We only see what we see. This seems obvious enough, but I think there is the perception that inspectors see everything.
While I like to think that issues of “significance” won’t be missed on an inspection, there is a whole host of “less significant” issues that WILL be missed in the context of a home inspection. This is a “promise” I feel that I can keep. If the home is heavily staged or packed to the gills with storage and belongings the odds of missing things goes way up.
It is important for the buyer to realize that in the “relatively” short time the inspector is at the home the inspector will do their best (hopefully) to be as inclusive of defects as possible. However, it would be unrealistic to expect the inspector to find everything.
Managing client expectations is an important part of the inspection process.
The inspection report can be seen as a guide to the kinds of defects that are present and should be anticipated. For example I might report on a missing junction box cover in a particular location. When all belongings and storage are removed from the home—others may be discovered—and in some cases even “anticipated.”
I was reminded of this the other day when I found something that could easily have been missed. For some reason I did not miss it—but would not have been surprised if I had.
Inside the crawl space under the front porch there was a “less than professionally wired” receptacle that I noted.
The more curious thing about this receptacle was that I had not noticed it on the outside—-and with good reason.
It was not there to notice.
If it was there, the area outlined in red would be its approximate location.
The siding was new and the receptacle location had been sided over.
Sometimes it is good to be lucky as well as good.
By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle
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