If you've ever bought a used car then you probably remember taking it to a mechanic to check under the hood, give it the once-over, and a thumbs-up before you laid down the cash for the vehicle.

"We're doing the same thing in referencing a house. There are a lot more things to [inspect] on a house," says Tom Daugherty, Home Inspector for Countywide Property Inspections.

In fact, Daugherty says there are 220 items to review when he does a home inspection.

"We look and evaluate the roof -- the types of materials -- identify where things are located like gas shutoff, water shutoff, electrical service, and we notate those things on the report and state the apparent condition at the time of inspection," says Daugherty.

Inspectors are usually hired by the buyer to check out a property before the buyer invests in it. They'll discover, "If it's functional, if it needs repair or if there's some periodic maintenance that needs to be performed to ensure proper and safe operation of the furnace, water heater, laundry hook-ups, that kind of thing," explains Daugherty.

Home inspections are not required but are highly recommended, just like the car analogy. The inspections let the buyer know what types of problems may unexpectedly unfold in the future. "It's a visual inspection of everything that pertains to the house from the roof all the way down to the grade of the soil," says Daugherty.

Often sellers will be advised by their real estate agents to get their own pre-sale home inspection; it's a good way to know what types of concerns buyers might bring up.

"It's not a mandatory fix-it kind of a list. This is not a honey-do list," says Daugherty.

But very often items on the inspection list become negotiating points for buyers and in the long run inspections can help keep you out of court.

It's important to note that inspectors don't do permit searches but they do check to see if anything has been changed or added.

"All the evaluations that we do are based on the time of construction. In other words, the house built in 1960 may not meet current code standards; however, we always evaluate [from the perspective of] the time of construction," says Daugherty.

Real estate agents often recommend home inspectors, but buyers and sellers should also ask if the inspection company is part of their state's Real Estate Inspection Association, such as the California Real Estate Inspection Association or CREIA, a nonprofit voluntary membership organization that provides education, training, and support services to the real estate inspection industry and to the public.

CREIA earlier this year launched an initiative to help the Latino community better understand the importance of home inspections. The association started an outreach program that brings Latino's informational inspection documents translated in Spanish.

The documents come in the form of brochures on home inspections, Standards of Practice that detail the state-recognized inspection requirements, and the standard inspection agreement.

CREIA members see the effort as a benefit to the real estate industry, "I think it's great. They should be able to read a contract in their own language, first of all, so that they understand the scope of a home inspection, what we do and what we don't do. So this is great for both the client and the inspector," says Jennifer Davidson, co-owner of Davidsoninspection.com.

Published: November 15, 2004

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Phoebe is a writer, speaker, and author. She is the Director of Business Development for Quality Service Certification and a trainer in customer service for the real estate industry. She is a Realtor with The Guiltinan Group, a division of Prudential California Realty. Her articles, feature stories, and columns appear in various publications including The Coast News, Del Mar Village Voice, and Rancho Santa Fe Review in San Diego. Phoebe worked for KGTV/10News in San Diego as a Newscaster, Reporter and Community Affairs Specialist for more than a decade. Phoebe's writing is also featured in Donald Trump's book: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received. She is the author of If the Trash Stinks, TAKE IT OUT!: 14 Worriless Principles for Your Success. Contact Phoebe at 858.259.3646 or . Visit PhoebeChongchua.com for more information.