Anyone can meet these qualifications 

Consider this; There are many unqualified home inspectors in the State of Georgia that present an aggressive marketing pitch.  They may be the one assuring you that your new home is ready for purchase. 

Many of these low cost and unqualified home inspectors hide behind the logos of National Home Inspection Associations that have expensive, and impressive marketing programs.  These associations require only membership dues, and at the most, simple and unregulated online testing for membership certification.  

Unfortunately, anyone joining these Associations will have instant recognition for certification and credibility.  

In the State of Georgia, it’s up to you, the consumer to protect yourselves from this type of misleading marketing. This is why our industry asks you to thoroughly check the background of any home inspector. 

A good starting point is finding a home inspector that holds membership in one of the two most credible home inspection organizations in the country: 

The Georgia Association of Home Inspectors, with its code certification requirement is the most challenging organization in the country to obtain membership.  

The American Society of Home Inspectors set the industries standards in 1976 on how home inspections should be preformed.  They to weed out the weak! 

These organizations have very stringent membership requirements that weed out unqualified inspectors that use convincing marketing skills.  Academic testing and well-proven experience is required.  Starting with candidate memberships, the inspector proves to them self, and the organization that they are qualified to proudly carry the name and logo of either American Society of Home Inspectors or Georgia Association of Home Inspectors.  Special committees in these organizations judge their competency for the correct academic achievements and professional experience.    

Between these two organizations, the consumers in the State of Georgia have good opportunities in choosing a full time qualified, certified and professional home inspector. 

Don’t let cost be the deciding vote … the unqualified will always be cheaper.

The most important question to ask your home inspector

When shopping for a home inspection company, most people, for lack of a better gauge, rely on the price of the inspection as the determining factor. The majority of the time, the difference in the fee charged from one company to the next will be $50 to $200. This may seem like a large difference; However, let's put this in perspective. For many, the purchase of a home is the largest investment they will ever make. If you were going to invest your life's savings, would you rely on the "quickest" financial advisor, or the one that would devote the most time to your investment? A home inspection is very similar. You are about to invest tens, or hundreds of thousands of dollars. An additional fifty or a hundred dollars is an inconsequential amount of money to spend in order to protect that investment.

Many home inspectors perform two, three, four or even more inspections in a single day. They can accomplish this because they spend no more than 1½ to 2 hours on any single inspection, including report preparation. At Fidelity Home Inspections., we take a very different approach. We simply spend as long as it takes.  We are of the opinion that most houses require a minimum of three hours to inspect. Some houses require substantially more. In addition, preparing the report generally takes 1 ½ times as long as the on-site inspection. Before you mistakenly trust your investment to a "production line" company, ask them how long they will spend performing your inspection.

What you should know about inspection reports

Many inspection firms utilize a checklist style report. The inspector checks off a series of boxes, and scribbles comments in the margins, as he races through the house. At the end of the inspection, these scrawlings become your report. Although this saves the inspector time, these reports are hard to follow and at times illegible.  Our report consists of a narrative style PDF format that includes digital photographs of the exterior as well as interior problems uncovered. Generally, the report ranges from thirty to forty pages in length, and includes a table of contents.

The Standards of Practice

All of our inspections are performed in accordance with the Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics of the American Society of Home Inspectors^®. Don't be misled by claims to adhere to "other" standards. There are other organizations with similar names and lower standards. ASHI^® is the standard of the industry, and your assurance of a quality inspection.

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