"Inspect the house yourself? No one is stopping you from doing so, but I strongly advise against it. This is not because I'm a home inspector 'tooting my own horn', but rather due to many real-life lessons. I've often heard from homebuyers, saying that they once bought a house - fairly new, even vacant - they viewed it a few times themselves, thought everything looked good, and decided to skip the inspection. After moving in, they began to discover various issues. They then asked me, 'If we had hired you to inspect the house, would you have found these problems?' After I asked them for details about the issues, I told them: these areas are typically the weak points of a house and key inspection targets. While I can't guarantee 100% detection rate, the likelihood would have been over 90%". After accompanying me on a real inspection, they become fully convinced of what I said. Why is that?

First, home inspection requires both deep theoretical knowledge and extensive hands-on experience. Most buyers don't have the same comprehensive understanding of homes from different eras, or of the various systems and components that make up a house. They don't know how these components should work together, what's normal, and what isn't. They also haven't received specialized training like a home inspector has to identify and diagnose issues. A skilled inspector may have examined thousands of homes, and develop a kind of professional "instinct" for spotting weak spots and potential problems. Buyers might be able to spot some surface-level problems, but they usually can't determine their true nature, underlying cause, severity, or solutions.

Some of my clients are very experienced civil engineers, electricians, renovators, etc. After going through the inspection process with me, they find it is highly valuable and necessary. Why? Frankly, their technical knowledge may exceed that of the average home inspector in their specialized fields. However, they rarely have a broad understanding of all home systems, as well as the real-world experience of conducting inspections.

Therefore, what might seem like an easy "walk around and make money" job is actually a highly demanding, and high-skill one. In my view, its difficulty and professional demands are no less than my previous years' career as an architect. As the soul and director of a construction project, an architect is also expected to have interdisciplinary knowledge and extensive practical experience.

Second, when it comes to their future dream home, buyers often find it hard to stay emotionally detached and remain objective. They might initially assume everything is perfect and feel disproportionately disappointed upon finding minor flaws - or, if they love the house too much, unconsciously downplay or overlook major issues. A neutral and objective opinions from a third-party inspector help them avoid emotional bias and make sound decisions.

Lastly, would the seller even accept your self-inspection? Could it lead to disputes or complications? A home inspection affects not only your interests but also the seller's, as they want a fair, scientific, and authoritative evaluation of their property. This is why most home inspection clauses in purchase agreements specify that the job must be carried out by a "Qualified Home Inspector". If challenged, could you prove you are a "Qualified Home Inspector"?

This article was originally published in "Real Estate Weekly", Issue #33, August 26, 2005.