T.A.R.E.I. - An Unofficial History

[Michael Brown]

By Paul MacLean

The idea of a professional home inspection in Texas was born in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until 1977 that a group of dedicated inspectors who wanted to share information and set industry standards formed the Texas Association of Real Estate Inspectors (TAREI). TAREI is the oldest such statewide organization. It has been argued that TAREI was formed before the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), but ASHI claims 1976 and TAREI’s early records are muddy at best. Regardless, both have been around a long time.

TAREI’s founders drafted a Standards of Practice defining a real estate inspection. With the understanding that a home inspection requires integrity “beyond that of a person involved in ordinary commerce,â€