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| FAQ's |
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Q: How expensive is a home inspection? A:A: Inspection fees are determined by purchase price of the home and extra services requested. Please call us to get the fee for your new home. Q: OK, I’m sold. How do I schedule an inspection? A: Excellent! Call 703-922-4590 to schedule your inspection. Q: How do I find a qualified home inspector? A: Anyone can call themselves a home inspector. Ask your agent for a referral, check with the better business bureau, or ask a friend or associate who has recently purchased a home. People who are happy with their inspections will generally share with you. Q: Why should I get my potential home inspected? A: A home is the largest purchase most people will ever make. You need an unbiased opinion by an experienced professional. See our home buyer’s page for more information. Q: Should I get my home inspected before I try to sell it? A: A pre-listing inspection can help to eliminate surprises when your home is inspected by your potential purchaser. Many problems can be inexpensively eliminated before you attempt to sell your home. Q: Do you inspect for code compliance? A: No, the building code only applies to new buildings or projects. If your potential home is 50 years old, it will not pass a code inspection. We can, however ,tell you if your home is performing as intended. Q: My house is brand new. Isn’t it inspected by the county? Why should I get a home inspection? A: County inspectors are busy people and are focused on a few technical details in a home. A county inspector only spends a few minutes on each building and do not inspect for many things that a home buyer would consider important. Q: Should I be concerned about lead paint? A: You only need concern yourself about lead paint in your home if your home was built before 1978. After that time, the federal government mandated that lead was not to be used in paint products. We offer lead paint testing services to make your home buying process easier. More information is available here: http://www.epa.gov/lead/leadinfo.htm Q: What is the deal with Radon Gas? A: Radon is a colorless, odorless and radioactive gas present pretty much everywhere. However, it can collect in higher concentrations in buildings. We offer radon testing as one of our services. Be sure and ask for a radon test when you schedule your inspection. More information is available here: http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html Q: Do you do repairs or can you refer me to a contractor to repair the problems you find during the inspection? A: No. We do not do perform repairs nor refer other professionals, as that would be a conflict of interest. Many publications are available to you to check on the references of repair contractors. Q: Is this a warrantee? A: No. Home inspections differ from warranties. If you would like a home warrantee, contact your real estate agent. Please read any home warrantee carefully to fully understand what it does and does not cover. Q: What do you look for? A: By definition, a home inspector looks for problems with your home. By that, we mean a device, system, or component in your home that is not functioning as intended. A major problem either poses an immediate safety hazard, or would cost $500 or more to repair properly. We also inform you of the life expectancies of the major components of your house. Q: The housing market is crazy and if I wait to get an inspection, I might lose the house in which I am interested. A: Any home seller that refuses a home inspection in the contract should be looked up very warily. Spending several hundred thousand dollars on a home without having it inspected is just begging for trouble. Often times inspections can uncover problems with homes that you can use to negotiate the price. Q: My basement has water in it! What should I do? A: We offer wet basement inspections and solutions that most, “Water Proofing”, companies would rather you did not know. Water found in most basements comes from the surface, not from an underground source. Many wet basements can be cured by careful inspection and modification of the landscape surrounding your home and by making sure that water flows well away from the foundation. |