Whether you’re preparing to sell a home or are in contract to purchase real estate in Silicon Valley, you likely will be faced with the prospect of hiring professionals to inspect your home. This can run hundreds of dollars, a thousand dollars or more. The potential liability, though, could be much higher than the cost of paying the professionals to inspect your home, so you’ll want to hire very carefully.

So, what must you know when selecting inspectors in the San Jose & Santa Clara County area?

First, there are different types of inspectors:

There are inspectors who focus on particular elements of the property, examples being termite or pest inspectors, chimney and masonry inspectors, foundation & drainage engineers, pool inspectors, heating & air conditioning inspectors and more. Generally, these are all licensed by the state of California, and they may perform repairs on the items they find in need of repair.  The two go together – licensing and being allowed to do repairs.

But this is not true for property or home inspectors. There is no license for doing house or condo or townhouse inspections in this state. Is that good or bad? Part of that package is that they can’t do repairs on problems they find. You can see why it’s good to separate finding problems from being paid to fix them. That’s the plus.  There is another side, though.

Finding the Right Home Inspector

The down side to this is that in the San Francisco Bay Area  or anywhere in California, anyone can call herself a home inspector. As with many aspects of real estate, just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s ideal.

There are two trade associations or groups (voluntary) for inspectors in California, both of which uphold a high standard of practice. One is CREIA, a state organization, the California Real Estate Inspection Association.

The other is ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors, a national group with exceedingly high standards (and two levels of membership, ASHI inspectors and “associates” who are on their way to being ASHI inspectors). ASHI inspectors have a higher standard of practice, are extremely experienced and keep current on the latest practices to provide consumers with the best information available.

My impression is that ASHI is a higher standard than CREIA, but either one would be a minimum pre-requesite for most realty agents.

What else should you be concerned with, as a consumer faced with hiring a home inspector?

• What is the inspector’s scope of the inspection? Usually, it’s limited to the visible areas – but check – it may vary from one inspector to the next. For instance, are sprinklers or fences included, or just items within the walls of the home? Ask. Obviousy, the inspector cannot see between the walls or inside the concrete of the foundation. All inspections are limited. Some inspectors limit a lot!
  
• What is the inspector’s insurance coverage? Ask about malpractice or “errors and ommissions” insurance. Some will limit liability to the cost of the inspection. Others will limit it to $1,000. Inspectors make mistakes, just like the rest of us. What happens if your inspector misses a $5,000 item? Ask.
• How high-tech is your inspector? Does he or she take digital photos to show you the areas you cannot easily see, such as under the house or in the attic? Does the inspector use a moisture meter or other devices to help detect issues that aren’t easily seen?
• How easy is the inspection to read? How comprehensive is it? Some inspectors will not just tell you how things look today, but what the anticipated lifespan is for that item (such as how much longer the roof will last). This can be enormously helpful information to have, but many inspectors don’t include it.
• How quickly will you get your report after the inspection? In real estate transactions, “time is of the essence”. Getting an inspection within 24 hours can be a big plus!

Finally, how do you choose an inspector if you’ve got several names of ASHI or CREIA inspectors who all seem to be knowledgeable, experienced, communicative, and so on? As with many other aspects of real estate, referrals can be invaluable. Ask successful Silicon Valley Realtors whom they use. Ideally, you want to find the inspector that agents say they hire “for everyone”, both buyers and sellers alike. Those are the inspectors that ought to be fair and honest, who don’t miss anything important but who also don’t create panic. Good inspectors can convey why something’s a problem, how it might be addressed, and put everything in context too.

It should be added that some of the other inspectors, those who are licensed to inspect roofs or chimneys or other elements of the home, may work on commission. Ask about this; clearly it’s a conflict of neutrality if the guy looking at your roof is paid more to find more that’s wrong! And again, ask successful, experienced agents for names of reputable inspectors in any of these industries.

Related topics for further reading:

What to consider when buying a hillside home in Silicon Valley

What happens when inspectors disagree about the property?

This house was ‘termited’ four years ago. Do we need to do it again?

Would you recognize signs of subterranean termites if you saw them?

What is fumigation prep work?

Watch for dampwood termites in Silicon Valley!

