History of Lou Buehler and First Choice Home Inspector
As industry work was moving to China or Mexico in 2003, Lou Buehler chose another technical field: home inspection. He could marry the detail he admired and accomplished in industry with the ASHI-based requirements for home inspections. Lou then chose a company because they were beginning to use digital cameras and to write a report based on the database FileMaker.
Lou established his own company, First Choice Home Inspector, LLC, in 2004. The company began training well-educated, technical people entering the home inspection field in 2014.
Continuing his interest in computer science from college, Lou designed an iPhone App to unite the most advanced iPhone with the best iPhone camera for home inspections. The distinct advantage is great pictures in areas with low light, like an attic or crawl space. First Choice Home Inspector will also be able to stay current on the latest zoom lens from Apple. No better way to capture pictures of roofs and chimneys! Reports are also delivered the day of inspection.
Watch Your Report Develop on our iPhone App
Training and Technology Unique to Our Company
The home inspection report should be based on a professional set of guidelines for what the report covers. First Choice Home Inspector uses “The Standards or Practice and Code of Ethics of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HOME INSPECTORS,” a very comprehensive listing and description of what a home inspection is and is not.
Lou has developed a reporting system in the app that accesses 1430 library comments for 237 elements of the home. These comments provide guidance for each inspector as to the severity of the comment and the recommended contractor to be used to fix the problem.
What does this mean to you the realtor or home buyer? Consistency and repeatability. However, each of the inspectors has the freedom to increase or decrease the severity of the comment in the final summary of the report. They also have flexibility to create new or modify existing comments.
First Choice inspectors can explain complex issues with the client while performing the inspection. One of the most valuable aspects of the app is that the buyer can follow along to discuss the issues while doing the inspection.
Why You Should Have a Home Inspection?
A pre–listing inspection offers the seller an opportunity to understand the more serious issues in the home. The seller has time to choose a reasonable contractor to deal with mold or foundation issues before the home is put on the market. Generally the home will be worth more by improving the condition.
A home inspection offers a buyer understanding of the hidden liabilities of the home. The objectives are to develop a thorough list of defects in the home and to ask the seller to repair them at their expense, not the buyer’s. Accuracy is very important. All parties should understand the severity of each issue. Almost all of the inspections return much more in the form of home owner’s repairs or price reduction than the inspection fees!
Home inspection reports also help to reduce safety issues as well as habitability issues with visual mold inspections, mold testing, radon, termite and well water testing.