If a Seller accepts an offer from a Buyer with VA financing, The VA requires the Seller to pay for a Termite/Pest Inspection which is actually a Wood Destroying Insect inspection (WDI) – it is not an inspection for mice, spiders, bats, rats, etc., but rather for the 4 WDI’s that are active in the state of Ohio – Carpenter Bees, Carpenter Ants, Powder Post Beatles, and Termites. In Ohio, a WDI inspector has to be licensed by the state. So the Seller has the option to hire a pest control company that has licensed WDI inspectors on staff, or a home inspector with a WDI license. In my opinion, the Seller is better off hiring a WDI licensed home inspector to do the inspection vs a WDI licensed pest control company inspector. Here’s why: the home inspector is a neutral 3rd party to the transaction and doesn’t care if the buyer buys the house or not and doesn’t have anything further to up-sell the buyer or seller with regards to pest control. Not so with the pest control company who has an interest in selling a pest control contract to the new buyer/owner and/or getting paid to remediate whatever they identify on the WDI inspection report. Case in point: this happened to me personally – as I was selling my parents out of town home – the Realtor recommended pest control company inspector spotted a black ant on the sun room floor and recommended treatment for Carpenter Ants. The next day I hired a local home inspector who gave me a clean WDI report (not all black ants are Carpenter Ants!) – but it was too late – unbeknownst to me, the pest control company inspector submitted the report directly to the title company so it was now on-record and I therefore had to pay $400 for un-necessary Carpenter Ant treatment if I wanted the deal to go through. Here at DHI we charge $125 for a WDI inspection – but I was only charged $65 for the out of town WDI inspection at my parent’s house – now I see why – the inspection is a loss leader to get more business. Moral of the story? If you are a Seller or Listing Agent – don’t hire a pest control company to do the VA WDI – hire a home inspector. Here at DHI we are all WDI licensed by the state of Ohio and are happy to do the inspection for your Seller.
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