Don, along with associate Richard Seay, takes care of the house inspection tasks while Allison works as the company's business and office manager. Prior to launching Accurate, Don worked as an insurance adjuster and was also active in the motorcycle family business. He revealed that after six years of dealing with long periods of time away from home, he just decided to use his adjuster talents to launch the property inspection company.

Crook stated that he had always been interested in this type of business. The company conducted its first inspection six years ago in June 2004. The firm is Texas Real Estate Commission-licensed and Crook has revealed that for every house that will be inspected, a seven-page report or form should be filled up.

He talked about trying to remain sensitive to what homebuyers have on their home inspection list. In short, there is a need to be aware of what the homebuyer is searching for. He states that, as opposed to the buyer, they try to look at every house in an objective and professional manner. When Crook is on the field inspecting a residential property, he claims that he starts with the curb.

He details the process he uses during the inspection. According to him, he checks the land where the house is built and examines possible drainage concerns. He then moves on to foundation exploration to find out if there are structural concerns. He advises other inspectors that sidings should be the first stop when checking for structural or foundation problems.

Crook then moves to electrical and plumbing systems, roofing and other areas of the property. He states that most buyers do not have aesthetics on top of their home inspection list, but are more into home problems that can take them by surprise and cost thousands of dollars to fix. He adds that in the area, around 85% of homes sold involved inspections.

Home Inspection List Should Include Local Firm is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.

According to local inspection firms, only one percent of homeowners in the state are expected to retain their discounts. They revealed that one of the changes is the absence of discount for tile roofs, even those that have been built in compliance with the 2010 code. They added that a longer form will be required for a residential inspection which has been approved by the state Cabinet.

Inspectors also revealed that the changed guidelines resulted from two developments. First is the Office of Insurance Regulation's plan to tie discounts strictly with findings from a 2002 scientific study on hurricane costs and common building materials. They stated that if building materials, like roof tiles, were not tested in 2002 then they will get no discount.

Another factor behind the changes is the Legislature's attempt to prevent fraud by requiring detailed home inspections documentation, including digital photos, which should appear on the inspection form. Most of the standards have been retained, particularly those related to roofing requirements.

As before, hip-shaped roofing qualifies for discounts, but only if a carport or porch roof is part of the exterior wall and is not part of the main roofing system. Under the newly designed form, an attic vent attached to a gable roof should have its own shutter for hurricane.

Furthermore, if a house inspector was unable to document the front door's wind rating, discounts for exterior openings that are storm resistant will not be provided. Some inspectors have stated that this will likely cause much discount loss in the area since most homeowners do not keep rating documents on their doors and they usually paint over rating stickers.

Changes in the home inspections guidelines of Florida are expected to minimize the amount of property insurance discounts that most homeowners will receive during the year. The changes, according to local officials, are meant to eliminate residential inspection fraud.

Changes in Florida Home Inspections Rules Can Minimize Discounts is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.

According to the lawsuit filed at the Kanawha Circuit Court, McLeod had assured the Rhodes that the house is free from any safety problem. However, the couple revealed that right after they purchased the property, they experienced defects which forced them to hire a professional engineer for further inspection.

The lawsuit revealed that the engineer had told the new owners that the home has several construction problems, including defective water control that causes basement leakage and mold growth. The costs of repairs that would make the house habitable and safe would reach thousands of dollars, according to the couple. They further added that the water control problem should have been seen and reported by McLeod right after his first inspection.

The owners then reportedly tried to contact the house inspector to resolve the issues but the defendant allegedly failed to respond. The Rhodes family accused the house inspection specialist of violating the Consumer Credit and Protection Act of West Virginia.

The plaintiffs have requested that the court declare that the inspector has violated the Consumer Credit and Protection Act and have sought punitive and compensatory damages. The couple is being represented by David L. Grubb and Cameron S. McKinney. The case was put under the responsibility of Circuit Judge Louis Bloom. McLeod is conducting business under the Assurance Home Inspection.

The Rhodes family is currently awaiting the court’s decision on their negligent house inspection claims. The court is set to decide whether there is merit behind the complaint and whether McLeod violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act.

House Inspection Gone Wrong Resulted in Lawsuit is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.

