Home Inspector Problems?

[Mike Lynch]

Hi,

My Sister and I are selling my Mother's home, due to her passing away last Sept. My Sister does not want to rent the home. She does not want to hear about keeping it. She just wants rid of it. So, it will be sold.

A man put it under contract several weeks ago. He hired an inspector from 60 miles away. He came up with a 65 page inspection report. Just days before, I was opening the garage door and it worked just fine. After he inspected the house, the cables were completely off of the garage door, so he writes "Garage Door installed improperly and broken"

Then, he says that the bathtub faucet is leaking, but it is not. Unknown odor under home. The home was built in 1963. He says that the chimney has no spark screen. Dishwasher drain not up to code. etc., etc., etc.

He is writing all kinds of things down that are not up to code, but this is the way that the homes were built years ago. Since I am a plumber, I see many plumbing items today that are not done the same ways as in older homes. The codes change year by year. That's why I am constantly going to continuing education every year.

In his huge report he writes: Plumbing, Electrical, Windows, HVAC Ducts, etc., does not conform to today's standards, and needs to be repaired or conform to code by qualified licensed technicians. Now, of course the potential buyer wants a bunch of things brought up to code. I am still trying to understand why he hired a guy from 60 miles away, when we have plenty of inspectors around here.  I tried to do some investigating to see if the inspector and potential buyer knows each other, but so far, I can't find a connection. We really feel like something strange is going on here. What do you think about all of this, from what you have read so far?

[Kelly R.]

As a home inspector and instructor, it pains me to read some of these post. Home inspectors are not code inspectors. That said most inspectors want to point out safety items that may not have been code, but are now. I try to word my report tactfully and it usually isn't an issue. something like "Although at the time of original construction xyz may have been acceptable, modern safety standards require xyz to be... "

This type of wording points out the issue, educates my client and allows the buyer and seller to work it out however they see fit. 

BTW, a 60 to 80 page report is normal depending on how he set up the report template. The summary is a repeat of items in the report, so the report might be closer to 40 pages.