For people relocating to Silicon Valley, there can be some significant surprises (beyond the “sticker shock’” of our home prices in the San Jose area). Here are a few pointers to help you in your transition:

• The school district boundaries do not follow the boundaries for the city or town
  • For instance, in the Town of Los Gatos there are 3 school districts
  • Saratoga has seven school districts (four elementary and three high school districts). Being in Saratoga could mean having Cupertino Schools or Moreland Schools or Saratoga Schools or, if you’re in the mountains over the village, even Los Gatos Schools. Part of San Jose has San Jose Unified Schools, but in some areas its Union Schools, Alum Rock or other districts. The Cambrian Park area of San Jose, for instance, has 3 elementary school districts: Cambrian, Union and San Jose Unified.
  • The reason for this confusing situation is that the school district boundaries were drawn before all the cities and towns in Santa Clara County were clearly defined (or the boundaries expanded)
  • School performance scores are probably the # 1 driver behind the value of any given location. Many parents choose the home only after deciding upon either a school district or even a particular elementary, middle, or high school. (Read more about understanding school scores on my Silicon Valley relocation blog.)
• The mailing address city or town may not be the “actual location” of the property
  • This is a rare situation, but sometimes the mailing address will say ˜Los Gatos” when in fact the home is part of San Jose or Campbell or is an unincorporated area of the county. This has to do mostly with postal routes or with unincorporated areas using a mailing address for a long time and then being incorporated.
• We have “expansive clay soil” here and water is a big issue. (Please see related post on buying hillside homes in Silicon Valley.)
• Most of our housing is ranch style tract homes. Were sorry about that and apologize in advance for the visual assault that this creates. Developers went nuts in the post WWII boom and created massive urban sprawl, one of the only things that isn’t so delightful in the Valley of Hearts Delight.

A few non-real estate Silicon Valley surprises too:

So perhaps its no surprise that the population in Silicon Valley is fairly cheerful most of the time.

If you are relocating to Silicon Valley and would like more information, please contact me. I’m happy to email you a relocation package and any specific information you might need.

More online relocation resources, too:  I also have a small website and blog connected to it, both of which are dedicated to the topic of Silicon Valley relocation.

Silicon Valley relocation website
Silicon Valley relocation blog

Although Ashland, Oregon, is the west coast Shakespeare magnet, there are many places in the San Francisco Bay Area that offer top notch performances of William Shakespeare’s most beloved plays.  If you’ve never enjoyed these series, do check them out!

Los Gatos: The Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival (happening now, mid July – early August, featuring both A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Merry Wives of Windsor).

Santa Cruz: Shakespeare Santa Cruz (July 31 – Aug 30, current offerings are Julius Caesar and Midsummer Night’s Dream)

San Francisco: San Francisco Shakespeare Festival – midnight Shakespeare, a special effort of professional theater instructors and inner city, “at risk” youth to bring Shakespeare to school kids and their communities. Ongoing – check the site for their schedule.

San Jose: San Jose Youth Shakespeare presents Julius Caesar in mid-August.

Berkeley: California Shakespeare Theater

Already passed, but make a note for next year:

Menlo Park: Annual Midpeninsula Shakespeare Festival (June)

Congratulations, you’re moving to Silicon Valley! You will be pleased to know that we get 300 sunny days and only about 15″ of rain each year (more or less – more if you live in or near the Santa Cruz Mountains, and less if you are closer to Milpitas or east San Jose). Our subtropical climate, diverse population, abundant parks & cultural opportunities, high level of education among the residents and low crime rate all make this a very desireable place to live.

If you are coming from out of the area, or even out of the country, how can you choose where to live?

Some of your parameters will be decided by your budget, and others by your wants and needs.

Want a “close to town” type area where you can find coffee shops, restaurants, stores and a bustling area nearby? Perhaps you should consider Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Campbell, Willow Glen, downtown San Jose, Santana Row or possibly Santa Clara. Many of these “downtown” areas near residential parts of Silicon Valley feel more “European” than the large areas of suburbia.

Do you put a priority on great schools and low crime? Then have a look at Cupertino, Saratoga, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, the Los Gatos Mountains, Almaden Valley, and the Silver Creek area of San Jose. Also there are parts of Cambrian Park and the San Jose Mission District of Fremont with very fine public schools. One section of Santa Clara enjoys Cupertino schools, as does part of west San Jose.

If lower cost utilities are important to you, have a look at Santa Clara!

Some folks really want a cabana with a swim team nearby. There are a few in Cambrian Park, Almaden Valley, Los Gatos, Saratoga, and all over the Santa Clara Valley, but the highest concentration of neighborhood pools and swim teams seem to be in Santa Clara.

How about unique, older architecture? Then check out the Japantown, Vendome, and Naglee Park areas of downtown San Jose. Or, if the budget allows, consider the old Alum Rock area of San Jose, or parts of Los Gatos, Campbell, Willow Glen, Mountain View and Saratoga. The charm is enduring!

Relocating is a lot of work. If you would like help finding where you’d be most comfortable once you arrive here, please contact me and I’ll give you a few points to consider, even if you are not ready to buy (or sell) just yet.