The service involves having a county inspector visit the home of a family with an asthmatic child to check for mites and mold that can make breathing difficult for someone who has asthma. Inspectors conduct the home examination after a doctor’s referral.

Local health experts stated that this service can help mitigate asthma attacks among children since it could help identify contributing factors present in the child’s immediate environment. Inspectors usually take an hour to conduct the complete house examination.

According to local statistics, around ten percent of children in the county, plus an estimated seven percent of adults, suffer from asthma. Statistics also showed that asthma attacks have been responsible for the hospitalization of hundreds of residents every year.

Hospitalization costs related to asthma have reached an average of $7 million in the past three years, officials have said. So far, county inspectors have conducted 35 homes inspections since the program’s inception in November 2008.

Environmental health experts in the county have explained that the inspection can identify structural problems that contribute to the occurrence of asthma attacks. They stated that leaks creating damp environments, which lead to mold growth, and cockroach problems are some of the factors that can cause asthma attacks.

The program, local officials have explained, will be getting its funds from the county budget until 2011 and will be sustained by a grant for two more years beyond after this period. Officials also revealed that it was patterned after Boston’s Breathe Easy at Home program which was launched in 2007 and had resulted in over 450 homes in Boston getting inspected.

The efficacy of the Boston program is still being evaluated, Multnomah officials stated; but a survey has revealed that out of 12 families surveyed, eight have confirmed that there had been improvements in their children’s symptoms following inspection.

The homes inspections aimed to control asthmatic attacks among children of low-income families in Multnomah are part of a bigger effort called Healthy Homes Programs. According to local environmental health officials, the effort has resulted in lowering emergency room visits from families with asthmatic children.

Free Homes Inspections Service Offered to Multnomah County Residents is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.

The first one is that currently in Florida, there are no standards covering house inspection. There is no law defining residential inspection and there are no regulations about what should be included in a regular inspection.

A law requiring house inspectors to get licensed by the state starting July 1 has already been enacted, but standards and requirements for licensing have not yet been passed.

This means that you have to make a thorough research when choosing your house inspector. The common advice is to select your inspector from members of the American Society of Home Inspectors and the International Association of Certified Homes Inspectors.

This advice, however, does not ensure you are getting the inspector you need. You still should ask referrals from real estate agents that you know and investigate backgrounds through the websites of Best Business Bureau and home inspection associations.

The second thing you should know is the preponderance of mold in the state. Florida is mostly humid and when air conditioning systems are not working well, mold can easily grow in various parts of the house.

This means that you should consider getting a home inspection that includes infrared mold inspection. An infrared camera detects mold which is not yet visible to the naked eye.

The third important thing is the actual inspection of the roof and attic. As Florida lies across the paths of most hurricanes that hit the southeastern U.S., your roof and attic must be strong enough to weather strong winds and storms.

Your inspector should actually go up into the attic and should actually use stairs to look at the whole roof to check damages. There have been complaints that inspectors do not do these parts of the inspection process due to various reasons, such as lack of access or restrictions resulting from non-invasive inspection rules.

Septic inspection is the fourth important thing. There are places in Florida where houses are not on municipal water supply. Since water from private suppliers is more costly, septic maintenance could be lacking, so ensure that your chosen inspector includes septic inspection.

On the whole, home inspection in Florida, despite inadequate state regulations, can still help ensure you are purchasing a home worth your money if you exert effort to wisely choose your inspector.

Four Things You Should Know About Home Inspection in Florida is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.

According to house inspectors in Alabama, most of their clients are people buying foreclosed properties or newly-built houses that have been unoccupied for more than one year. They also said that they are detecting common problems such as mold, leaking roofs, moisture, poor air conditioning and heating systems, faulty water heaters and nonfunctioning attic fans.

Home inspector John Glover said that most houses his firm has inspected suffer from lack of maintenance. He said that a lot of homeowners do not spend money to maintain their homes.

In Baldwin and Mobile counties in Alabama, home inspection fees can start from $175 up to a high of $500. Good inspectors list the parts that must be fixed and potential problems that can be addressed in the near future.
Bill Hinton said that he has been advising sellers to fix several problems instead of making a big costly improvement. On the other hand, he has also been advising his buyers to check the more important things such as the foundation, the roof and the attic, and not the cosmetic stuff during house inspections.

