This week Rich and Cherie had Steven Roberts, owner of Full Disclosure Home Inspections. Home inspections have become an integral part of most real estate transactions. 15 years ago, barely 10% of home sales involved home inspections, in 2006, The National Association of Realtor’s reported that 77% of all homebuyers obtained a home inspection prior to their purchase. While more home inspectors could mean more competitive prices, homeowners need to know that saving a few pennies now may cost them more later. American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) President Frank Lesh advises homeowners to ask the following questions before hiring a home inspector:

Is the inspector a Member of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI)?

Working with a certified Member of ASHI is an excellent indicator of an inspector’s qualifications and professionalism.

How long has the inspector been practicing the profession and how many inspections have been completed?

Full ASHI Members are required to have completed at least 250 paid professional home inspections and pass two written exams that test the inspector’s knowledge and competency. ASHI Candidates with logo use (CL) have passed the same exams and have performed a minimum of 50 fee paid inspections verified by ASHI to be in substantial compliance with the Standards of Practice.

Is the inspector specifically experienced in residential inspection?

Related experience is helpful, but is no substitute for training and expertise in the unique discipline of home inspection.

Does the inspector or his company have a policy not to do repairs or improvements based on the inspection?

ASHI’s Code of Ethics prohibits the inspector from performing any repairs or improvements to a home for a period of one year following the inspection, as it might cause a conflict of interest.

Does the inspector participate in continuing education programs to keep his or her expertise up to date?

ASHI membership requires yearly continuing education.

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

One of the costliest mistakes homeowners can make is to hire an unqualified inspector to assess their home .A homeowners’ financial interests, can best be realized when the inspection is performed by an experienced, professional home inspector.

This week Cherie and I were in the studio with more back to basics, this time for sellers, so unless you have been in a coma for the past few years, I don’t have to rehash the importance of curb appeal when listing your home, but one important thing we talked about was removing emotion from the equation. You need to think of your house as a marketable commodity. Your goal is to get others to see it as their potential home, not yours. If you do not consciously make this decision, you can inadvertently create a situation where it takes longer to sell your property. Learn as much as you can about the selling process, and be realistic in your expectations, and you will have a much better selling experience.

Now to answer the title question, besides our fondness for leather pants as one of my agents pointed out to me, we are both on iTunes. I’m excited to announce that the Real Estate Insight Podcast is now available, commercial free at no charge, for downloading and listening. Please feel free to subscribe. If you have iTunes installed on your computer, click here to launch:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=217507351

This Week’s Real Estate Insight:

As more and more people a use the internet and the 2.0 applications, it is imperative to stay up on the technology or fall to the wayside. If a Broker is not taking full advantage of the internet, he is doing the client a disservice. Find a Broker with a strong web presence.