About New Jersey Home Inspections
March 19, 2010, Home Inspection
New Jersey home inspections are very structured inspections, where the qualified inspector is expect to hit on a certain number of points while going through the property. When your future in either selling or buying a home hinges on the results of the inspection, you’ll want to be prepared to ask the right questions of a home inspector so you can stay informed and be sure the inspection is done properly.
Make sure you know what the New Jersey home inspection is supposed to cover. The state has a number of requirements that must be met by a home, and the inspector should assure you that those will be covered. The inspector may even be able to give you a handout or a list of the points that the state requires he or she check. Any written ethical code or standards of practice should also be available to you. If you want a specific area thoroughly inspected that may not be one of the main areas the state requires, be sure to talk to the inspector about this before the inspection begins.
Also, before the New Jersey home inspection, ask the professional how long he or she has been inspecting homes. Ask about their qualifications. No professional should mind questions like these because they show that you want to be an informed consumer, which is the best kind to have. If the inspector can’t provide some referrals or some sort of history or credentials to you, then you will want to question why and/or go elsewhere for a New Jersey home inspection.
Ask about how long the inspection will take. If the inspection is very fast, you can be pretty sure it wasn’t a thorough or even a proper one. A minimum of two to three hours should be expected for a single-family residence. The larger the home, the longer the inspection will take. If it’s a large property or commercial building, there will most likely be more than one inspector. If not, make sure the time estimate is reasonable for such a large area.
It’s okay to question the inspector about specific experience. If the New Jersey home inspection is done by someone who has only commercial experience, or by an engineer with no residential inspection experience, important things could be overlooked. Likewise, a person with only residential inspection experience might miss something during a commercial inspection.
Find out in advance if the inspector is also legally able and willing to make repairs based on the findings of the inspection. Some might make specific suggestions about repairs and improvements, while others can actually then do that work for you. In some areas, this is forbidden as a conflict of interest and the worry that inspectors might find things wrong just so that they can be paid to fix them.
Cost is, of course, an issue, so make sure the price is given to you in detail before the inspection. And also, you may want to ask if you can be present during New Jersey home inspections so that you can see for yourself how well, or not, the inspector examined the property.