Bob Grafe, owner of a Daphne house inspection firm that has been operating for 15 years, said that he has cut down his inspection prices to remain competitive. He added that despite the importance of inspection, some people have been forgoing inspections to save on costs.

Another inspector, James Porter Elder, said that even newly built homes need to be inspected, especially if these properties have been unoccupied for several months. He explained that with the air conditioning and heating systems turned off, mold damage could develop during summer or burst pipes could occur during winter.

According to Elder, who also owns a home inspection firm and who works with the American Society of Home Inspectors, house inspectors will soon participate in a nationwide program of introducing energy-saving systems and green-built houses to American consumers. Elder said that the U.S. Department of Energy will soon launch a program that would educate homeowners about energy efficiency and that would involve house inspectors.

Indeed, the business of house inspections thrives during the downturn especially for home inspectors who do their work efficiently and who make themselves updated with home inspection trends and industry developments.

House Inspections Thriving in the Foreclosure Market is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.

The pre-market house inspection report can guide the seller about needed repairs and the current conditions of the major systems of the house. The owner can then decide whether to leave the conditions as is and give discounts to the buyer or make the needed repairs so that the maximum price can be asked.

The ready certified house inspection report can also be used as an additional marketing tool when talking with prospective buyers. The report will generate immediate positive feelings about the sincerity of the seller to be honest with buyers.

Future claims or lawsuits regarding the true condition of the house would also be avoided if there is a pre-market inspection report. Any condition of the home that puts the safety and security of current owners and prospective buyers at risk would also be addressed immediately.

Most buyers oftentimes still want their own inspection even if there is already an inspection paid for by the seller. If this is the case, owners should require the inspector and seller to be responsible for any damage directly caused by the inspection.

For both buyers and sellers, hiring a certified, experienced and recommended inspector to carry out the home inspection is important. There have been countless cases throughout the country in which inspectors do not know how residential systems work and are not able to determine the crucial defects that should be detected.

Oftentimes also, inexperienced inspectors record defects that are not really defects and deem some systems as completely non-functional when just a minor part needs to be replaced. An HVAC unit, for instance, needs only its faceplate, a part costing just $95, to be replaced to function well again.

In states that do not require licensing for home inspectors such as California, sellers and buyers should see to it that they hire inspectors who are members of house inspection organizations.

In California, they should choose among members of the California Real Estate Inspection Association or the American Society of Home Inspectors. These associations issue certificates to persons who complete their training modules and pass their inspection examinations.

When hiring home inspectors, sellers and buyers should also be clear about what parts of the house are going to be inspected, what parts are excluded, what kind of home inspection report is going to be accomplished and when the report would be given.

Home Inspection Prior to Listing Can Benefit Sellers is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.

Starting January 1, before house inspectors can carry out their home inspection tasks, they need to first register with the Kansas Home Inspector Registration Board and increase their liability limit to $2,000 or higher. They must also comply with educational requirements and residential inspection standards.

According to members of the board, they surveyed house inspectors across the state before they created regulations. They said that after Kansas lawmakers approved the Home Inspection Certification and Financial Responsibility Act, they worked with house inspectors to develop residential inspection standards and continuing education requirements.

They conducted public meetings in Topeka, Kansas City and Wichita to talk with homebuyers, real estate agents and house inspectors and obtain inspection input.

To help homeowners and prospective homebuyers, board members also developed a set of detailed home inspection guidelines so that clients would know what are done during inspections, which parts are inspected and which parts are not.

Despite the opposition of some inspectors to the new home inspector regulations, a lot of house inspectors welcomed the new registration and liability rules. They understood the rationale behind the registration program, which is to make house inspection a more respected profession.

With registration, certification and continuing education, incompetent house inspectors will be prevented from practicing, thereby reducing the number of people destroying the image of house inspectors.

According to registration advocates, the profession of house inspection should be regulated because it is one of the most crucial parts of home buying and homeownership. Buying a home entails large amounts of money, credit records, families and emotional investments, so the persons inspecting the homes to be purchased should be able to describe the real conditions of the properties and identify potential problems.

If house inspectors fail to see major problems in the properties, buyers would be buying homes that they must repair at high costs within months of their purchases or immediately after their move-in.

