Welcome to CIS Home Inspections Inc

When we think of Home Inspections in Santa Clarita we’re generally expecting that every one of them has the same knowledge, experience and construction background right? No. Since California has no standards for home inspectors, it’s basically a free-for-all. Anyone who wishes to suck up to a few realtors in hopes to make in onto their referral list and thus earn a comfortable (easy) six digit income can, and do. Much to the detriment of you the buyer. Unlike General Contractors who have to prove their genuine experience, “Certified Santa Clarita home inspectors”do not. So in light of these facts, we’ve listed a few different ways to choose your local home Inspection Company.

How to choose your Home Inspector (if we we’re a home buyer)

Choosing a person who will essentially help assist you in the purchase of a home isn’t easy. In fact, it can be downright confusing. Why, with everyone saying basically the same things on their website it’s hard to separate those who are actually the best and brightest in this business, and those who are really just newbies. To help you choose a home inspector here in Santa Clarita i’ve put together a short list of things I think you need to consider when choose an inspector. Many of these I consider a necessity if I were in your shoes.

1. First of all, never use a realtors referral
2. Secondly, Always use a General Contractor
3. Third, View their report sample and compare to others
4. Fourth, Make sure they spend the time and DO NOT RUSH
5. Fifth, They should know what things cost to repair
6. Lastly, Make sure they work for you the home buyer (see #1)

This is your only chance to hire a professional who works solely for you, and not the realtors. Most all realtors will have a list of three of their favorite home inspectors for Home Inspections Santa Clarita, but don't be fooled. The individuals on this list work for the realtors first, and then you. How else will they remain on these lists? Is it because they are stellar Santa Clarita Home inspectors? Not likely. For those who have never had to choose an inspector here's some tips. You will want to choose an inspection company based solely on yelp reviews, google reviews, recommendations or proven experience.

There are ZERO requirements for Home Inspections Santa Clarita CA

Currently there are ZERO requirements for home inspectors to work as professionals in the state of California. That means you can have an inspector with absolutely no experience in construction analyzing you future purchase. Surprisingly, these guys are out there, even in your home town (or future home town). To ensure you choose a home inspector with the most experience, choose a Licensed General Contractor every time. As a home buyer you will certainly want to know the costs of some issues discovered during the homes evaluation. So I ask you; without real genuine construction experience how will you get this information? Easy, you won'. It's a known fact that by and large, home inspectors are generalists and therefore not required to assist in giving estimated costs for any given component. Besides, realtors don’t care for this practice anyhow.

There are absolutely no certifications or licenses to be a home inspector in California's basically a free-for-all. Certifications in my opinion are meant to legitimize the illegitimateMarc Mazza

Home Inspection Certification means nothing

General Contractors exam which you'd have to prove your experience, there's no other way for these guys to essentially become a legitimate inspector. For the most part, these associations such as NACHI or others provide a certification in exchange for take an easy test which may only take a few hours of sitting behind a computer or sitting in a classroom. My advice is to never even consider a company who cannot prove legitimate work or construction experience. Searching for such a home inspector will quickly narrow down your choices considerably.

Conversely, its a fact that a General Contractor must prove real world experience and have another contractor validate this experience before even signing up for a test.

Marc Mazza of Mazza inspection group offers multiple different levels of unmatched experience.

• General contractor
• Chimney contractor / Certified Inspector
• Swimming pool repair contractor
• Level 3 thermographer

Home Inspection Reports are where the rubber meets the road

Not only are you paying for a home inspectors time to sift through your new building, you're paying for the finished product. The Home inspection report. Despite what some think how long a report must be or what the report should contain or not contain is debatable. What's not debatable is the level of information every home inspection report should contain. If I were to buy a house I'd never choose an inspector without first looking at their sample home inspection report. Herein lies the truth about what a home inspector really knows and to what extent he was thorough (or not). Finally, you will want the inspection report to be complete. By that we mean the report should not omit components simply because the inspector felt it was too much of an inconvenience to thoroughly evaluate.

Do not choose your inspector without first taking a look at the report they offer. Use these five steps to qualify your home inspectors report.

1. All Santa Clarita home inspection reports should be narrative Make sure your inspection report addresses individual components or systems and not “lump” them all together
2. Home Inspector opinions need to be given and in large quantity
3. Realtors love summaries so sure, why not have one?
4. Pictures are a must in every report

There’s a few things I’ve learned from being a home inspector for over 20++ years… Realtors will blacklist you if you do not play by their rules… Always expect the unexpected… and the more information in a report the better off a buyer is. That said, there are some inspectors who still choose to play it safe and report as little as they can get away with.

1. “Checklist” or “Handwritten” style reports are a No No
2. Reports less than 40-50 pages may be missing a great deal of detail
3. Never use an inspector who produces the report “on-site”
4. Watch out for the inspector passing everything off to another contractor for “further evaluation”
5. Make sure the inspector does not omit everything from the report he was too lazy to inspect

Done in 45 minutes? It’s not a marathon… Really

One of the biggest issues I have with other home inspectors is that they are fast. Never should an inspector take less time to drive to the appointment than actually doing the inspection. In fact, it’s more common to have a home inspector who’s referred by an agent to spend less time that one who was not referred by an agent.this is because realtors expect home inspectors to be fast. Really? Furthermore, inspectors who perform multiple inspections in a single day will likely be somehow related to Speedy Gonzales. In contrast, a slower inspector will likely be a more methodical and thorough inspector.

Don’t go for the cheapest Home Inspectors in Santa Clarita

Now this one is super lame. People will spend upwards of $100 a month on Starbucks but come time to hire an inspector, they will be willing to hire the cheapest, least qualified individual in the Santa Clarita Valley. In this business the last person you want evaluating your investment is the cheapest home inspector out there. Why? Well, because you will ultimately get exactly what you pay for. Cheap Home Inspections in Santa Clarita often do not take as long as necessary to evaluate a property. Furthermore, these cheap inspectors often times place time restrictions on the inspection. Besides, nothing good is cheap. Nothing cheap is good.

When a Home inspector misses things, who’s responsible?

Excellent question. First of all, a Home Inspector is classified as a “generalist” in the state of california. As such, a Generalist doesn’t have to know much about a lot. huh? Ya. A California home inspector is not required to be a contractor, an engineer or architect to perform a home inspection.

Given that what you say is true Marc, how is it so many of these guys are still in business despite not being experts. Easy, it’s primarily because of the fact that they are simply a generalist and also, their contract basically limits your damages to the cost of the home inspection. Ouch. So there is no recourse if a home inspector missed something big? Of course there is always recourse. It’s much like everything else. Suing someone costs time and money and unless the issue which the inspector missed is not significant enough to justify spending that money, many folks just suck-it-up and pay for the repair themselves.

Roof Inspections

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Commercial Inspections

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5 Point Inspection

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Chimney Inspections

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Fire Sprinkler

Fire sprinkler inspections are provided by a licensed C-16 contractor in accordance with NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) standards. The inspection will include current issues associated with the system as well as an estimated cost to improve or repair.