems in the attic that require detailed investigation for a home inspection report.  The systems of the attic are trusses/rafters, sheathing, HVAC and exhaust duct work, electrical, insulation, ventilation, plumbing and in some cases HVAC components, chimneys and hot water heaters.

The plain and simple answer is the attic temperatures in Southern and even Northern states can reach extreme temperatures of 140 to 165 degrees Fahrenheit or even higher.  If you are paying for a home inspection and schedule your inspection for the afternoon; you will, most likely, not be getting a thorough inspection.  According to most states Standards of Practice(SOP) a home inspector does not have to enter the attic if the temperature in their opinion is extreme and dangerous to the inspector.

ASHI SOP

F.  Inspectors are NOT required to:

1.  Perform any procedure or operation that will, in the opinion of the inspector, likely be
dangerous to the inspector or other persons or damage the property or its systems or
components.

NAHI SOP

1.13 The inspector shall report on any system and component included in these standards of practice which were present at the time of the home inspection but were not inspected and provide the reason they were not inspected.

2.10 The inspector is not required to enter any premises that visibly shows a physical threat to the safety of the home inspector or others nor inspect any area or component that poses a danger to the inspector or others.

InterNachi SOP

III. The inspector is not required to:

C.  enter or access any area that may, in the opinion of the inspector, be unsafe.

F.  do anything which may, in the inspector's opinion, be unsafe or dangerous to the inspector or others, or damage property, such as, but not limited to:  walking on roof surfaces, climbing ladders, entering attic spaces, or negotiating with pets.

IV. The inspector is not required to:

A.  enter the attic or any unfinished spaces that are not readily accessible, or where entry could cause damage or, in the inspector's opinion, pose a safety hazard.

It is the general opinion of the national associations and many of the states, that it is dangerous to the inspectors health to be exposed to extreme heat for prolonged periods of time.  Rules have been drafted into the SOP of each to protect the inspector and the buyer during the inspection process.

A recent discussion regarding inspections of attics in one of the national home inspectors forums:

I do not take random temperature readings of the attics I inspect. I do know that during the summer months attics in my area will hit 130f without any trouble. Once they get that hot I do not spend much time in them!  - Inspector from Tennessee

Location: Las Vegas, NV; single family, ranch style, home; south facing; reading of decking was south roof field; roofing material asphalt/fiberglass 3 tab shingles, one layer; approximately 10:30 A.M.; outside temp about 99 degrees.  I don't know what the air temp was in the attic but I didn't stay there very long either! - Inspector from Las Vegas.

I was in one last week and it was 189, let me see if I can find the pic.  Inspector from Utah

I also have recorded the 180 degree (upper) range in the attic when there has been very little wind movement and exterior temperatures exceed 115 degrees. No, you won't stay up there for long . . . Inspector from Las Vegas.

135 is common for me.  Inspector from Illinois.

In South Florida the typically daytime temperature might be 92 degrees to 95 degrees and the attic temperature might vary from 120 degrees for a tile roof to 140 degrees for a dark color shingle roof. - Inspector from South Florida.

As you can see from the inspectors comments that they are concerned about getting out of a hot attic as it can be dangerous to their health.  If you are looking for a thorough inspection, schedule it early in the day before attic temperatures reach extreme levels.  In the cooler hours of the morning inspectors are more likely to spend the necessary time in the attic investigating the systems you should be concerned with.

Frank Carr is the Owner / Inspector at First Choice Home Inspections in Deltona, FL serving Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Lake Counties. Formerly in the building trades, Frank’s focus is a safe home in the Orlando Metro and Daytona Beach areas of Central Florida and building FCHI. We believe that consumers have the right to expect the highest standards of thoroughness, fairness and effectiveness from their home inspector and that is exactly what we provide.
 
First Choice Home Inspections
Residential Home Inspections in Central Florida
(386) 624-3893 
Website:  Http://1homeinspector.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/FirstChoiceHomeInspectionsLlc
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-choice-home-inspections
Google+:  https://plus.google.com/+FirstChoiceHomeInspectionsDeltona
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1stChoiceHomeIn