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home inspections: PROPERTY CONDITION DISCLOSURE OR CAVEAT EMPTOR?? If that is the question, I vote for caveat emptor. It's better for home buyers!! #2 in a series - 04/21/12 04:30 AM
PROPERTY CONDITION DISCLOSURE OR CAVEAT EMPTOR??  If that is the question, I vote for caveat emptor.  It's better for home buyers!!  #2 in a series. 
This post is a follow-up to MARYLAND PROPERTY CONDITION DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS - A RANT!!!  #1 in a series.
I do not believe that a buyer should RELY ON A SELLER for facts about the condition of the property for sale. 
Maryland is a disclosure state and encourages home owner/sellers to disclose property condition and requires the use of a RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY DISCLOSURE STATEMENT / DISCLAIMER. 
Virginia is a state that follows the practice of … (50 comments)

home inspections: Why Is The Owner Selling?? Because They Want To!! - 04/08/12 02:47 PM
WHY IS THE OWNER SELLING??   BECAUSE THEY WANT TO.
Inspired by Scott Godzyk's post about buyers making low ball offers and the information buyers seek.
 
5. If it is Owner Occupied, why is the seller selling?
 
I always found this question amusing and always wondered what the prospective buyer or buyer's agent really expects to hear. 
One never knows and below are some of the experiences I've had over the years
 
1.  Listing Agent:  "The husband's employer has relocated them to the other side of the country and they're desperate to sell.  The wife has already relocated."  (House … (59 comments)

home inspections: Holmes Inspections: Reality Check - 03/13/12 04:56 AM
What is all of this going to cost me???
Unethical home improvement companies are specialists at killing a gnat on an elephant's hide by shooting it with a Bazooka.
The home shows on TV are like the talking heads on TV political shows.  They thrive on conflict. 
Any viewer with common sense is going to ask, "What is all of this going to cost me?
I'm not aware of any home owners who intend to enter an open end contract for home improvements.  They just find themselves trapped by unethical contractors who, through intrusive destruction, have created the need for extensive and expensive work to … (10 comments)

home inspections: Flip List - Not a reliable source of information about the condition of a property for sale in Virginia. - 03/02/12 04:40 AM
JAY, THE HOME INSPECTOR SAYS:   "this FOF has a lot of disclosure to make!  If, and that's a BIG if, it gets disclosed at all..."
HA!  NOT IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA.  Cross the bridge into MD and the matter of "disclosure" may have some relevance. 
In Virginia, (CAVEAT EMPTOR) is the only reliable procedure.  In Virginia, the matter of "disclosure" becomes a matter of "DISCOVERY". 
In Maryland, the detailed "Residential Property Condition Disclosure Statement" is detailed and offers a few minor clues to condition although not a substitute for a home inspection.
In Virginia, the seller "disclosure" is a statement … (11 comments)

home inspections: GFCI Receptacle Phantom Tripping - HA! The builder is not going to rip that back-splash out!!! - 02/23/12 03:41 AM
WHERE SHOULD THE GFCI receptacle(s) be placed???
A better question is "when should the new home inspection take place"?
Seems to me that this questionable placement of this receptacle should be observed during the pre-construction meeting or, at the very least, during the pre-drywall walk-through or inspection.
Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.
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Via Jay Markanich - Northern VA Home Inspector (Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC):
One problem many people may be familiar with but not know why it is happening is called GFCI receptacle phantom tripping.
GFCI receptacles are placed near water sources to interrupt a ground fault.  Ground … (10 comments)

home inspections: WHY AN INDEPENDENT HOME INSPECTION IS IMPORTANT FOR NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION! What about "soil settlement"?? - 02/01/12 07:52 AM
WHY AN INDEPENDENT HOME INSPECTION IS IMPORTANT FOR NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION!What about "soil settlement"??
We know why many new home buyers do not engage the services of a home inspector when purchasing new construction.  Some reasons we've heard include:
"The builder's sales person said I don't need a home inspector because the county inspects.""I shouldn't have to spend that money.""Everything is NEW and has the new home/appliance warranties.""I don't want to spend the money."New home buyers don't always understand that county inspections are primarily for safely and rarely identify poor construction techniques.
Inspired by an article by Jay Markanich  about a … (21 comments)

home inspections: Right in Front of Me - CRACKED ROOF RAFTERS??? TAKE IT SERIOUSLY FOLKS!! - 01/31/12 07:22 AM
A CRACKED RAFTER IS A TAD MORE SERIOUS THAN A HITCH IN YOUR GIT-ALONG!!
Let's get serious here for a minute folks.
A CRACKED RAFTER sends chills down my spine.  A SPLIT RAFTER makes me shiver with rear of the roof falling in.
Seems to me that, if the cause of such a defect is a heavy snow fall, home owners in the area might want to consider looking at or having an expert look at their rafters. 
Roof inspections, while not always easy to get scheduled are not expensive.  Which, of course, is why they are not easy to get … (10 comments)

