Inspectors warn against financing without inspection

MAT-SU -- Many may assume that if a home they are purchasing is financed, it must have been inspected; but that may not be the case, said Active Inspections and Energy Ratings LLC owner Carol Perkins.

"Just because the house is financed, doesn't mean it's good quality," Perkins said. "We've seen a lot of beautiful homes with ugly skeletons."

While Alaska Housing Finance Corporation and a number of banks in Alaska require inspections before the sale of a new home, there are other financial companies that do not require a home inspection.

"Your home may be financed through an out-of-state financing company, and you won't find out it's low quality until you get it inspected when you try to sell it," Perkins said. "Before you buy, ask if it has been inspected? Is it safe?"

Perkins said she has seen many Valley homes that have been bought but cannot be resold because the workmanship is so poor. One of the reasons this is happening is the rise in nonlicensed contractors building homes in the Mat-Su.

"People think they are getting qualified, licensed contractors, and they are not," Perkins said. "We've got a building boom; there's a lot of people who say they are licensed contractors but they're not. Before you hire anyone, check their credentials."

Perkins said one way to help ensure against getting scammed by builders is to have the home inspected throughout the building process.

"We're trying to get the word out to the public, an inspection may cost a little money, but you need the inspection to prevent these things from happening," Perkins said.

While some homeowners may not figure out the quality of their homes until they go to sell it, others figure out right away that some thing isn't right.

"We've inspected a woman's home that she has sunk $35,000 into," Perkins said. "The plumbing is on the outside walls, it's going to freeze … the entire house has two circuits; code requires two circuits in the kitchen alone."

"We've seen a lot of this," said Perkins while describing three inspected homes that are unsafe because of poor workmanship. "These just happen to be the most recent."

The state's acting assistant chief of labor standards Al Nagel mentioned another piece of the quality-home puzzle -- make sure the inspector that you have hired is licensed, as well as the contractor.

"The bottom line is to make sure a qualified home inspector is doing the work," he said.

The state is requiring that all inspectors be licensed by next year, but right now, you could have a home built by a nonlicensed contractor and then be inspected by a nonlicensed inspector. While Perkins and her associate, Caryl Swinford, are both licensed, they stress that even with the licensing, the only inspectors able to put cease and desist orders on a home are the state plumbing inspectors, who Nagel oversees, and the state electrical inspectors. While the woman who sunk $35,000 into her home was able to bring the state plumbing inspector into her home, others whose homes are finished have not had that luxury.

"[The time limit] depends on where you are talking about," Nagel said. "In places like the Mat-Su and the Anchorage bowl, six weeks after the fact may be too late to look at. In Bethel, where we visit twice a year, we may look at everything done in the last 12 months."

The bottom line for those buying homes in the Valley?

"Have inspections done all along, from beginning to end," Perkins said. "We're trying to tell the public -- beware."

Why have your home inspected?

To help ensure the safety and well-being of your family;

To protect the biggest investment you'll ever make;

To ease the process should you decide to sell.

How to check if your contractor

is licensed with the state

Go to www.dced.state.ak.us.

Click on business lenience search.

Click begin search.

Chose construction.

Hit continue.

Type in the builder's name in the appropriate box.

Chose general contractors in the summary of activities box.

Click submit query.

If the builder does not show up in the system, they are not a licensed contractor with the state of Alaska.