One of the big mistakes home buyers make is thinking they can rely on their professional home inspector to find any and all problems with the house they want to purchase.
What they forget is that their home inspector doesn't have X-ray vision.
No matter how thorough the inspection is, home inspectors can't see behind walls, can't move furniture to check if the floorboards have rotted, and can't move a stack of boxes away from the basement wall to see if it is wet.
When problems arise after closing, the new homeowner will often go back to the inspector, thinking he or she is at fault for missing the problem. If the problem was obvious, and the inspector simply failed to see it, there may be some liability.
But often, the contract you sign when you hire the inspector limits your liability to the fee you paid for the inspection -- typically a few hundred dollars.
