Recently we've received calls, rather abrupt calls, asking for a price and when we could do a home inspection. The callers were not interested in anything else? They did not ask how many years of experience we had, did we do antiques, what our training was, or even if we were insured.
If you were going to have a carpenter or electrician do a remodel job in your home, wouldn't you ask a few questions to see if the people were solid and reputable? Similar to going to a doctor or lawyer, you need to get references before you engage the person. If all else fails, you check with the state registration, and groups like NACHI, that are professional groups who list their members and some of their training, etc.
If you get quotes on price alone, you will get what you asked for, a cheap home inspection! Yes the state of MA regs prescribe what needs to be looked at by all inspectors, but do all inspectors have their eyes wide open. Do they bring things to your attention, or do they bury things in detail and let you ferret out the important items.
When a home inspector asks questions before he/she quotes a price, they are trying to determine the complexity of the job, the skills needed, the length of time to do the work, and whether they have a willing partner to explore the home-you! So don't just ask for the price, ask for the detail om the professional you are about to employ. We all have different backgrounds and specialties, even though we are generalists. What you want is a quality inspection with no surprises, so ask questions and give answers that will paint a portrait of the inspector.Ask to speak to the inspector to see if he can talk with you easily, or is he tongue tied. Half of an inspection or more is verbal, so how an inspector communicates is critical to you getting what you payed for!
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