Inspection

E 2 POST REGISTER Friday, February 7, 2014
OPEN HOUSE
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Post Register
1825 Midway/Ammon
Copper Creek
Homes
(208) 346-2000
Saturday 10am-5pm
Monday-Friday
11am-6:30pm
Directions: From the intersection of Hitt and 17th Street,
head east on 17th to Midway and turn right to house on
the left.
Fabulous Model Home!
“The luxury you want at a price you
can afford”
www.coppercreekhomesidaho.com.
Check out our
Open House listing
every Saturday
Call today 524-SELL
The path to your
dream home
starts here.
By Desirai Schild
For the Post Register
Hiring a home inspector
may make the difference
between home sweet home
and domestic disaster.
“Inspections aren’t re-
quired but they sure are
recommended,” said Dan
James, Pillar to Post Inspec-
tions of Idaho Falls. “Some-
times the home buyers
call us. Sometimes it’s the
REALTOR® involved. It’s
our job to go into a home,
make sure everything is
safe and up to code and to
make the client aware of
any problems discovered by
an inspection.”
Sometime sellers seek in-
spections, too.
“Once in a while I’ll get
a request from a seller to
come through and identify
what needs to be done to
make the house sellable,”
said Randy Stewart, Inspec-
tion Protection LLC, of Po-
catello.
Stewart and James have
both completed rigorous
inspection training pro-
grams to help them offer
the best evaluations possi-
ble. The training is done by
choice and is not a require-
ment.
“Seems ironic,” Stewart
said. “In the State of Idaho
you have to get a license to
do a $10 hair cut but you
don’t have to be licensed to
do an inspection on what
may very well be the biggest
purchase of a person’s life.
Both inspectors advise
selecting one that has com-
pleted inspection training,
carries insurance and is
bonded.
“We can only do a visu-
al inspection and there is
a limit to how invasive we
can get,” James said. “For
example, I inspected one
place where there was a chi-
na hutch up against a wall.
I couldn’t move their fur-
niture so there was no way
to know there was a hole in
the wall behind that hutch
that wasn’t visible until the
new buyers went to move
in.”
Visual inspections in-
clude looking at wiring,
plumbing, drainage, wall
and roof stability and over-
all structural soundness.
The experienced eye can
identify potential problems,
such as termites, that both
owner and seller may not
know exist.”
Sometimes the sellers are
very well aware of problems
and do what they can to
conceal the facts.
“You learn to look at how
the wall and ceilings meet,
if there looks to be some
sliding in the drywall, if
a paint job might be con-
cealing another problem,”
James said. “It’s what we are
trained to look for.”
Sometimes a new exteri-
or conceals old problems.
“When the housing
boom went bust, a bunch
of contractors bought up
older homes, put in new
carpet, counters and paint
but didn’t update the anti-
quated and very unsafe wir-
ing or the plumbing in the
homes,” Stewart said. “The
places looked pretty good
to the buyer but inspectors
picked up what was not
done right away.”
Inspections range from
about $275 to $375, depend-
ing on the size of the home.
“Tat’s a small price to pay
to detect problems that could
cost thousands later,” Stew-
art said. “A home is maybe
the biggest investment some
people will ever make. Tey
owe it to themselves to make
sure they know what they are
getting and they should look
for an experienced, trained
inspector to help them out
with that.”
Brand new homes also
need to be inspected.
“I do a lot of those,” James
said. “Te buyer needs to
know if everything is done
correctly and if everything is
completed. Sometimes new
homes look fnished but they
are not. Inspectors will know
right away what needs to be
done before any housing deal
is sealed.”
REALTOR NEWS
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Post Register
Te inspection
A home inspector can fnd defects a buyer may overlook
A home inspector is trained to identify potential problems with a home. An inspection is not required in a home sale, but is recommended. (Stock photo)
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