Agent Should Offer Choice of Inspectors

Question: When we purchased our home, our agent seemed displeased with our choice of home inspector and persuaded us to use someone else. Now that we own the house, problems that were not disclosed have come to our attention, and we’re sorry we didn’t stick with our original choice.

The inspector we wanted has a reputation for being detail-oriented, but we did not hire him because he was said to be an alarmist. Now we’re stuck making expensive repairs and hope you might warn other buyers against making the same mistake.

Answer: Most real estate agents avoid recommending any one home inspector. The common understanding in the real estate industry is that an agent can be held liable for errors and omissions made by an inspector. To limit such liability, the California Assn. of Realtors has advised brokers and agents to provide a list of qualified inspectors and let the choice be made by the buyers.

Safety Glass Carries Very Subtle Markings

Q: My home is for sale. It has several large windows at floor level, and the buyer’s home inspector says these panes are not made of safety glass. I shudder to think what it would cost to upgrade them and hope that the inspector might be mistaken. How can I determine whether I have a problem?

A: Windows that are installed within 18 inches of a floor are generally required to be tempered safety glass. In most instances, the faint label etched into one of the corners of each pane can verify tempered windows.

Most likely, your buyer’s home inspector was unable to find this label. With some windows, the markings can be so slight that one must look very closely to see them.

In custom homes, tempered glass may have been specially ordered without the safety mark, purely for cosmetic reasons. In such cases, evaluation by a professional glass installer is necessary to determine the status of the material. Usually, there are subtle irregularities at the glass edges, caused by the heat process by which glass is tempered. It is also possible to verify safety glass by use of polarized lenses, but this too requires professional expertise.

If your windows should prove to be non-tempered plate glass, they can be upgraded for safety by applying a clear Mylar film.

Contact Barry Stone through his Web site at https://www.housedetective.com or write to Barry Stone c/o AMG, 1776 Jami Lee Court, Suite 218, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. Distributed by Access Media Group.