Jeff's Blog

Condo's Picking Up

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:57:09 -0600

Hi to all

Been doing more condo inspections lately that might be a good sign . Condo sales have been slumping so any increase there is a good thing. Well any increase anywhere is a good thing LOL. I think we are starting to turn the corner and I hope and I think spring 2010 will be great.

Later

Jeff

Indian Summer MIA

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:53:41 -0500

Indian Summer where are you? Wow I would have to say this Oct. Has been probably the worst weather wise I have ever seen. I think it is also dragging the home sales down with it. Some sales are finally starting to trickle back through, but not even close to the levels I had seen in the summer. I definitely expected it though. How is everybody else doing? Warmer weather is being forecast this week hopefully that will get some houses moving again.

Jeff

Where is everybody?

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:42:29 -0500

Hi to all

Things have come to a grinding halt. Nothing going on at all. I had to check my phone and see if it still worked LOL. Well I did some painting before it gets to cold. I am going to Florida to see my Mom for the weekend. It is the first anniversary of my fathers passing so I thought we would spend that time together. I know for sure it will be much warmer there than here . Watch my phone will start ringing when I am down there. Well I will just have to roll with it. I hope it picks up next week. Talk to you later.

Jeff

Trucking Along, and thanks to all

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:22:46 -0500

Slowed down a little . Have been doing some draw inspections for lenders. Nice work especially when it is near your residence. I would like to thank everyone for their kind words about the passing of my dog Haley. It really helped. I still miss her dearly but I have been doing better. I expected to slowdown a little here with kids going back to school. I think it will be busy in Oct though because buyers will want to cash in on the tax credit and it is starting to get close to the end. Closing has to be before the end of the year as I understand it. So I think we will get a rush here soon. Well lets hope so. Talk to you later

Jeff

Goodbye Old Friend

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:09:44 -0500

Hello everyone . Had a tough day yesterday. My trusted beloved family dog Haley of 11years had to be put to sleep. Shewas a great dog a big black Labrador with a heart of gold. She developed a bone tumor in her front leg and when she was walking with my children her leg fractured. We did have some options such as amputation and chemo. But as a family we decided that at her age and her personality we did not want to put her through this. So we made the hard decision to let her go. I know where she is at right now she is loved and she is happy and in good care. I know one day I will see her again and she will be wanting me to scratch her ears or take her for a walk.Until then old friend I will always remember the time we spent with you and how you protected us and loved us and the all goofy things you would do. I want you know that we tried our best to take care of you best we could and we loved you with all of our hearts. Until we meet again. We Love you Haley

Jeff

I am not MIA LOL!

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:31:46 -0500

Hi everybody

I am not MIA! Wow I think this is the longest I have been without posting. Well my daughters start cheerleading and with the games a,getting ready for school to start and beeing much busier than I thought in August I guess the blog suffers. Well I will try harder to blog srry I have been away

Jeff

so far so good

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:30:59 -0500

Hi everyone

Well it is august. So far so good . I am expecting a little drop , but I have a feeling it will not be to bad. August is always Ho -Hum. I think with tax credit it will be busier than we think. I think it will be nice and steady already have a few scheduled for next week. Would have been this week but the utilities were not on and I would rather have the utilities on so i can give the client a complete inspection. I had one for today but had to move to next week. Well I guess i will just enjoy this great day in the Chicago area. Temps are in the low 80's not humid. I will do a little yard work listen to a ball game and just enjoy. The Cicada's are singing pretty loud today maybe have a beverage and listen to the sounds of summer!

Later

jeff

Been away not really

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:01:10 -0500

Hi everybody

Been a while since my last post. Have been busy the market looks really good well compared to last year. I am just wondering how august will be? Usually it is a Ho-Hum month. I already have an inspection booked for aug. so I guess that is a good start. We will just see how it goes. I have heard that home inventory is finally dropping is this true? I can't wait until next year the market will be even better we have for sure turned the corner

Jeff

Feels Like May

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:15:48 -0500

Hello Everybody

Well it feels like May both temperature and business wise. That is a good thing. The weather here in Chicago will probably not crack 70 degrees ! Crazy for the middle of July. I have been fairly busy and I am thinking it might continue because first time buyers want that $8000. From my understanding you need to close by the end of the year Not just have a signed contract. Well I hope everybody is having a decent year. Anything is better than last year .Man that was awful.

