I was recently hired to inspect a home that a young lady had bought out in Riverside, California. The Home was built in 1992 and at a glance was in average shape. I was contacted by the home owner Sarah, (we'll call her Sarah for legal reasons), she had explained to me that she just had recently closed escrow on the property and that she had a property inspection done by a company called Pro Inspections. She went on to explain that she moved in to her home and have since found numerous issues including; mold, leaks, stains, etc. I asked her what her inspector had said about these areas, she told me that the home inspector said the home had no issues. 

I set up an appointment with the client and was eager to get my hands on the home. Needless to say I was at the home for a matter of minutes and found multiple issues that the previous inspector allegedly missed. I think his name was Earnest. Anyways, the home's water pressure was well over 140 psi which is almost double the recommended level. I walked the roof and found missing roof shingles and exposed plywood. Once in the attic I found a number of areas that were water damaged and had apparent Fungus growth. I was shocked that a inspector would miss this kind of obvious stuff. 

 

I was curious on what exactly the inspector reported. My first thought was that no one could be this blatantly negligent. I went through the report, which was was well put together in a binder. It was a little difficult to read but it definitely wasn't a hand written amateur report. I quickly referred to the roofing page to see what was commented on. Pro Inspector Earnest stated that there were rolled edges at some shingles in the field, (rough quote). He then had a picture that was obviously took from the ground. There were no pictures taken from the roof point of view. This tells us that old Earnest never saw what we saw by accessing the roof, because he didn't access the roof.  I then referred to the attic section. I thought well maybe he's scared of heights and was able to access the attic and see the OBVIOUS issues. There were little to no comments in the attic and definitely NO PICTURES. I would assume that this area was also not inspected. So,  I called Pro Inspections to ask them if they access the roof and the attic. They said "of course". I then stated how these items were found on a home after it was inspected by Earnest. She quickly defended her inspector by saying that the inspector won't access a roof if it was made from materials that break easily. I replied the roof was an asphalt shingle roof and only a single story, which meant that there were no access issues.  Needless to say she was speechless and quickly ended the conversation.

At this point I was a little upset that the client had been taken advantage of by a lazy Home Inspector. I asked her what was the presentation like? What did he cover? She replied that she had not been present on the inspection and that her Realtor would be there making sure that he checked everything. Wow! Right!

This is really why I was inspired to right this article. Not to bash Pro Inspections or Earnest, but to explain to those out there that may not know. It is far and few between that you find a Realtor looking out for your best interests past the point of finding you a property. Some Realtors don't even show up to these inspections and because of guys like Earnest some don't even take us serious. There are really great Realtors out there that want an inspector to find and report everything they can, even if it means that they have to find a new home for their client. The list is too long, because that's all I do work for: honest agents or home owners. For instance, Joseph Borish at First Team in Corona, California, Joseph tells me on a regular basis that he wants me to be thorough and report everything to his clients. This is great news for me, its really a relief to know there's still honest agents out there.  Anyways,I digress. The average home inspector needs to do two to three inspections a day to make an honest living. Okay, so who is it in my best interest to make friends with my client who buys a house once a decade or an agent who does deals consistently? Well I'm not going to be that agents friend if I keep killing her deals. This is why its important to know who your hiring and to be there for the inspection. BE THERE. Make time to be on your inspection. Ask questions and more questions. No question is stupid or not important. Get your money's worth, after all, I mean not to sound cliche but it is your biggest investment in your life.

To conclude the story of the Riverside home, well its being litigated and hopefully both parties will learn from this experience.

Jeremy Johnson NACHI
CRI Home Inspections
Senior Inspector & President
951-751-5360