The
Law!
State
of Illinois Home Inspector License Act becomes effective January 1, 2003
requiring all companies or persons involved in the home inspection process
to be licensed by the State of Illinois in accordance with the Home
Inspectors License Act. Make sure you ask to see proof of licensing
when you hire an inspector.
Home
inspections are strongly advised for so many reasons. In
Illinois, the seller is required to give you a Residential
Property Disclosure form (up to four units) when selling. Of
course, there are some exceptions to this law. The sellers
are legally required to tell you about problems or defects they
know about for the property.
Our experience has been generally, sellers are fairly honest about their
property's condition, because they know if they're not they may
have serious and expensive legal problems down the road.
Sometimes, sellers don't realize they may have a problem in the
making with a component of their property. For example: from
the outside the roof appears to be okay. Yet the roof may be
showing signs of leakage in the attic. So far, it hasn't
been enough to penetrate the ceiling in the house, and since the
seller has never been in the attic crawl space, they're not aware
of it.
However, it does show up during the home inspection process when
the professionally trained home inspector goes into the attic area
to get a good look around. The home inspector sees some
discoloration on a couple of the roofs beams and traces the source
to a water leak. Given time of course, it will become a
greater problem and more expensive to fix. Now, the home
inspector will let the buyer know about the leakage so it can be
addressed between the seller and buyer, their respective agents
and attorneys.
Problems
that are relatively easy to discover are called "patent
defects". Problems that may be hard or impossible to
discover are known as "latent defects". And of
course, no one can see inside walls, under floors or siding, etc.
When looking around for home inspectors you want to make sure they
have the credentials to do their job correctly, and can provide
proof of being licensed by the state of Illinois as a home
inspector. Sorry, but dear uncle Bob won't cut it unless
he's licensed as a home inspector in Illinois, no matter how
much he knows. An ASHI
recognized inspector (link below) is a good place to start.
What
does the inspector check?
This
depends on the company you select. Here are
some
of the things most home inspectors might
check when doing their inspection (check with the
inspectors you talk to for their specific items covered during the
home inspection - what's included, what's excluded):
|
Roof,
Chimney
Grading
Drainage
Sidewalk
Driveways
Overhead
Garage Doors
Brick,
Siding, Trims
Porches,
Decks, Patios
Windows,
Doors |
|
Attic
Ceilings,
Walls
Floors
Basement,
Crawl
Foundation
Structure
Supports
Insulation
Ventilation
|
|
Electrical
Plumbing
Heating
Air
Conditioning
Appliances
Termite
Tests - extra $ (?)
Radon
Tests - extra $ (?)
Lead
Paint Tests - extra $ (?)
Mold
Tests - extra $ (?)
Other
tests - consult inspector |
We strongly encourage
that you attend the home inspection for several
reasons. Since we are REALTOR®'s and not trained
inspectors, you
need to rely on someone who has the training, experience and credentials for the
job, and can answer your questions.
You
will need to understand any problems that arise from the inspection
so the repair or replacement, etc. of any problems can be negotiated
with the seller through your agent and/or your attorney.
Another
important reason is the knowledge you'll gain from the inspector
explaining how the systems in your new home work, steps to take to
keep your home running smoothly for years to come, and possible
steps to consider so you'll be proactive rather than reactive about
maintenance.
If
you've thought about major improvements to your new home,
sometimes, if you run your idea by the inspector they may be able
to give you tips about how to make it better or more workable, or
they may be able to tell you that it may not be such a good idea
to pursue and why.
However, since they
are or should be only working for you,
they can't recommend anyone to do the work because it would be a
conflict of interest for them. At least, you'll get
valuable feedback. An example of this would be if you wanted
to install a pool, but the location you were thinking about
wouldn't best because of landscaping issues and the gutter
locations, etc. that in the long run could cause maintenance
problems with the pool and the house. The inspector could
point this out to you and suggest you consider moving it to
another location.
Do
your research to ask them questions important to you before you
hire them. Of course while we're at the property during your
inspection other questions/issues may arise. Of course, as
with nearly all professions, some are better than others so get
recommendations from family and friends, your attorney, etc. about
who they'd recommend. You can hire any professional,
Illinois licensed home inspector you'd like. Ask for several
references.
The
costs for a professional home inspection run any where from $150
to several hundred dollars for the average home, depending on what you want
done, the property size, rooms, bedrooms, baths, etc.
Some buyers only want certain elements checked, others want a very
thorough, detailed inspection for the entire property. You need to decide which you
prefer. Special tests and larger homes will increase the cost. But I
believe it's money well spent. Home inspections have saved
our clients thousands of dollars over the years. It's really
a small price to pay for peace of mind.
ASHI
Home Inspections
Inspect
America