Later

Jeff

Steel frame

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:30:39 -0500

Hi everybody

Did an inspection the other day typical raised ranch everything was looking good. went up in the attic the rafters were steel . Wow. Don't have to worry about a tornado with this one. I noticed on the outside that there were two extra ground rods. Did not really think anything of it. electrical panel was already grounded to the water supply. Then when I wnet into the attic the puzzle came together. Those other ground rods are probably for the framing of the house. I had to tell the client that she would have to have this system evaluated because I was not very familiar with these applications. Just goes to show you you learn something new everyday

Jeff

Hot water tanks

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:40:56 -0500

Learned some new interesting facts about newly built hot water heaters. Government issued energy saving mandates have reduced expected tank life by up 2/3rds. Thanks to more government meddling you will have to replace your water heater more frequently so you can save 1.5% in energy costs. Does not make any sense unless you make hot water heaters. The steel on these tanks have been reduced in thickness by almost 2/3rds to save energy. Thank you uncle sam for killing the poor homeowner even more. well plumbers will be getting rich along with all the tank mfr. just thought I would let you all know

Later

Jeff

Where is Summer

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:49:48 -0500

Hello to everyone . Where is summer ? I don't know. My kids would like to go swimming some time this year! It has bee so chilly there have been a few inspections where I could not test the A/C units because it has been below 65 degrees here in the Chicago area. Very rainy one good thing about that it shows how a house will perform in wet conditions that is for sure. The cool temps make it a lo easier to inspect those attics! I had a call last week from a man saying his grandmother has bee getting water in her basement and wanted me to come by just to get anpther opinion. I went by here house did not see all that much water but I did see some bad repairs and ineffective remedies by someone who did not know anything about water infiltration or basement foundations. I felt sorry for the woman she had paid some guy $ 10000.00 to put a couple sidewalks by the house and he said that would stop the water ! The house had terrible grading even from the road! I suggested to her that she should call her local officials to see who was responsible for what ! I also told thta she should have someone who only works on foundations look at her problem. I felt so sorry for her that this person had probably just taken her money! She wanted to pay me for my time but I declined. I felt she needed a break. I will talk to you later

Jeff

Just thought I would drop a few lines

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Wed, 27 May 2009 20:40:34 -0500

Things are really picking up srry i don't have alot of time. I finally think we are turning that corner. I could be singing a different tune in a couple days LOL. I hope not but we will take as it comes. I hope everybody else is finally getting busy. If this keeps up my grass will be about 2 feet high! LOL. Talk to everyone later

Jeff

Hot and Cold

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:11:01 -0500

Hi all

Market seems a little hot and cold right now. Last week not much for me at least, the week before busy busy busy. Hopefully this week we get busy again. The weather was good this weekend and usually when the weather is good business is good. It seems better out there, but still have not seemed to turn the corner. Maybe it is just me. I talked to another inspector who is a friend of mine and he has said it has been the same way for him. I have talked to some agents and all of them are saying it is picking up for sure, but mostly foreclosures and short sales. It is work that is good

Bye Now

Jeff

Decks, Decks, nothing but bad decks

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:33:23 -0500

Hi all

been seeing some really bad deck construction lately. Probably weekend warriors for sure. I would not be suprised if it wasn't though. Missing fasteners,ledger boards not secured correctly, no flashing, I have seen tons of this stuff lately. I hope people will actually know what consequences are if the deck would collapse. I just can't beleive some these decks would pass a municipal inspection. Let's all be careful out there and build things correctly. Things are fairly busy kinda comes in spurts one week I am swamped the next week I will be slow. Hopefully it will get a little more consistent. But we will take what we can get for sure.

Jeff

Gettin busy

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:10:52 -0500

Things are lookin up! Been doing nothing but foreclosures they are more work . I can't believe some of the things people will take out of a house. Like sump pumps then the basement floods and ruins about $10,000 in hardwood floors in one house ,lighting fixtures and plumbing fixtures. Fairly busy this week. Thank god for the internet! You can really help your business by networking that is for sure. Well I just thought I would drop a few lines. Have to finish up a report. I hope that evrybody is gettin busy

Later Jeff

Foreclosures,Foreclosures

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:31:05 -0500

How is everybody? Have been doing mostly inspections on foreclosed homes. I inspected one home it was never occupied went right from the owner/builder right to foreclosures. It was a nice 4000 sq. ft custom home. Well I cannot complain though. I did see that home sales were up which is good so that is a good omen for May which is supposed to be the busiest month. June has always seemed busier to me though.Weather has been an issue to a point real wild in Chicago lately one minute 80 degrees an hour later it is like 50 with gusty winds and thunderstorms. Hopefully new home construction will also pick up because I do draw inspections for a few lenders and they are really fun and they are kind of relaxing. I just report to the lender how much progress is being made on the house and that is it . It is nice just to take ride see different subdivisions and towns. Well that is about it for now I will catch you later