home inspections: Home inspections. "Does this home have issues?" Seller present during home inspection?? - 01/29/12 11:02 AM
HOME OWNER PRESENT FOR HOME INSPECTION??? 
This rarely happens but if the home owner is present for the home inspection, just do your job and let the home inspector do his job.  I never found it to be a barrier to a thorough home inspection.
We, buyer's agents are pretty much "seen and not heard" during home inspections anyway. 
Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.
 
 
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WE ARE BUYERS AGENTS IN LOUDOUN COUNTY VIRGINIA.  WE KNOW LOUDOUN COUNTY REAL ESTATE, NEW AND RESALES.  Our way of saying THANKS to our home buyers is a 1% Cash to You REBATE at … (9 comments)

home inspections: Home inspections. Are they worth the time? YES!!! Unless you like living "on the edge". - 12/07/11 06:54 AM
BUYING A HOME IS, INDEED, TAKING A RISK.
However, that RISK is greatly diminished when the buyer has the property inspected for defects with a contingency that, if the defects are significant and affect value OR if the seller refuses to make repairs or replacement to defects, the BUYER CAN VOID THE CONTRACT.
Or, the buyer can follow that agent's advice and buy a PIG IN A POKE and simply assume the RISK.
In Virginia, the buyer DOES assume the risk of buying a property with defects.  However, the contract also states that the buyer has an opportunity to perform property … (13 comments)

home inspections: So why didn't the listing agent mention that? HA! The home purchased must be in Virginia!! - 11/13/11 06:01 PM
I'm Laughing Out Loud!  Why didn't the listing agent mention that?  Charles is 100% correct.
Having practiced real estate sales in Maryland and Virginia for many years, I can say, real estate sales in Maryland and Virginia are farther apart than the Potomac River.  They are light years apart.
Caveat emptor says to a consumer, "do your due diligence and don't rely on the seller or the seller's agent to do it for you." 
Question:  Why doesn't the seller tell you that the roof leaks? 
Answer:  Because they don't have to!
Question:  Why didn't the seller tell us that the A/C was not in … (21 comments)

home inspections: The Downside of Sealed Crawl Spaces - 10/08/11 11:01 AM
CALLING ALL HOME INSPECTORS AND BUILDERS. Give us a clue.
Which IS best, the sealed crawled space or the unsealed open to the elements crawl space???
Preston has come down on both sides. That is probably correct although my instinct is to want to know and not trust something we can't see. 
TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE.  As a child, I can recall crawling under my grandparents' home with my sister to get out of the heat and sun.  "Watch out for snakes" was the only suggestion from my "know-It-all" teen age cousin. 
O.K. snakes aside, I have had many home inspections … (14 comments)

home inspections: Cobwebs?? IF YOU'RE A BUYERS AGENTS SHOWING A HOME FOR SALE, LOOK CAREFULLY. - 10/05/11 06:10 AM
COBWEBS?? 
The home Jay inspected is scheduled for demolition.  However, buyers' agents and home buyers encounter homes with cobwebs too and they are merely a warning sign to LOOK AROUND CAREFULLY. 
What a multiplicity of cobwebs - spider webs means to me is that special attention must be given to the maintenance history of a home for sale. . . . .  and a lot more.
Courtesy, Lenn Harley, Broker, Homefinders.com, 800-711-7988.
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Via Jay Markanich - Virginia Home Inspector (Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC):
What are cobwebs?  And why do they appear in houses?  What does a multiplicity … (11 comments)

home inspections: HOME INSPECTIONS PROTECT HOME BUYERS - Best Business Practices for Real Estate Agents. - 09/26/11 08:03 AM
HOME INSPECTIONS PROTECT HOME BUYERS - Best Business Practices for Real Estate Agents.
HOME INSPECTIONS PROTECT HOME BUYERS Homefinders.com believes that the single most important step a home buyer can take as a part of the home purchase process is the home inspection. No one can guarantee the condition of a resale home. Therefore, the home buyer should understand that1. You, a home buyer, cannot rely on the seller for information about the condition of the home they are offering for sale.
2. Buyers can protect themselves with a home inspection.
3. Some states go farther than others in providing protections … (12 comments)

