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Upon Closer Inspection . . .
Inspector Phillip Carls prepares to look at the upper reaches of the house Sheila Hopes, in garage, plans to buy in Bowie. He found four pages' worth of problems.
(Photos By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)
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Sagona echoes the sentiments of many other inspectors.
"It's the best thing that could happen to this industry," he said. "It's a means to determine some level of competency to give the public value. It will weed out" bad inspectors, he said.
But Lesh, president of the American Society of Home Inspectors, is more skeptical. He points to publicity in the past over new licensing programs in some other states that ended up attracting inspectors with little experience.
"Educational providers see this as an opportunity, and they start advertising" for inspection courses, said Lesh, a home inspector in Indian Head Park, Ill.
The new licensing requirement in Maryland comes at a time when many Washington area inspectors say they have seen a spike in work in the past six to eight months.
That contrasts with recent years when the home-sales market was hot and many prospective buyers passed up inspections to remain competitive in multiple-bid situations.
"I think every buyer wanted an inspection, but they couldn't compete if they put one in" the contract, said Jane Fairweather, a real state agent with Coldwell Banker in Bethesda. "As soon as contracts stopped being full price and multiple, home inspections were back, and I would say with a vengeance."
If a purchase of an existing home is contingent on an inspection, that inspection is usually done within a few days of the contract being accepted. Inspections are also done before drywall is put up on a new house or immediately before closing, like the inspection Carls performed in Bowie. People also hire inspectors before they bid on a house, or after living in one for several years, to take inventory of problems and wear and tear.
Sheila Leifer, an agent with Long & Foster in Northwest Washington, said that sometimes buyers use a critical inspection report to get out of a contract after deciding they no longer want the house.
"If someone really wants to get out of a contract, generally it's better to let them out," she said.
Prospective buyers who want to move ahead with the purchase despite flaws in the house normally present the inspector's list of problems to the sellers. The two sides then negotiate about repairs or price reductions.
Richard Fritts, a lawyer at Paragon Title & Escrow in Bethesda, said inspectors aren't perfect and can't catch everything. But a competent one should spot the obvious things in key categories such as electrical, mechanical, structural and plumbing.