Jeff

Been A Little Busy

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:23:26 -0500

Sorry I have not been able to post much . I have gotten busy all of a sudden. I inspected a house on thu. 4300 sq ft. on a golf course in ground pool jacuzzi sauna. It was built in 1977. I thought Austin Powers was going to jump out at me. LOL. It was a interesting house a foreclosure special the former owner had removed some fixtures and left it in rough shape. Seven bathrooms and 5 bedrooms took me about 4.5 hours felt longer. Hopefully I will stay busy. This week does not look as good as last by this time last week I already 2 jobs lined up for upcoming week. I would like to thank Gregg Slapak of realty executives for referring me to one of his clients Thanks Gregg I really appreciate it! and thanks to active rain where I first came in contact with Gregg

Later Jeff

Internet Exposure, Agent interaction

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:34:48 -0500

I have been spending significant time working on my website to improve my search engine rankings and just to give potential clients as much information as possible. Active rain has really helped me to get in touch with agents, brokers and other professionals in the real estate business. It also has helped with exposure on the net. I also enjoy active rain because you get to meet some really good people and see what is going on all over the country and in the real estate market. Well Easter is this weekend have some family things to do so I will take a break from open house visits, but I will be right back out there the next Sunday. I really enjoy talking to agents personally. It gives them a chance to see who I am and vice versa. I almost always have a good experience with them as long as I stay out of their hair when people come through LOL. It gives me a good chance to hand them some business cards and ask them if they would like to receive my e-mail newsletter. So if any agents in the Chicago metro area would like to be placed on my newsletter list let me know. Have a Great Easter

Jeff

Lets Pray to the good weather God

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:45:45 -0500

Terrible weather weekend here in chicago area. Stopped by a few open house in Naperville, Bolingbrook, and Westmont and chatted with a few agents. Just was not a good weekend for open house traffic. I did get to have some nice converstions with a couple very nice agents. I dropped of some of my cards to them and added them to my newsletter list all in all not bad I guess. I will go out again on this Sunday. It is just nicer when the weather is nicer hopefully no snow tis weekend maybe only rain that is still better thatn wet sloppy slush. Some of the open house I went by were even cancelled because of the weather. Business is picking up and all the agents that I have talked have said the same. So lets all pray to the good weather god for decent weather !

Later

Jeff

Can the Spring market start now please!

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:33:25 -0500

Hello to all

I can't wait for the spring market. I want it to start right now ! LOL I am just chomping at the bit a little here. I want the market to start rockin. It looks like some business is trickling in. The weather in chicvago for the upcoming weekend does not look to good so not as many buyers will be out. Hopefully the market is starting to turn a little. Existing home sales up 5%. Lets try for 50% LOL. I have noticed there have been more short sales lately though. Well I will take anything I can get right now

THINK SPRING

Later

Jeff

Good Weather Good Internet traffic

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:56:53 -0500

Had some Good Weather this weekend in Chicago. I went around to a couple of open houses to see talk with a few agents and they all said that they had some good thru-traffic. The last two days the Internet traffic is way up for home inspection keywords and traffic to my site so hopefully we can keep it going

Citibank Good results

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:08:14 -0500

I just heard on the news that citibank had their best year since 2007! Finally some good news. we just need a little to get the snowball of good news going. That is all it will take. People should respond positively to this news. Lets open up those credit markets so buyers can get some mortgages so we can clear out that big inventory of houses.

Let the good times roll

Jeff

Things seem to be picking up

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:43:24 -0600

Hey there everybody

Things seem to be picking up. I seem to be getting alot more traffic on my website. I have received a few inspections, not to bad for this time of year in chicago area. I have a feeling that the credit markets might be loosening up, hard for me to say I am not an expert for sure. I am an optimist though and I know that better times are ahead. Hopefully people will start seeing the bargains that are out there. I inspected one house a couple weeks back when I drove up I thought that the house was at least 500,000 the client told me he was only paying 399,000. When the market picks up with the huge inventory we all will be so busy we won't have time to do anything but work.

Talk to you later

jeff

Let us get started

Jeff Prince (Safe At Home Inspections,Inc.) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:06:19 -0600

Well this will be my first post. I am very optimistic about the spring market. I have noticed a big jump in traffic to my website. I might not have booked that many clients but any increase in traffic is a good thing. I am really trying to market mostly from the internet,but I do plan on going out and meeting with agents and brokers. I like really meeting them at open houses. I really get a good chance to talk with them and get to know them and that is a good thing. During the winter here in the Chicago area it has been slow but that has given me a chance to take some continuing education courses and also to work on my website. I also had some time to clean out my closets and garage. I will try to keep up with this blog the best I can. talk to you later