HOME INSPECTIONS ARE INTEGRAL TO BUYING PROCESS

Varnell Bronson has been a home inspector with Pillar To Post Home Inspector for two years. Photo provided by Lana Simon
Varnell Bronson has been a home inspector with Pillar To Post Home Inspector for two years. Photo provided by Lana Simon

 Home inspections are integral to buying process

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Varnell Bronson’s journey to becoming a home inspector began
with his own journey as a home buyer. Bronson, who has been a
home inspector with Pillar to Post Home Inspectors for two years, became interested in home inspection six years ago when he was buying his home. He looked at three houses and paid a home inspector each time. He decided he wanted to educate the home buyers in the community where he worked on the home inspection process. Bronson who has been a postal worker for 20 years would hear the issues people had with their houses.

It is exciting for him to be able to find things homeowners or homebuyers might not see.

“In this sellers’ market, skipping a home inspection would be a huge mistake because some of the properties that are being purchased are “as is” and the seller is not really willing to bargain on getting stuff fixed,” he said.

Hiring a home inspector can help save people from having buyers’ remorse. As a home inspector, Bronson is looking at the underlying conditions of a home and not just the outside of the home. Some of the underlying things are a detached gutter, which can cause serious water damage in a basement, or missing gutters or a misdirected gutter, which causes foundation leakage and crawl
space issues. A detached gutter and a wet basement are conducive to mold, which can be a huge issue.

Bronson works for the client to make sure the home does not have issues that can be a problem later once the client has purchased the home. He has seen buyers not able to view the occupied units in a multi-unit property. It can put a block on the buyer because they cannot see if the other units have issues before they sign the contract. Bronson recently had a buyer pull out of buying a multi-unit property during the inspection because she could only see one out of the three units.

When it comes to home buying, Bronson said to always trust
your home inspector. A home inspector is trained to see things
that most people are not looking for. They remove the emotion of
trying to get through the home buying process. Also, the cheapest isn’t always more cost effective.

“You’re making your biggest financial purchase a house $150,000
or more; you don’t want to go with the lowest bidder,” he said.

Bronson’s biggest achievements is educating the home buyer. He
has seen the joy on the faces of people who have used him as a
home inspector when he pointed out something they did not see.

In one instance during a home inspection, the cabinets fell down.
It was good that it happened while Bronson was there and it could be noted in the home inspection, as opposed to it happening after the contract was signed.

To find a good home inspector, it comes down to doing research
on the company that the home inspector works for and on the
home inspector individually. Also, Real Estate agents can recommend a good home inspector.

Pillars to Post Home Inspectors was founded in 1994 and has
recently rolled out a PTP360 tour, which allows people to have an interactive, virtual home inspection

“It’s a great new innovation – fast-tracked to completion because
of COVID-19 concerns – and we saw just how well it performed,”
Pillar To Post Home Inspectors President and CEO Dan Steward
said in a release. “In the long term, PTP360 is a huge help for busy, professional Realtors, saving them time and better serving their seller, while also giving prospective buyers a far better experience.”

For more information onBronson and Pillar to Post, visit  varnellbronson.pillartopost.com.

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