To Tena: I am sorry for your loss. Please believe that as a licensed home inspector, and am instructor, I too want to make sure that bad inspectors are drummed out of the business, just as I want to make sure that all bad builders are also, legally, required to make the homeowners whole.

As to furnace heat exchangers: A “cracked” heat exchanger cannot be determined, especially in the new min or high efficiency furnaces without dismanteling (destructively) the furnace. To be clear, no professional HVAC tech (not state licensed, in Illinois, BTW) will say, point blank, that the exchanger is cracked without doing a VERY invasive inspection. Remember, the inspector and the client do not, at the time of the inspection, own the house. I have called out,. a number of times, my suspected judgement about a cracked exchanger (based upon high CO readings) and recommended that the buyer have the furnace inspected by an HVAC tech, but the tech cannot do such an inspection unless the current owner allows an invasive inspection.

To all: I would LOVE for the writer of this article to call me and discuss his inaccuracies, which I can prove and verify. If he is being intellectually honest, he will do so.

Contact me through my web site, http://www.DeckerHomeServices.com and we can talk.

Hope this helps;

When are you gonna post a piece about the “Dirty Little Secrets of the Mortgage Industry”?

Do your homework before you talk about the “real scoop” in Texas. Very limited in what they can report to a client? Really? Have you even read the TREC Standards of Practice? Also, Home Inspectors in Texas who find a termite infestation “are only allowed to recommend a pest control contractor” because the state requires a license from the Structural Pest Control Board before someone can legally perform a termite inspection. Some home inspectors do have this license and do document the infestation on a separate Wood Destroying Insect Report.

As for obtaining a license to inspect homes in Texas you’re only telling part of the story. Their are two paths which can be taken to obtain your license. Only one of those paths requires an apprenticeship and sponsorship of a Professional Inspector.

Most inspectors have no idea….? Bribed their way to a license? Relatives lying? Slimeball slugs?

Someone sounds bitter. Couldn’t pass the exam?

Knowledge is power my friend or perhaps in your case, Ignorance is bliss. Check out the link:

http://www.trec.state.tx.us/inspector/default.asp

But here’s the real scoop on the industry (at least in Texas). The process for obtaining a license requires you be sponsored by a “professional inspector.” That sounds great, right? When you are an apprentice, you contact a professional to sponsor you and they want $5,000 minimuim up front. For that, they simply put their initials on your inspection reports until you perform enough inspections to become a “professional inspector” yourself.

Most of the inspectors out there have no idea what the heck they are looking at. They have either bribed their way to a license or have a friend or relative who lied for them in order to obtain their license. It is so crooked an industry you can not even to begin to imagine. They are slimeball slugs.

The inspector did a great job. He found a number of minor flaws we had missed in our walk-through. Tiny flecks of paint on the stove trim led to a discovery that the ceiling above the stove had been recently repaired, which led to a discovery of some quick harry homeowner fixes on the upstairs bathroom plumbing directly above.

The fan in the furnace was squeeking a bit on startup. He told us he expected it would likely not last long (turned out that he was right, we had to replace it the next winter).

He found a list of about twenty items. Most were minor, and we ended up re-negotiating a better purchase price with the seller. He did point out that the external and internal units for the heat pump were mismatched, and would likely be inefficient as a result. We took that into consideration when we re-negotiated our purchase price too, after checking with an HVAC company as to what that would cost us to correct. In all, we got the house for a discount, fixed what he’d found as we needed to, and came out several thousand dollars ahead.

The inspector also left us with a 3-ring binder that was several inches thick and had a lot of information in it regarding typical lifecycles of appliances, what applaince replacement costs typically run, energy efficiency info, and information about dealing with contractors for various types of repairs and projects. It’s been useful.

We’ve been in this house for many years now, and I can’t think of anything we’ve come across that had not already been called out by the inspector, so at least in my case, the inspector I hired did a great job.

He wasn’t the cheapest guy around, but you get what you pay for.

If you want someone who will protect your interests, hire them yourself. Don’t rely on an agent who has a vested interest in closing the deal quickly. That’s just common sense.

btw – I’ve also used a settlement attorney both times I’ve bought homes. Yes, it cost me several hundred dollars to have them review the paperwork. On the other hand, they’ve in both cases saved me more than they cost me by finding overcharges on settlement fees, not to mention the peace of mind that comes from having had the contracts I was signing reviewed by a third party obligated to look after my interests.

I dont think this article was very well researched. It slams an entire profession, and hiring a general contractor to inspect a home you are buying rather than a home inspector is probably bad advice. It might not be legal in your location, and it probably won’t meet your lendor’s requirements either, so check both before you decide. I would suggest you hire a qualified inspector, but find your own and check their qualifications.

Just my $.02 based on having bought all of two homes in my life …

(and no, I’m not a home inspector … I’m a professional computer geek)