Finding a Good Home Inspector

I watch a LOT of HGTV, specifically Holmes on Holmes and Holmes Inspection. If you are not aware of these two shows, they show what happens when you buy a house that has shoddy workmanship and an incomplete home inspection. They completely freaked me out during our 6 month and 60+ house search. My way of dealing with this is was to research the heck out of it.

The research process:

1. Checking out the national home inspectors' association websites.
   Be sure to check the Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency and Coverage of both sites.
   In my opinion, AMHI was more organized and provided a list of inspectors with more detailed information.


2. Narrow your list of inspectors to a manageable amount.
   I suggest narrowing in realtionship to the location of the property that will be inspected.


3. Check out consumer rating sites.
   I searched by rating and location in both Yelp and the BBB (Better Business Bureau). 
   Angie's List is brilliant but does cost $.


4. Go to your state's department for professional regulation and/or licenses to check if the inspectors' license was current and if they have ever been disciplined.


5. Review the inspectors' web sites.
   Remember: Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency and Coverage
   The one I chose had posted a sample inspection report and closely matched the Scope of Service provided by the AMHI.