Michigan

Michigan Home Inspector

Buying a home “as is” in Michigan without benefit of a quality home inspection by a home inspector is like playing with potential fire. Or radon, lead, asbestos, mold—pick your poison--or, cracked foundation, damaged roof, cracked pipes--pick your repair. Michigan home inspectors are not state licensed, but fierce competition; first-rate home inspection schools; and accreditation through standard-setting institutions, such as the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI), helps assure best practices and reliable results. Likewise, Michigan doesn’t require licensing for radon migration testing, and mold testing, although many Michigan home inspectors have certifications in these areas. Risk assessors for lead are state certified too, and a number of home inspectors carry this credential.

Michigan, truly a land of lakes and a winter wonderland to boot, boasts a number of potential problems created by moisture and condensation. For this reason, Michigan home inspectors must be ready to address issues ranging from surface drainage problems, basement seepage, and foundation and support concerns to the mold and spore problems water can cause. A good Michigan home inspection will include water related checks along with the inspection of the exterior walls, roof, chimney, driveway, garage and deck. Michigan home inspectors will then move inward to examine the walls, ceilings, floors, doors, and windows. The heating, air-conditioning, plumbing, and electrical systems will be checked for proper working order; and kitchens, baths, laundry rooms, attics and crawl will be inspected as well.

Usually, you will have to hire specialists if you are looking to access what condition your swimming pool, septic tank, and landscape might be in. Not all will assess appliances and almost all won’t be checking for termites—that’s for a pest inspector. But, Michigan home inspectors are great at pointing out what might need further evaluation—an invaluable service.

Michigan’s home inspection community is user friendly when it comes to educating clients about their properties. There are two report styles used by home inspectors. One is an NCR paper report form with check boxes relating to such areas as heating and cooling, roof, and foundation with a brief comment section for hand written notes. The forms are filled out as the inspection progresses and handed off to the client in a folder at the end of the inspection.

More often these days, Michigan home inspectors tell the story through computer generated inspection reports with digital photographs and comment templates. Some Michigan home inspectors combine the two formats—using the computer’s programmed approach with original specific comment. And of course, clients are more than welcome to listen and learn as the inspector “reads” the home him/herself, room by room. Homes are a pivotal investment, and a Michigan home inspection can assure it’s a smart one as well.