SOMERVILLE, N.J., April 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- April is National Home Inspection month, and this year the industry is seeing shifts in ways home inspections are conducted. With the coronavirus threat facing everyone, industries including the home inspection industry are adapting to reduce the spread of the virus while still serving their communities.

"Our number one priority is to help keep our families and our communities safe," says HouseMaster President and CEO Kathleen Kuhn, a 35 year veteran of the industry. "Fortunately, a home inspection does not require face-to-face contact. Prior to the pandemic, we would encourage buyers to participate in the home inspection process to help them better understand the condition of the home. Today, for the most part we are going solo. If the home is not vacant, we ask home sellers to stay secluded in a part of the home away from the inspector. Our inspectors are taking careful to follow all CDC and Health Canada recommendations."
In addition to conducting a home inspection without any attendees, HouseMaster is using technology to assist real estate professionals and their customers in a number of ways, including:

• Virtual report reviews: Inspectors are offering customers the ability to review the report findings either by video conferencing or phone to ensure customers get all their questions addressed. Some inspectors are even offering to check in with customers via video while on the inspection to explain different findings.
• Online report deliveries: HouseMaster distributes their inspection reports through their proprietary home maintenance portal, the HouseMaster Cloud. Both customers and real estate professionals have access to the final inspection report, which includes detailed digital images and videos allowing all parties to keep the deal moving along without any face-to-face interaction.
• Repair list generators: To further keep the process moving along, customers can create a list of repairs they request the seller fix. They can collaborate on this list with their agents online and distribute the list directly from their HouseMaster Cloud account to the appropriate parties.

"In our more than 40 years franchising, we've witnessed economic downturns, natural disasters and major events that test all of us," Kuhn says. "I'm amazed by and grateful for the resilience and attitude of our franchise owners. Through these tough times, we always come out stronger as a community."
For more information about home inspections, visit housemaster.com.
About HouseMaster
Headquartered in Somerville, N.J., HouseMaster is the oldest and one of the largest home inspection franchisors in North America. With more than 325 franchised areas throughout the U.S. and Canada, HouseMaster is the most respected name in home inspections. For almost 40 years, HouseMaster has built upon a foundation of solid leadership and innovation with a continued focus on delivering the highest quality service experience to their customers and providing HouseMaster franchisees the tools and support necessary to do so. Each HouseMaster franchise is an independently owned and operated business. HouseMaster is a registered trademark of HM Services, LLC.

Home inspections can save homebuyers big; here’s just how muchAly J. Yale The Mortgage Reports Contributor

Saving by inspectingHome inspections can offer serious value. In fact, according to a new analysis, they save buyers an average of $14,000 per home purchase.
Verify your new rate (May 12th, 2020)Serious savingsThough most buyers pay between $200 and $500 for their home inspection, a new analysis from Porch.com shows the fee more than pays for itself in the long run. In fact, a home inspection saves the average buyer around $14,000 on their home purchase.
According to the report, the average list price before an inspection is $226,600. Post-inspection, the average closing price is just $212,400.
As the report explains, “Home inspections can be extremely prudent investments, saving homebuyers from unforeseen fiscal challenges. Citing necessary repairs, agents can knock thousands off the price their clients might otherwise have paid.”
About 36 percent of buyers said their inspector even provide estimated repair costs for each issue found.
Home inspection checklist: What to expect on inspection day
Insights into inspectionsFortunately, it seems most buyers have recognized the power of inspections. Eight in 10 recent homebuyers used an inspector in their purchase, paying about $377 on average.
The majority of these buyers used the inspector recommended by their real estate agent. Others used recommendations from friends or family members, or the seller made the inspection decision. Most chose the first inspector they considered.
Buying a house? Know these common home inspection findings — and what they cost to fix
In 86 percent of cases, the inspector found an item that needed repairs. Nearly 20 percent of inspections revealed a roof issue and 18 percent showed an electrical problem. Issues were also often cited with windows, gutters, plumbing and fencing.
Problems with heaters and roofs helped negotiations the most. When inspectors noted an issue with the heating system, buyers were able to negotiate the price $1,250 lower on average. With roof issues, it was $1,000 lower.

March 23, 2020                         3 School Street, White Plains, New York 10606 USA                       Vol. 36 Issue 12

Consumer Alert - State Board For Engineering Adopts Opinion Of State Engineering Law
"It is the opinion of the Board that the inspection and examination of single and multiple family residential, commercial, industrial or institutional buildings, regarding their structural, electrical and mechanical subsystems for proper integrity or capacity, constitutes the practice of engineering as defined in the "law." Any attempt to determine the structural integrity or capacity of a building, or any subsystem thereof, other than detection of problems by visual inspection or normal operation of the user controls, constitutes the practice of engineering. This would include the diagnosis and analysis of problems with buildings and/or the design of remedial actions. Therefore, an individual who advertises or practices in this area shall be registered as a Professional Engineer in the State of New York."
Home buyers and other persons retaining the services of a home inspector should carefully review the opinion to understand the difference between the services of a Licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) who provides home inspection services and those persons who provide home inspection services and are not licensed to practice engineering.
A recently passed bill replaced Nebraska’s 1937 law regulating professional engineering. As part of the new law, there is clarification regarding who may use the title of “engineer”; the new law requires an accredited degree to practice engineering and a date has been set after which noncompliance may invoke a fine of up to $10,000.
In order to help improve the regulation of the home inspection industry, the State of Pennsylvania has established the Pennsylvania Home Inspectors Board to regulate home inspectors. The Governor signed a new bill giving licensed engineers and architects the authority to perform home inspections. The Association of Realtors said that both realtors and home buyers have had difficulties dealing with home inspectors who did not have the appropriate background and qualifications to determine the condition of a property. The previous law required home inspectors to be members in good standing of a home inspectors trade organization. Apparently, the former requirement was not satisfactory and the new law grants licensed engineers and architects the authority to perform home inspections. The realtors association expects that the new board will improve the professionalism in the home inspection business and will also improve the services provided to home buying consumers
Florida residents can expect prompter investigations for complaints regarding the improper practice of engineering and more active enforcement of the State licensure law. This is a major victory for Florida residents as well as for the Florida Engineering Society which was instrumental in getting this legislation enacted.
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue has rejected and vetoed a Home Inspector Licensure Bill (H.B. 1217) which would have established a State licensing board and set guidelines for the content of home inspection reports. Georgia home buyers who choose a licensed Professional Engineer to conduct their pre-purchase home inspection in lieu of a non-engineer home inspector are still protected by statutes governing the practice of engineering.
It is the policy of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) that those aspects of building inspections that require the application of engineering principles constitute the practice of engineering and should only be performed by licensed professional engineers. Such aspects include, but are not limited to, the evaluation of commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings and residential dwellings, regarding the structural, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical systems.

Further, it is the position of the National Society of Professional Engineers to encourage legislative or administrative regulations that require real estate professionals to provide a home inspector qualification disclosure notice to prospective purchasers of residential real property. This notice shall explain the scope of practice and authority of persons licensed as professional engineers versus persons not licensed as professional engineers offering to provide home inspections.

This policy is not intended to prevent or affect:
1. The practice of architecture;
2. The normal or routine inspection of buildings by designated municipal building inspectors or other authorized governmental officials for code compliance; or
3. The identification and reporting of evidence of apparent system failure, defects, or improper performance through observation or normal operation of user controls, provided that, as needed, engineering evaluations are referred to an appropriate licensed professional engineer.