A little more than a decade ago, fewer than 5% of the homes sold in the United States and Canada were inspected or appraised by professional home inspectors. Most lending institutions only required that an officer of the firm briefly look at the property and note its general condition. However, by 1990, over 35% of home mortgage loans required some form of inspection.

Inspection requirements became mandatory because of the economic issues facing the United States in the 1980's and the financial industry's dilemmas. Problems in the savings and loan industry forced bank examiners to scrutinize every loan record and application. Most banks adopted their own policies requiring approved inspectors and appraisers to carefully examine property for all home mortgages. Insurance companies have recently required an inspection of property before they will issue policies. Even home buyers, wary of rising costs and rates, hired home inspectors to thoroughly investigate property before making a purchase. Soon over 75% of all lending institutions will require all homes to be inspected by a professional inspector before granting loans.

Thousands of existing homes are sold each year. Billions of dollars are spent on new construction that takes place on a continuing basis. Thousands of loans are refinanced each year. Most of these transactions eventually need the services of a professional home inspector.

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