Home Inspections Can Save You Thousands.
Doing it Yourself Can Prove Risky

PAUL IRISH
STAFF REPORTER

Apr. 22, 2004.

Finally, you're able to buy that first home.

You've saved like crazy, borrowed a bit from mom and dad and have generally "done without'' the past few years.

It's been rough going — perhaps you're a bit tired of struggling to make ends meet — but the road doesn't get any easier.

Now you're looking at legal fees, moving bills, new furniture and myriad other unexpected expenses.

It's hard to blame first-timers when they start looking at different ways to keep the spending down.

Perhaps one could save a tad by opting out of a formal home inspection and rely on the opinion of a friend who already owns a house, an uncle who knows a bit about construction, your favourite handyman or even have a quick peek, yourself.

After all, there's no bylaw or legislation stating a home inspection is mandatory.

But Jim Pesme, 49, from Grassroots home inspection, says going it alone can be a terrible risk and these days, the vast majority of buyers use the service.

"Instead of asking: `can I afford a home inspection?,' the question should be: `can I afford not to,' '' he said. "It could save a homebuyer thousands of dollars in repair.

"It could even save their lives.

"A house is an incredible investment and the average home inspection is just between $300 and $350, but the peace of mind it can bring is priceless.''

Everyone has a friend or relatives willing to have a quick look at a house to see that it's not going to fall down, says Pesme, but their expertise is usually limited. "They might know a lot about electricity, but nothing about bricks and mortar.

Another might know a lot about bricks and mortar, but nothing about roofs and shingles,'' he said.

When you hire a qualified home inspector, you should be getting a trained professional with up-to-date knowledge on basics, such as the necessity of dry basements, to more complicated issues such as mould.

"You can buy a house without the use of a home inspector, but that doesn't happen very much these days,'' said Pesme. "I'd say about 100 per cent of the real estate agents recommend having it done.''

A home inspector's job is to enter a home and, in usually 2 1/2 to three hours, assess the positive and negative points of the structure and convey the information to the customer.

Is the electrical system adequate or antiquated? When will the roof need replacing? How old is the furnace?

Pesme, who owns two Grassroots franchises that cover Scarborough and Durham Region, says it's easy to tell if an attic is getting soaked each and every time it rains.

But estimating the life of a furnace and air-conditioning system is best left to a home inspector, not uncle Dick, he says.

Home inspections began slowly in the 1970s, but are now an integral part of the buying process.

The Ontario Association of Home Inspectors Act received royal ascent in 1994 enabling the OAHI to set performance and qualification standards and the right to grant the RHI designation.

The association, with about 700 dues-paying members, requires they meet standards.

It encourages unhappy customers to approach the body's executive where complaints will be investigated.

Home inspectors undergo extensive training. Most take courses to deal with the changes in the building industry.

Pesme studied for a month and a half at a local community college, took more training from Grassroots and then was required to complete 100 inspections before being allowed into the self-regulating Ontario Association of Home Inspectors.

Claude Michaud, a home inspector who works Claude Michaud & Associates Inc. in the Greater Toronto Area, York and Durham Regions, says even qualified inspectors — depending on their experience — can make mistakes.

He recalls being asked in to give a second opinion on a home by a real estate agent after a neophyte inspector declared the shingles on the roof were worn and should be replaced.

It would have cost the current homeowner, or potential buyer, thousands of dollars to do this.

Both sides were unhappy.

Because of his experience, Michaud recognized the brand of shingle instantly and was aware that — in some cases — the product would just "appear'' stressed, when, in reality, it had plenty of life in it.

Pesme says there's a long checklist of important essentials that the "average Joe" just wouldn't consider if asked to inspect a home.

He once discovered that a cold air intake in a brand new home had been inadvertently covered by drywall.

Then there are the attics that builders forget to insulate.

He has seen dangerous wiring that's about 80 years old and water pipes so thin they could burst at any moment.

In the quest to improve their dwelling, some homeowners create their own problems. More than once has he seen a bathroom fan venting back into the house.

"They want to keep one room clear of moisture, but they vent it into the attic,'' he said. "I guess a lot of people just don't stop and think things out.''

"We can really do a lot for a buyer,'' he said.

"I work hard to make sure a dream home doesn't turn into a nightmare.''

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