homestatusinspectioncom: The Right Way to get a Second Opinion - 09/25/07 07:37 AM
They tricked me and I am glad.
It was one of those hectic days. I had three inspections scheduled and planned on a twelve hour day with driving. During my morning inspection the inspection at mid day fell through. Appraisal not high enough. While on the way to inspection number two I learned … (2 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: The Whole House Maid - 09/24/07 01:41 PM
I was about half way through an inspection of a beautiful 15 year old upscale single family house in McLean when I noticed the maid going about her cleaning routine.She was using a conventional vacuum cleaner. As an inspector some things make me go "Hummmm." In this case it was the … (7 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Dead People don't Pay their Rent! - 09/23/07 05:21 PM
"What you are saying is, dead people don't pay their rent!"
Bingo! I thought. He gets it!
My client had asked me how he can reduce his liability as a first time landlord. And I said to him that on an old townhouse like this one, one of the best things he can … (4 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Reverse What? - 09/22/07 08:15 AM
When people skip home inspections, there are alot of things they fail to learn about a house. Sometimes they live in the house for years and do not maintain the things they don't know about or understand. Water filters are a casualty in many home transactions. They don't need to be if the … (6 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Silence of the Fan! - 09/20/07 07:24 PM
This was one of those cases where I had both the owner and the buyer in the house at the same time. My agent told the owner about the attic fan in the story below and it was a bit embarrassing for her because she was trying to do the right thing. … (3 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: The Sacrificial Attic Fan - 09/19/07 07:06 AM
When I wrote this news letter over a year ago, this was the first instance I had found like this. Since then I have found it three more times, always in a house built in the late 1970's early 1980's. It was a time when the economy was out of control, inflation, … (7 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Knowledge Is Power! - 09/18/07 07:37 AM
When I wrote this newsletter over a year ago, little did I know that the real estate market which was already off by more that 25% in my Northern VA area, would take another nose dive as the questionable lending practices and the "title wave" of foreclosures and property devaluations would sweep … (1 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: The Loft Bake Oven - 09/17/07 06:16 AM
Had they gone with the trend of last year's (two years ago) white hot RE market they would have skipped the inspection and boy would they have been in for a surprise!
It was a three story Tudor with contemporary touches. The seller, an investment "flipper," had put in all hardwood floors, … (2 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Who's on First? - 09/16/07 10:56 AM
To get you ready for this, a GFCI electrical outlet is the kind that has the reset buttons on it and a GFCI protected outlet is one that follows it in the circuit, and is properly wired. It does not need to have reset buttons to be protected.
I was inspecting … (3 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Hipped Roofs Again! - 09/16/07 07:55 AM
I try not to walk on the hipped portion of a roof without first seeing in the attic how it has been constructed.
For the gable (A - Frame) portion of a roof, roof trusses are manufactured to exacting measurements and standards in a controlled setting. These are then shipped to the … (5 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: An Electical Iceberg! - 09/15/07 07:13 AM
They are lucky to be alive!" he said, "that was one of the worst I've seen."Normally I do not get the complete details from a specialist that my inspection report calls for, but in this case I knew the licensed electrician used for the thorough electrical inspection and repairs I called … (3 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: The Mortgage Plug - 09/14/07 05:39 AM
It's well known to people who know me that I love old houses.
What sparked that love was a little thing, and a big thing. And I look out for things on inspections that will add to my clients' love and respect for their old house, just as this added to mine.
It … (5 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Bidee, Bidet, Bidoops! - 09/13/07 09:39 AM
"How's this work?" My young client asked as I was checking out something else in the bathroom.
She had just pulled up the lid of a toilet that was equipped with a very fancy, auxiliary powered, portable Bidet spa and before I could say anything, she had pushed a button. She let … (4 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Poly, Poly, Poly - 09/12/07 06:56 AM
Sometimes, you'd think I just told them a family member died...when I tell clients they have polybutylene plumbing. Such is the awful reputation of polybutylene plumbing.
You won't find me singing praises to polybutylene, but let's take the emotion out of it. After all, polybutylene isn't the only material that can spring … (10 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: HVAC Check up - 09/11/07 06:24 AM
Note: some of the items I am posting were written last year, and I intend eventually to have all of my stuff in this blog. It will take time. I invite readers to come back frequently because there will be new material every day.
One of my home buying clients recently did something … (1 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: GFCI's on old 2 wire circuits - 09/10/07 07:49 AM
Note: some of the items I am posting were written last year, and I intend eventually to have all of my stuff in this blog. It will take time. I invite readers to come back frequently because there will be new material every day.
I was a bit surprised! The house had GFCI … (3 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Don't Leave it like you found it - Part 2 - 09/09/07 09:02 AM
She was quite angry when she called. I had inspected her house a couple of days prior and she complained that I left her windows unlocked. I let her talk for quite some time and then asked her if the windows in question were in her dining room and front bedroom. … (0 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Assume Nothing - 09/08/07 12:21 PM
My inspection friend, colleague and mentor Bill Meininger of Home Diagnostics related to me an experience which I think about almost every day. He was inspecting a high-end new house, a final inspection prior to settlement, and had found nothing of any consequence when he reached the master bathroom.
It was … (2 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Garage Freezers - 09/08/07 12:16 PM
March, 2006
"Pay no attention to the smell", the seller said as she met my client and me at the door. "We just got back from vacation and found the freezer in the garage broken down. Lost about $400 worth of food. Guess we'll be buying a new freezer."
Asking me to forget … (0 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Don't Leave it Like You Found it - Part 1 - 09/07/07 06:58 PM
Improve on it if you can.
Perhaps you've noticed as you've been in and out of houses this summer, many of them vacant, the occasional acts of negligence. Many of these houses have been poorly cared for and in some cases, quite literally abused. A couple of weeks ago, on a … (5 comments)
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homestatusinspectioncom: Garage Door Safety - 09/07/07 01:28 PM
With the car half in the garage, teen Vanessa got out and hurried inside the house. By habit, as she raced through the back door, she hit the close button on the garage door and a few seconds later heard the sickening sound of the car's hood being crunched under the … (3 comments)
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