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Home inspectors get blamed for a lot of stuff, especially when the residence is occupied and fully furnished, or when the residence is vacant and unfurnished—in other words, all the time.
A home inspection is essentially a visual inspection of the structural and mechanical components. A furnished home presents problems for inspectors because many areas typically are not visible due to floor coverings (carpet, tile, area rugs, etc.), furnishings, storage, packed moving boxes, wall hangings and mirrors, etc. Electric outlets in use typically prevent home inspectors from testing every electric outlet because we’re not going to unplug equipment that belongs to someone else to test an outlet. Interior furnishings and storage many times prevent access to, inspection of, or ability to actually open and close every window, cabinet, closet, or door. Only limited inspection or testing is done when there is not full access. Here’s what typically happens with occupied and furnished residences. Since the residence is being lived in and systems are being used on a daily basis, it is probable that something will be damaged or fail during the escrow period and during the move-out/move-in process, especially when children are present. Homeowners rarely damage something during escrow and file a claim against their homeowner’s insurance policy because, hey, they think it’s not even their home anymore. |
And if they damage something on the last day when they were moving out, do you really think that they’re going to file a claim on it? At that point, they think that you own it—why should they fix something that belongs to you? Some Sellers actually do not understand (or do not care) that they still own the home during the escrow period—and even up until all the escrow papers are signed and escrow is closed—and that they should continue to take care of it. In fact, most purchase contracts state so in all that fine print.
Selling a home and leaving after several years can be a stressful event, especially if the Sellers raised a family in the home. To help relieve that stress, Sellers typically have “moving parties” and “last parties.” Buyers typically have “first parties” or “housewarming parties.” Or they move hurriedly so they don’t have to take too much time off from work or use up vacation days or sick leave. The actual days of moving are when most post-inspection damage occurs, and usually it is by the guests (or movers) helping the owner (Seller or Buyer) move, so the owner may not even know anything about the damage that has occurred. In both these instances, Sellers like to say, “Your home inspector must not have seen that.” Buyers like to say, “Our home inspector missed that.” |
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