Owen, one of the big questions used to be if they are a member of one of fraternal organizations such as, ASHI, NAHI, or NACHI because these organizations each have their own code of ethics & standards of practice that their members are supposed to follow. But in a state, such as Tennessee or Kentucky, where home inspectors are now required to be licensed that question wouldn’t make it to the top of my list because the State has their own standards of practice, insurance & education requirements. Now I would say the most important question you should ask would be what was their background before becoming a home inspector. I have been involved in home building my entire life with hands on experience & a working knowledge of the trades involved in building a home & a week or two of home inspector classes is just no substitute for that when it comes to helping you make your decision on probably the biggest investment of your life.

On whether or not to use your agents usual inspector, that depends a lot on the agent. There are a lot of good agents out there that genuinely do have their clients best interest in mind & if you have one of those agents then I would say sure go ahead & use their inspector. But, there are also agents out there that only want to get the house closed & get a commission check & if you have one of those agents you are in trouble because they usually have an inspector that will gloss over anything that may “kill the deal”, & unfortunately you may not even know or notice what was not reported until a few years down the road or perhaps when you decide to sell & the buyers inspector reports it & now you get to foot the bill for the repair just like the seller should have when you were buying the home.

Be an educated consumer, do your research, get a qualified home inspector!