So our offer on a house was accepted and now comes the part to look for a home inspector.

I've searched around and found a few licensed inspectors in the area with their general price.

 

Does anybody know of or is a inspector in Central NJ? Specifically Woodbridge Township. Thanks

My wife and I used Pilar To Post. They're all over the state and were highly recommended by our real estate agent and our attorney, both of whom were family.

 

 

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Not to hijack a thread by why are attorneys used in North Jersey? Never really heard of anyone using them down here and I didn't use one for my house. Just curious?

It is in your best interest to use an attorney for settlement..

www.homeproinspections.com

We used Pillar to Post also in Somerset County, and my wife used them for her old condo in Plainsboro. They were meh. Nothing outstanding but the the guy seemed competent.

If you know any realtors as friends ask them who are the toughest inspectors. There are certain inspectors the realtors don't like to call because they're known as "deal killers" because they're tough and thorough. They would certainly call them If THEY were buying though.

Not to hijack a thread by why are attorneys used in North Jersey? Never really heard of anyone using them down here and I didn't use one for my house. Just curious?

 

Because the real estate law was written by lawyers?

 

Because the real estate law was written by lawyers?

majority of the items you purchase are designed by engineers. Do you consult an engineer on all your buying decisions?

 

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Thanks all for the advice thus far.

 

As for the lawyer I can tell you from the banks I've contacted regarding mortgages and rates, majority of them require a lawyer before the application process even begins. Just their policy, unless you have the cash handy to buy the house outright it's just something we have to deal with.

Thanks all for the advice thus far.

 

As for the lawyer I can tell you from the banks I've contacted regarding mortgages and rates, majority of them require a lawyer before the application process even begins. Just their policy, unless you have the cash handy to buy the house outright it's just something we have to deal with.

thank you. Maybe my agent's company has one behind the scenes. I remember a lawyer talked about but never had to.directly write a check to a lawyer.

 

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NJ is not an attorney state. If you are confident negotiating the contract then you don't need an attorney at all. It's done all the time in South Jersey. That being said, most people want an attorney to help them negotiate the contract. The seller will undoubtedly be represented by an attorney so it may help to have one of your own. I used an attorney for my home purchase and I've been in the mortgage business 11 + years if that tells you anything.

Home inspectors - I could go on all day about this. They are necessary because you may want to cancel or renegotiate your contract based on what they find, however they can also be quite useless. A competent contractor is far more useful in my opinion. Home inspectors just want to keep from "rocking the boat" with the realtor since that's where their business comes from. That means they won't be as thorough as you want them to be.

Good luck and if you want any professional advise or have any questions at all, please just PM me. I'm happy to help.

Good advice, contractor is better. Home inspector has conflict of interest like those rating agencies on mortgage backed securities hired and sold by the issuer.

I'm going to COMPLETELY go against what the previous posters have said. I would NEVER use a contractor to inspect my house.

 

First - that's illegal. Home inspections are regulated and licensed by the state of NJ. An inspection done by an unlicensed inspector carries no weight at all regarding negotiations. Anything he finds can't realistically be used to renegotiate with the seller.

 

Second - it's a completely different skillset. While a contractor could most likely become an inspector with relative ease, they simply AREN'T inspectors and have different criteria and look for different things.

 

Third - you guys have it backwards, there's a HUGE conflict of interest. Any "problems" they find they will only be too happy to correct for you. If you are afraid of an inspector "fudging" things to maintain his relationship with the realtor, then simply ask the listing agent for a recommendation, and then DON'T use them. Or get an inspector from outside your area. And being realistic, it's not much of an issue. Seriously, no inspector is going to risk a huge lawsuit for failing to find an error just to stay in a realtor's good graces.

 

Full disclosure: I used to work for the inspection company I posted above (www.homeproinspections.com). Paul, the president and lead inspector, has probably done 20,000 inspections by now. I ran their marketing from 2008-2010 and met with other inspection companies all over the country as part of a mastermind coaching group for inspectors. I can say with absolute confidence, after working with, meeting with, and even going out on inspections with about 15 of the top inspection firms in the country, that Paul was hands down, the single most thorough inspector I've ever met. He simply sees things that 99% of people just completely and utterly miss. It's mystifying. He really is that adept. And I'm licensed in NJ as an inspector myself, although I haven't done an inspection in over 2 years.

For the record I did say that a home inspection was necessary for negotiation purposes. A good home inspector is just very hard to find in my opinion (over a decade as a high-level loan originator). Most buyers are not going to look further than their agent for a reccomendation and I think that's the biggest issue. Good job by the OP for looking a little harder for an inspector.

 

I agree the contractor can be a conflict of interest as well. Again it comes down to how much you trust the contractor and how good he is. I didn't mean the contractor should actually execute the official home inspection, I meant that it may be much more useful to have them go through the house and give an opinion of condition.

 

When I bought my house the home inspection was next to useless. He missed major items (roof, water damage) that the contractor saw in two seconds. Now, that's just my personal experience which you can argue is an isolated incident. However, I have seen a lot of poor inspections professionally as well and it's a known issue in the industry.

 

Bottom line - a good inspetion of the home is the goal so that you know what you're buying. As long as the OP gets a competent inspector who does his job, then mission accomplished.

Just spoke to one of my customers today for her new address, she sold her house cash deal, title co, approved the money and the transfer has yet to go through been 2 months.. She did not use an attorney at closing new home owner has received the title she said she would give it another month and then contact an attorney if she does not receive the funds..

 

Should have had one to begin with..

Years ago I used Home Chek out of Oakhurst when Tom Kraeutler was the Owner and Inspector (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Kraeutler), he was quite thorough and I ended up using his firm when my Father in Law bought a house in Toms River years ago. I don't know who he sold the firm to.

 

Unfortunately, it's just as easy to pick a crappy home inspector as it is to pick a good one.

 

I would say ASHI certification is a necessity though IMO.

I used this guy a few months ago. He was ok, didnt notice a few things i did after we moved in, but all-in-all i was pretty happy with him...

 

http://inspectitneil.com/