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.

Home Inspector Concerned About Hearing Problem
Inspector's in the House by Barry Stone, Certified Building Inspector

Dear Barry:
I have performed over thirty residential home inspections during my first year in business but am concerned that my tone deafness may prevent me from providing adequate inspections for my customers. I'm uncertain about continuing this new career because I'm unable to hear squeaky floors, mechanical noises, or the sounds of faulty plumbing, just to give a few examples. What is your advice? Ben

Dear Ben: This is a very tough question to answer with an absolute yes or no. Hearing is an essential tool in the performance of a home inspection. Although home inspections are strictly defined as visual inspections only, hearing is used a great deal by inspectors. We listen, for example, to furnace ignitions, air flow from heat registers, the chirping of birds in attics, the click of GFI's across rooms and garages, noises emitted by bathroom exhaust fans, garage door openers, garbage disposals, dishwashers, and more.  It's hard to imagine not hearing those sounds and still managing to perform thorough and comprehensive inspections.

Regardless of these shortcomings, this is a business decision that you'll have to make, weighing the benefits of the profession against the risks. If you stay in the game, you should probably include a statement in your contract, disclosing that you have hearing limitations that could compromise the completeness of the inspection. Customers should have the choice of proceeding on the basis of that understanding.

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