Beware of the Owner’s Inspection Report
Due diligence is a must when buying a home/property. There are several inspections that should be done two of which may be misunderstood by buyers. For example; a due diligence Home Inspection by a Certified Home Inspector is different and separate from a due diligence ‘Mold Inspection’ or more accurately called an ‘Inspection for Potential Moisture/mold Issues’. The latter should also be done by a Certified Professional as well. A Certified Microbial Consultant (which is my designation) is the Highest Certification/credential for evaluating potential mold/bacteria/water damage issues. Most persons/companies that do a due diligence ‘Mold Inspection’ will not have the highest Certification as just mentioned. Most will have some type of ‘CMI’ (Certified Mold Investigator) or the like. The main point is to have a qualified inspector for this inspection done.
However, keep in mind that it may be best to have an inspector you hire to do both of these inspections. In some cases, the present owner may have one or both of these done and it is possible that the report provided may not be thorough or complete as it could be. There are cases where the owner may ask the inspector to ‘leave out’ an item or at least ‘down play’ them. Or the inspections may have been done some 6 months prior to your viewing the home or longer and may not reflect accurately the current state of the home since things can quickly change with a property.
I need to emphasize that both types of inspections mentioned above (a Home Inspection by a Certified Home Inspector and for Potential Moisture/mold issues; i.e., Mold Inspection) performed. Many people think that just having a ‘Home Inspection’ is sufficient enough and believe that if the home inspector finds something suspect then they will get a ‘Mold Inspection’ at that point. That is not advisable since General Home Inspectors are not trained or certified to look for and evaluate potential moisture or mold issues. They simply do not do the same inspection like that of myself and you are potentially leaving yourself vulnerable to purchasing a home that can have one or several issues related to moisture and mold and bacteria.
I bring this up since a recent inspection I did found more areas in a home that were ‘wet’ than rooms that were dry and some $35k in remediation expenses to follow plus repairs of at least another $35k -70k in repairs after the remediation is complete. The previous owner had a Certified Home Inspector inspect the home several months before the sale which did find some ‘wet areas’ but missed most of them. The new owners did not think there was much to worry about until 4 months later when heavy rain hit and revealed several problems. So don’t try to save money by not doing the recommended inspections otherwise it can cost you a lot more by not doing them.
Steve Mullins (i.e. Mold Detector)
Certified Microbial Consultant (CMC)
Moisture and Mold Detection, Inc.