Seller Paid VA WDI Inspections

If VA requires a Wood Destroying Insect (WDI) inspection for the property, the Veteran buyer may be charged for the inspection. The buyer and seller can negotiate who pays the cost. (This has been VA policy since June 2022 under VA Circular 26-22-11.)

The VA “Termite/Pest Inspection” is actually a WDI inspection – 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 Beetles, and Termites. In Ohio, a WDI inspector has to be licensed by the state. So whoever orders the inspection 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. 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. Note: Detailed Home Inspections Cleveland Ohio offers WDI inspections only as an add-on to a home inspection we perform, starting at $150. We don’t offer stand-alone WDI inspections, including seller-paid VA WDI inspections.