Here are some of the resources available:
1. Home Inspection Video - See a home inspection!
2. Read an actual home inspection report.
3. Read/search Barry Stone's column, Inspector's In the House (below).
4. Send a question using the form to the right. ===>
5. If you are a Seller, get your own inspection before you put your home on the market.

California does not require any license to be a home inspector, so it is important for both home buyers and sellers to make sure that they hire an inspector who is a certified residential inspector and who carries errors and omissions insurance. To help you think through the selection of your home inspector, click here for our 10 Tips.

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS Click on any of these topics to read questions and answers by syndicated columnist Barry Stone.
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As a buyer, you can be present on the home inspection (and we really recommend it). Being there gives you a chance to ask questions, to see and discuss what Mark has found, and to ask other questions about your new home. Some of the areas inspected include: structure, heating and cooling, roof, electrical system, plumbing and fixtures, attic, basement and/or crawl space, foundation, gutters, insulation, interior and exterior walls, porches and decks, and the water heater and appliances.

A good inspector helps both buyers and sellers become aware of any defects that weren't already known. (If they had been known, they would have been disclosed.) Please note: Sellers have no obligation to repair any defects. Repair requests are just that--requests. However, if an unknown defect is a safety issue, violates the then-current building code, or affects functionality, many sellers will accommodate the request in one way or another. A good inspection helps to put all those issues on the table so that everyone is satisfied with the transaction.

For information about various topics, just click on any of the links to the left or run your own search! One of our 600+ articles is posted below.

Should Sellers Attend Home Inspection
Inspector's in the House by Barry Stone, Certified Building Inspector

Dear Barry,
When we had our home inspection, the seller was present during the entire process. We never felt free to converse candidly with our inspector. Shouldn't the inspector or our agent have asked the seller to excuse himself during the inspection?
Michael

Dear Michael,
The casting of participants at a home inspection can sometimes be very touchy, depending upon the personalities involved. There are no set rules that determine whether sellers should be absent or present during an inspection, and scenarios vary widely. In most cases, to be sure, it is beneficial to buyers to have an unfettered opportunity to converse and consult with their home inspector, to ask questions freely, and to allow the inspector to discuss defects without mincing words, without fear of offending the seller.

Real estate agents, realizing the potential for misunderstandings during a home inspection, often ask sellers not to be home when the buyers and inspector are on site. Most sellers comply with this request, some without complaint, others with expressed or suppressed misgivings. Some sellers flatly refuse to have an entourage nitpick their private domain unless they are present during the proceedings, or they might insist that the listing agent be present.

The presence of sellers can be, but is not always, an impediment to the free flow of an inspection. In some cases, they may simply remain quietly at home, planted on the living room couch or preparing the evening meal. They might engage the buyers or agents in friendly conversations, sometimes stiff and segmented, sometimes real and relaxed; on subjects ranging from mundane small talk to details of the purchase contract; from the disclosure of property defects to the purchase of onsite furniture.

On the other end of the spectrum, sellers might shadow every step of the inspector throughout the entire process, sometimes causing distractions, sometimes providing helpful information, sometimes coloring the atmosphere with quiet but palpable distress, sometimes challenging the inspector with reserved or aggravated debate. These levels of seller participation often interfere with the buyers' need to communicate concerns to the inspector and the inspector's freedom to fully explain observed defects to the buyers.

Regardless of these circumstances, it is not the responsibility of the home inspector to dismiss the sellers from their property. If buyers are uncomfortable with the sellers' presence, it is wise to have the agent "run interference" as it were -- to tactfully disengage sellers from the activities of the inspector. For example, agents can politely explain to sellers that leaving home during the inspection is normal procedure -- that they, as buyers of their next home, would appreciate the same courtesy. When sellers prefer to remain, agents can engage them in conversations designed to divert their attention from the inspection at hand. Unfortunately, some agents fail even to attend home inspections. But that is a subject for another article.

When seller participation prevents buyers from consulting with their inspector, the review of finding should take place away from the property. The buyers, inspector, and agent can arrange to meet at the agent's office or for coffee at a local restaurant. This can make up for communication opportunities that were lost during the inspection. The final review is a critical element of the home inspection process, enabling the inspector to fully explain the condition of the home and for buyers to ask questions that were withheld in the presence of the sellers.

Distributed by Access Media Group. To write to Barry Stone, please visit him on the web at www.housedetective.com.