The Best and Worst of Home Inspection

Published by julia | Filed under Buyer / Seller Tips, Miscellaneous, Real Estate, Shout Outs

Up until 1985 state regulations for home inspection were non-existent. Texas was the first state to achieve regulations and now all but eighteen states have some form of regulation. But still home inspection quality can highly vary from state to state. The American Society of Home Inspectors has a system which uses 13 criteria to judge states on home inspections. These criteria include things like experience, education, testing requirements, standards of practice, and codes of ethics. Currently the top states are Louisiana, New Jersey, Arizona, Texas, and Massachusetts. On the other end of the spectrum are Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Montana, North Dakota, Georgia, and California. California continues to be in last place due to provisions which the state simply is unable to enforce, such as a prohibited acts provision to outline a code of ethics for inspectors.

The states without any form of regulation at all are Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming.

In states with regulation, it’s recommended to still do a bit of research and ask questions of home inspectors. Looking at credentials, getting references, and looking up if the inspector is a member of ASHI is a good start and may even seem logical enough to be overlooked.

ASHI itself has been around for over thirty years and has the goal of building customer awareness on home inspector quality. There are over 6,000 members with over 80 chapters currently, making ASHI the largest and most respected professional association for home inspectors in North America.

Its code of ethics has three main parts, each of which has subsections. The code dates itself as effective as of June 2004. Their website has details on state regulations, standards of practice, education and training, and contains a membership directory. The current issue of the organization’s magazine can be found as well information on how to become an inspector. And of course they have a search to help you find a home inspector. A FAQ is provided which lists a few major questions. Whatever information you may be searching for on home inspectors, you can most likely find it on their website. Even if you’re not lucky enough to be in one of the regulated states, the website can most likely provide information to make finding a home inspector where you live easier and hopefully of higher quality.