At QHIS, our philosophy is to make the homebuyer part of the inspection process. It provides a unique opportunity to educate you on the current condition of your potential purchase. Additionally, it allows us to help you understand how to better care for your home in the future.

QHIS has selected the Home Reporter System as our tool to summarize the condition of your property purchase. The Home Reporter System also serves as a valuable tool to the homeowner as this system also includes a 250 page “user guide” for the homeowner.

The inspection report is a concise 8-page document that allows you to easily understand the condition of the major areas of your home, as defined by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). This is combined with our post inspection review of the report. We take as much time as necessary to review all findings of the report, and explain them in detail. Our review will help you understand the approximate cost of needed repairs, and an assessment and guidance on whether they can be completed by the homeowner.

Each area of inspection is identified by a unique numeric code. This allows the QHIS inspection team to document and “grade” each area. An example of one area of inspection is shown in figure A.

In this example, the inspector has identified a loose toilet. While it seems to be a minor issue, a loose toilet can lead to leaks from the base of the unit that can go undetected. This water can cause significant damage to the subfloor and can result in an expensive repair.

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For each area of inspection, your Home Owner “User Guide” correlates a detailed explanation of the item of inspection, as shown in figure B. From there, the user guide provides more detail on general information on the area inspected, and in many cases, provides suggestions on how to maintain the specific item. Additionally, the Home Reporter system provides a listing of estimated prices for many common repairs needed. Understanding more about the upkeep of your home frequently allows the homeowner to actively participate in the care of their home, which can result in significant cost savings.

The item identified in the inspection report is easily found in the Home Reported Guide through the use of the reference number. In the loose toilet example, simply reference item 4.9.51 “Toilet Loose or Wetness on Floor”. The Home Reporter System provides more detail on what the most common cause of this problem is. It continues on to suggest the replacement of the wax
ring as on possible solution to correct this problem.

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While your home may not have this condition today, the Home Reporter System is a guide to be used for reference should the condition surface in the future. This guide covers 100’s of other areas in your home.

It may be seem impressive to provide a client reams of paper with endless data on their potential real estate purchase. But the true value of the Quality Home Inspection report is in the information and understanding of what it really means.