What Am I Getting In My Inspection?
What Am I Getting In My Inspection?
You know that phrase “If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I’d have a lot of nickels”? – Here is ours…”I’m going to talk it over with my (insert person here) and if we decide to go with you, I’ll get back to you.” That is the sound of LOTS of nickels dropping. If the person, or persons, on the other end of the call hasn’t scheduled with me when we get to this point, I know one thing for absolute certain…THEY ARE JUST PRICE SHOPPING! I know, I know, you are reading this thinking “what’s wrong with getting the best deal?” Nothing. Not one thing is wrong with finding the best deal. As I’ve stated before, your home is probably the single most expensive purchase you will ever make. And every single step, including the inspection, needs to be wisely chosen.
Which brings me to you, the buyer, and YOUR 2nd part of “doing your due diligence” in the home inspection process..KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GETTING WITH YOUR INSPECTION!
Ask yourself these 3 important questions about your Inspection:
- WHO am I getting? – look at how long they have been in the business, what services they offer, and how do they conduct their inspections.
- WHAT are they giving me as a finished product? – find out how long the inspection stays available to you, how it gets delivered to you and when, and what areas are addressed in the inspection.
- HOW do they protect your investment? – examine what added value you receive with your inspection, who their partners in protection are, and how long you are protected for.
This? That’s the ASHI Standards of Practice. And that defines (in 12 pages or less) exactly what we do and do NOT do. Our Clients get this a minimum of THREE times before we ever do the Inspection. It’s up front and clearly defined for them. Because we want them to know for certain what they are getting!
I’ve already addressed the care we take choosing our partners in Home Inspection in part 1 of this “due diligence” blog. So, now I am going to address us….that’s right, get the trumpets and confetti ready because I’m about to tell you what sets us, Castle Home Inspections apart from the crowd….
Longevity: Let’s start right there. We’ve been inspecting the St Louis Metro, St Louis, St Charles & Jefferson counties for 22 years! Go ahead and Google the other guys, I’ll wait…the truth is there are only a few others out there that can say they have been here that long. And we have been the SAME company since 1996! Nobody got sued and vanished and then re-opened a few months later under a different name. Nobody decided to join up with a franchise and camp out under the big franchise umbrella. Same company, same name, same owners…for 22 years (and counting).
Cutting Edge Digital Inspections: In a word, COMPLETE. No checklists, no punchlists, no handwritten Xerox pages, and ZERO guessing what area of the house they are talking about. Our reports are delivered electronically within 24 hours following your Inspection appointment. They include clear type-written comments, digital photos, video, thermal images, and 360-degree photos of every room in the home! (Yup, that’s right.. you can tour your new home again – inside your inspection report – which means your Mrs. can remind herself what the rooms look like so she can calculate the really important details: furniture placement, paint colors, blinds/curtain counts, etc.)
Team: It’s not just your primary inspector you’re getting when you schedule with us, it’s the WHOLE Team! Primary inspector, Affiliate Vendors, After-Hours Support Team, and yup, us over here at the nerve center, the Office staff! 24/7 – And just like any great team, everybody has something they must do to make it all function perfectly. And that also includes our partners who back you (and us) LONG after the closing…
