Courtesy Assured Home Inspections
By Susan Elise Campbell
When Mike Feeder of Assured Home Inspections is hired for a home inspection, he does three jobs.
He investigates the entire structure of the house and its systems. He detects what might be missing or done improperly. And he evaluates the current and future health and safety of the home.
This will take Feeder about three hours, whereas some competitors spend one and a half. So when customers ask, “How much is this going to cost,” he says they’re asking the wrong question.
“A home is probably the biggest investment they ever make,” said Feeder. “They should be asking themselves if this is a good time to cut corners on that investment.”
“I’ve been in this business for 35 years and used to build homes,” said Feeder. “I’m doing inspections for prior clients’ kids and in some cases, their grandkids. And I just inspected one house for the fourth time over the years.”
All home inspectors have licensing and educational requirements, plus continuing education, to meet standards set by the state. This means the licensed inspector demonstrates a basic knowledge of how the underlying systems in a home work, said Feeder.
“A home buyer or homeowner should want to know where their inspector got their training,” he said. “Was it a correspondence course, which was allowed years ago, or did they go to a school?”
“What matters most is the kind of information they are learning, because that is what can save a person from buying a money pit,” he said. “My job is not to save them money now, but later on.”
Long before it was required, Feeder drove out of state on Sunday nights and came home Fridays until he had enough credits to earn a full inspector’s certificate.
He’s still going to classes, twice the hours required for continuing education, to learn about new plumbing and heating systems, new electric systems, and safety updates. There is always new equipment and technology to learn, such as thermal imaging, on-contact moisture meters, sewer scopes, and drones for looking at a roof, he said.
“My tool pouch was much smaller 35 years ago,” said Feeder. “But the benefit to clients is we find things they would never be aware of without a home inspection.”
Feeder has several markets: home buyers, which is the largest group; home sellers preparing to put their house on the market; and homeowners who have lived in their home a long time and want to know if it is safe and how long it will last.
“The reason I got into home inspection is it’s my opportunity to introduce somebody to their new home,” said Feeder. “What do they need to know that could negatively or positively affect the value of that house, and what to keep an eye on for deferred maintenance.”
Inspectors look from the foundation to the top of the roof and everything that comes in and out, such as water and sewer line. They test for mold, pests, water flow, plus radon, irrigation, pools, and more. Feeder said he looks for signs of aging and for something that was either never installed correctly or needs servicing or updating. Inspectors must be, Feeder said, knowledgable and objective.
“Sometimes during a walk-through people get very emotional about a space,” he said. “My job is to take the emotion out of the decision.”
If informed of a problem, the home buyer can decide to negotiate the purchase price, ask the seller to share in the cost or replacement or repair, or move on to the next property. When home sellers have a pre-listing inspection done, they have the same valuable information at hand to anticipate what might come up and what they may wish to repair before putting their home on the market, Feeder said.
“I can tell you when it’s a buyer’s market because more sellers call for an appointment,” he said.
Any long-term homeowner who wants to prevent a minor problem from evolving into a big expense will get value from periodic maintenance inspections.
“Houses change like children grow,” he said. “Just as I didn’t notice reaching 6’1”, what starts out small in the home grows slowly over time and you don’t notice the incremental changes.”
“Whether inspecting a million dollar home or a shack, when my report is complete I want to be comfortable saying, I would let my kids live here,” Feeder said.
Assured Home Inspections serves all of the Capital Region and North Country.
Visit www.asrdhome.com for more details.