home inspections: This home has galvanized water pipe. Is that a problem? - 09/24/11 11:46 AM
AGENT ALERT!!!
This is fabulous information for agents.  Of course, if you've ever sold a house with galvanized water pipes that failed just after settlement, you already know about this.
HA!
When warned by the home inspector of the galvanized water pipes in a 47 year old home, we advised the buyer to "move on" but they wanted the house that was a foreclosure and "priced right".
They called about 3 weeks after moving in with the information that their basement was flooded.  The repair cost them about $8,000.  The home warrenty didn't cover because the break was outside the house.   … (9 comments)

home inspections: WHEN A HOME INSPECTOR WRITES "DOESN'T MEET CODE". . . . . Best Business Practices. - 09/19/11 07:38 AM
WHEN A HOME INSPECTOR WRITES "DOESN'T MEET CODE". . . . .
That is a statement that is guaranteed to make a home buyer become very insecure about the home he has decided to buy. 
Inspired by an article by Charles Buell, Home Inspector extraordinaire, I was taken back to some of the home inspection whereby the mention of the "code" was problematic. 
My question is always, which code?  Rarely is that question answered.  If a feature in a house doesn't meet the code, we need to know WHAT SECTION OF THE CODE.  The buyer or seller may want to follow up with … (66 comments)

home inspections: (not so) ~ Speachless Sundae... - 09/18/11 07:09 AM
OR, GET A SMALLER CAR.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT WHEN BUYING A HOME. 
SOMETHING FOR YOUR AGENT TO THINK ABOUT TOO.
After punching a hole on the drywall to the steps from my garage to the house, I learned that my then auto, a Sequoia, wouldn't fit in that garage door, so I moved over 8 feet and parked right up next to the shelves.  Couldn't open the trunk though.  Bummer.
Then I got a 4Runner and it's much better.  So, I pull (slowly) up to the shelves in the back of the garage and that's as far as I can … (13 comments)

home inspections: YOU HAVE TO CLOSE BECAUSE WE HAVE THE "USE AND OCCUPANCY PERMIT." - 08/29/11 11:15 AM
"YOU HAVE TO CLOSE BECAUSE WE HAVE THE "USE AND OCCUPANCY PERMIT."
Of course that builder is referring to the final municipal inspection on new construction.   Was the house built to "code"? 
This post inspired by an article by Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector.
Experience teaches many real estate agents that the "code" is the minimum standards for "safety".  How else can one explain a new home builder who insisted on my buyer closing on the scheduled day because "they have a U&O" despite the fact that the home wasn't even ready for a final pre-settlement walk-through and surely not ready … (14 comments)

home inspections: Shaker Beige Paint or a New Hot Water Heater? - 08/04/11 07:40 AM
PRE-LISTING HOME INSPECTIONS??  NOT LIKELY.
A prelisting home inspection is one of the smartest things an owner/seller can do to minimize the angst of a buyer home inspection, which the buyer will likely want to do anyway. 
I can count on one hand the number of homes for sale that I've shown that have had a pre-listing home inspection report available.  I was one of those owner/sellers. 
Indeed.  I had a pre-listing home inspection, make all of the minor repairs that the inspector found and displayed the report and receipts showing that all repairs had been made on the table along with the … (7 comments)

home inspections: WHY I RECOMMEND A THREE STEP NEW HOME INSPECTION TO MY HOME BUYER CLIENTS. - 07/29/11 07:58 AM
IT OFTEN SADDENS ME TO REALIZE THAT PROBABLY 70% OR MORE OF NEW HOME SALES OCCUR WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF A BUYER'S AGENT.
FURTHER, PROBABLY 90% OR MORE ARE COMPLETED WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF A HOME INSPECTOR.  This one surprises me more because all one has to do is Google any builder in the United States and read about the bad experiences of that builders' product. 
This post is inspired by Jay Markinich's post  this a.m. about a serious design flaw in an unfinished part of the basement of a newly constructed home.  This obvious flaw is unlikely to be noticed by 95% of … (62 comments)

home inspections: SELLER REPAIRS/CREDITS AND OTHER BURRS UNDER THE SADDLE. FIRST IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM. IS IT A REPAIR?? OR IS IT A SERIOUS DEFECT?? - 06/10/11 10:13 AM
FIRST IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM.  IS IT A REPAIR??  OR IS IT A SERIOUS DEFECT??
Why on earth would a seller put a property on the market with mold, asbestos, over the hill roof, etc. defects??? 
These items should be remediated prior to listing or, at least, prior to making available for showings.
By having such matters, mold, asbsetos, etc. in the contract brings in the risk of a serious and lasting insurance problems, lender involvement and inspection complications.  That is, of course, unless a property is available for cash only and with full disclosure, the sellers risk serious future litigation.

IS … (25 comments)

 


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