For prospective homebuyers looking for house inspectors to hire, they need to check not only state certification, but also membership with reputable state and national house inspection associations, such as the American Society of Home Inspectors.

House inspectors with background in home construction are oftentimes preferred because they know how things are put together, but homebuyers also need to ensure that the chosen home inspector does not identify defects and then volunteer his contracting service to resolve the problems.

New Home Inspector Regulations Will Take Effect in Kansas is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.

As vacant foreclosure homes continue to rise in the two cities and as mortgage lenders fail to maintain the properties, Burnsville crafted an ordinance that assigned a group of house inspectors to monitor the conditions of foreclosed properties and then assess maintenance costs on the owners of the properties.

But due to decline in tax revenues that ultimately forced Burnsville to cut its budget, the ordinance authorizing a team of house inspectors to supervise foreclosure properties was rescinded. Now, only one house inspector in Burnsville is monitoring foreclosed properties. Likewise, Lakeville has also reduced the number of its inspectors to only one.

Because of the reduction, Ron Anderson, a real estate inspector for the city of Burnsville for about ten years, is now overwhelmed with work because of the continued rise in foreclosure activity in the area.

Dave Olson, director of the Lakeville Community and Economic Development, said it has been a challenge for city personnel, particularly for the city home inspector, to monitor and maintain vacant foreclosure properties because the activities do not generate revenues for the city.

According to Olson, his team gets its list of foreclosure sales monthly from the Dakota County Community Development Agency so it can continue monitoring foreclosed properties. The foreclosure sales are conducted by the county through sheriff’s sales.

As of September, the county has sold a total of 1,349 housing units through sheriff’s sales. Last year, more than 2,000 units were sold by the county. About 300 units were located in the cities of Apple Valley, Eagan, Burnsville and Lakeville.

Olson explained that mortgage lenders are responsible for maintaining properties once they are foreclosed, but the 6-month redemption period gives lenders the leeway not to comply because property owners can still redeem the property within the allotted period.

He added that some banks are more responsible, particularly those that are located in the area. But out-of-state banks have been harder to pursue for maintenance.

Another problem faced by the city is the right to inspect once a property has been secured. He said that the city home inspector cannot just enter a property to look into a water problem causing a street flooding problem without first getting a court order.

Home Inspector Takes Greater Role in Minnesota Cities is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.

PEARLS stands for Purchase Efficient Affordable Homes and Rehab, Lease and Sell. The homes acquired under the program need to be rehabilitated well before they are sold or rented out to families that cannot afford to buy homes without help from other parties.

It was last year that NeighborWorks started purchasing foreclosed houses, fixing them and then renting them out to families who do not yet have the capacity to own homes, but who can work towards home ownership in the near future. The scheme is similar to the rent-to-own or lease option schemes being offered by other developers to potential homebuyers.

According to Roy Nash, CEO and president of NeighborWorks, it has already acquired 20 vacant foreclosed homes in the Waco metro area in Texas and all of them are already occupied or are being prepared for move-in.

Nash said that the repairs and other construction work have been stretching the budget for the homes, but efforts have paid off. He added that the selection process for the purchase of foreclosed properties is stringent in order to maximize its funds. Every home acquired by the program must first pass a building inspection process conducted by the construction unit of NeighborWorks before it is purchased.

For instance, in McLennan County, Texas, a foreclosure company offered more than 127 foreclosed units, but NeighborWorks chose only a few. Nash explained that the nonprofit has been choosing the units with the best potentials to reduce repair costs and to ensure the homes have great values for renters and homebuyers.

Based on a report from the Real Estate Center of Texas A&M University, the city of Waco is a good market for rentals because the home ownership rate is only around 43 percent, much lower than the national home ownership rate of 67 percent.

To help renters prepare for home ownership, NeighborWorks conducts home ownership sessions that enable participants to learn about credit, financing, insurance and home buying.

If the renter is ready to buy the house under the PEARLS program, NeighborWorks provides a zero-interest loan to help the renter make the down payment.

According to Nash, the PEARLS program has a very low default rate because of the firm operational systems and strict building inspection policies of NeighborWorks.

Building Inspection – a Requirement by NeighborWorks is a post from HomeInspectorCenter.com - Your home inspector headquarters.