| Page 4 of 4 < |
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)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
He said most inspectors sign contracts that make them liable for negligence up to about $1,000 or the price of the inspection, usually $300 to $500.
"Proving negligence is a different matter, and it can be hard," he said.
Most inspectors have liability insurance in case they damage the home during the inspection. Lesh said about half of inspectors have errors-and-omissions insurance to cover costly oversights that could lead to problems like structural damage.
On occasion, a dispute can land in court, he said. But in most instances, the inspector who admits negligence might pay out of pocket for something such as repair of a tile floor or ruined possessions caused by a water leak, he said.
The problem with limited liability in the contract, Fritts said, "is that a court may or may not choose to enforce it, and it could be very expensive to go to court to find that answer. An inspector may decide it's less costly to have it fixed themselves."
Some real estate agents are adamant about getting inspections. "I wouldn't buy a house without an inspection," agent Schwartzman said. "I wouldn't do it even in a hot market. If they can't have an inspection, I don't want to know about the house."
Contrary to what home buyers might think, she added, "New-house inspections are more important. You can find very little, and you can find a boatload of things wrong."
On his inspection of that 6,000-square-foot house in Bowie on a recent Thursday afternoon, Carls was finding more than a little wrong.
Only 45 minutes into the inspection, he already had a long list of problems.
Carls stepped into the master bedroom, opened the cupboard beneath the sink, unscrewed a panel inside, and then used a long stick with a round mirror to peer under the whirlpool tub.
"This tub is not properly supported," he said. "There's nothing underneath."
"Not good," owner-to-be Sheila Hopes said.
As the list grew, Carls said: "The builder will have no problem with all these things. He doesn't want water floating in the basement."
The next day, Hopes had her final walk-through with the builder. He found eight problems on his own. Afterward, she handed him the four-page list of problems from the inspection.
"He said, 'Whoa,' " she recalled.
But she said he agreed to fix everything "without a blink of the eye."
Despite the scary list, she said, "I came out pretty good."
