Home Study

My wife Lorraine and I have been known to do things backward.

We have, for example, already furnished an entire house, lacking only the house to house these furnishings.

That would come soon enough, we figured; in the meantime, our parents' basements and storage sheds are fit to burst.

Likewise, most people do home inspections after they've put in their offer on a property, as there's no sense to spending the $500 or so on the inspection if the offer isn't accepted, and the inspection report often uncovers flaws that will serve as renegotiating points.

(I learned this latter tactic from watching Bravo's deliciously sleazy miniseries "Million Dollar Listing.")

But Lorraine and I found a gorgeous 1870 farmhouse up for auction in a few weeks and thus needed to know what repairs would be needed, short- and long-term, to help calculate our bid.

Inspector Selection

The trend toward auctioning real estate is a story for another day. So, too, is the overall housing market, with companies like Toll Brothers (TOL), D.R. Horton (DHI), Lennar (LEN) and Hovnanian (HOV) trying to navigate the suddenly choppy waters.

While not as immune to economic cycles as, say, morticians, home inspectors are well-shielded from the market's rises and falls; if property is exchanging hands, whatever the sales price, their services are needed. (Not doing a home inspection is tempting fate in the extreme, even when it comes to new constructions.)

From the prospective of the potential buyer -- like us -- the key things to understand are how to choose an inspector, what to expect for your money and how to manage and most benefit from this temporary but important relationship.

We were in the unusual position of not working with a realtor on this property, but we still relied on a familiar realtor for references.

This can be an issue in and of itself, as realtors, bless their black hearts, have an interest in selling houses and thus, for the less scrupulous, in partnering with home inspectors who soft-pedal potential problems.

Our inspector, the wonderfully thorough Greg Hill of Cornerstone Home Inspections in Rosendale, N.Y. (845-687-8960), says he understands such concerns but that they're rarely merited -- particularly if would-be buyers check that the inspector is a member of a professional association such as the American Society of Home Inspectors and take the added step of getting references.

It's worth noting, too, that realtors should provide a list of inspectors to the client, not just one.