The vast majority of homes sold in the U.S. requires a home inspection-over 70 per cent. Even so, this process is rounded by a lot of confusion and uncertainty. Here are some of the mistakes commoner:A home inspection is intended to produce a list of imperfections which can then be used to negotiate a lower price.Get additional information at Buying a second house

Correct. The primary purpose of an inspection is to identify issues that affect safety, structural integrity and habitability, and to identify other significant items not previously noted on the seller’s completed disclosure statement. If and only if your inspection discovers problems of this nature should you try to use the results of the inspection as a means of reopening the question of pricing. An inspection also has NO intent to point out any slight cosmetic flaw. An unwritten golden rule is that “if it is superficial the inspector would probably not find it out.”

Inspections shall refer only to “homes used.”

False. On the contrary, new construction is often the situation where good inspection is MOST needed. Why? Because there are so many things that go into building a new home, because so many different people are involved in the process, and because not all builders can be trusted to do whatever you ‘d expect them to do.

If your inspector is approved, Quality inspection will be given.

Wrong again! There is some form of inspector regulation in just over half of the states, but the requirements are far from uniform. Having said that, common sense would still indicate that it is wise to confirm anything the inspector tells you about their licensing or other credentials.

When carrying out other inspections (code inspection, insect inspection, assessment, etc.) you will remove the need for an inspection.

Not true. There is simply no substitute for inspection by a routine contractor. While these other forms of “inspection” are valuable, there can be no combination of these secondary procedures in place of an inspection.

All forms of certification by inspectors are created in equal measure.

Wrong again. Organizations providing inspector certification range from those requiring nothing more than an annual membership fee all the way up to those requiring the inspector to have experience in the literal hundreds of inspections completed. Before making a final decision, you should investigate the organization providing the “credentials” as well as the inspector himself.

Home inspections are bogus.

No, they are not. Even the best inspectors miss things. Most inspectors have contracts that contain disclaimers that specifically state that they are not liable for anything they may miss. While this may sound unreasonable, the hard reality is that there is simply no way that any person can discover every potential defect in an inspection that typically lasts three hours or less for the amount of money that is typically charged for an inspection.