News Article

Home inspector sets up Gravenhurst base

By Nancy Beal

Gravenhurst carpenter Rob King has filled a gap in the local home inspection business by offering the service on a full-time basis under his new company, Muskoka Home Inspections. After completing  raining under the Home Inspection Study System by Carson, Dunlop and Associates, he obtained  certification under the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors. King, who plans to serve the entire regions, is the only home inspector presently based in Gravenhurst. Home inspection services have steadily grown in popularity, often being required as a condition of purchase in real estate transactions.  The information provided by a home inspector can be used by the purchaser to evaluate the price, as a tool in negotiation or to simply provide information on prioritizing repairs.

A more recent trend, King notes, is that vendors are starting to retain a home inspector and use the inspection results as a selling tool. "It speeds up the process," he notes. What exactly does a home inspector do? "I inspect the readily accessible systems and visual components of a house," King explains, including roof, interior structure, heating, plumbing and electrical work. He will let the client know if there are any apparent deficiencies. "We're there to look for signs of problems; we look for the big things, unsafe things," he says. "We're generalists and we know a little bit about everything." Should there be problems detected in, for example, the heating or electrical systems, the home inspector would note the visual aspects of that problem and refer the client to the appropriate specialist. Depending on the size of the home and its condition, the inspection can take from three to five hours, and the client comes away with a binder full of information about the inspection and about houses in general. Along with King's certification and membership comes a code of ethics that means, among other things, the home inspector cannot offer to do work on a home he has inspected and he cannot accept or offer a commission from a referring real estate agent. Why leave the construction business and become a home inspector? For King, as a member of the Gravenhurst Volunteer Fire Department in Kilworthy, the choice was easy. "My job is to help people - as a volunteer firefighter and, now, in my profession as a home inspector." His desire to be constantly learning and upgrading his skills was also a motivation to start a business in a related but new profession, he adds.

InterNACHI received reprint permission from North Country Business Newspaper, Bracebridge and Cottage Country Communications, Tel (705) 646-1314, Fax (705) 645-6424 design@northcountrymedia.com