You guys all realize the seller has rights here too. It's their house and a home inspector can't just tear through it willy nilly. Obviously in the interest of a fair sale they should grant full access but they don't have to.
If you were buying a car and took it to a mechanic he can't bust open the engine, lift the carpet, etc without opening himself up to a lawsuit if something gets damaged.
It's kind of a conundrum for inspectors, some are obviously willing to take a chance and dig really deep, others don't take chances. I have had 2 inspections done by different companies and neither removed anything that was fixed, including outlet covers.
Also if an inspector is not an electrician or gas fitter, they really aren't that qualified to inspect furnaces water heaters and panels. They may know how unofficially but they might miss something. Maybe they are training better but back when this all started they would get those parts done by tradesman.
They also have to be careful about devaluing a house or 'talking you out of it' They should present the deficencies in a rather un biased way. This is broken and will cost x to fix. This needs to be done immediately/in 5 years/optional. This can be done by homeowner/tradesman/contractor. Stuff like that. A good home inspector can explain this stuff to a buyer pragmatically.
I have helped a couple friends buy houses and even did an inspection on one (with lots of caveats) for a friend recently and it was really dicey in some areas, at least in my head it was. Most sellers are totally cooperative but if you get one that's picky you have to have your bases covered.
It would be nice if a realtor chimed in here because they have seen all of this and know where people can get themselves in trouble.
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