A Palmdale, Lancaster and Southern California's Home Inspector's observations!
One of the things that I end up saying is "There's no perfect Home". What I mean is, there are no homes without defect! It's not the little one's that anybody worries about...
I perform quite a few, to say the least, Home Inspections in Palmdale CA, Lancaster, Santa Clarita along with other areas. Recently as well, I've actually been to a few homes that are being sold by someone living there. That's a surprise compared to the last year or so. Good sign for our market, I suppose.
Are there ways to "improve" the home inspection process... likely so!
If you are selling a Home... keep the clutter down to a minimum if possible. If I can't look under a sink, a garage is so packed I can't open the side door, bathroom counters are so full that I can't see the counter top, I'm likely going to indicate that in the report, buyers may become worried that a seller is "hiding" something. Your home is lived in. That's fine, but help me help you!
I'm going to find some things... not to worry. Here's the thing. Taking care of the obvious stuff can help us both. If at all possible, contact a Home Inspector for a Seller's Inspection. A good inspector can easily help you identify the obvious repairs needed and you can decide what you can or can't do. A defect on a Home Inspection Report is not going to be a surprise and I tell my clients that all the time. A lengthly inspection report may give the impression that your home is poorly cared for and deferred maintenance is always a concern.
Pets!!! If at all possible.. maybe having the family dogs at a neighbor or friends home is a plus or a crate/carrier if possible. I've chased a few dogs and cats up and down the street as they've gotten out as I am going in and out of the home. Is it my fault... not really. I still try to catch them though. An inspection just the other day, I heard my client, the buyer saying "I'm not sure I realized how much the pet in the home bothered my allergies until today" Another concern or liability are BITES. In the last decade and longer I've been bitten a few times. Did I sue? No, but you, the seller may not be so lucky. Sadly enough, the last 2 times I've been bitten the Seller's Agent was at the inspection. Not really looking out for the Seller's best interest, I didn't think. I remember thinking when I arrived to the home "Is the Akita a great idea to have running loose during the inspection..?" Dogs of all shapes and sizes seem like they are afraid of people wearing tools. Animals like me when I get there, by the time I am wearing some tools, it makes the dogs uncomfortable. Tape measure, flashlights and gadgets "dangling" in my pockets and such. It's their turf!
If you are to do repairs prior to selling the home or having it inspected... that's great! But at the same time, some of the repairs that I have seen were blatent, poor attempts to cover up an obvious problem. I recently performed a roof inspection on a home that I was inspecting... the seller had paid someone to patch up a roof that needed replacement. Did the seller know the difference... who knows. But it was good money after bad.
I will post some more insights as I have time and look forward to helping my customers and colleagues where I can.
From my point of view there are several ways we can work together to provide the Client a Favorable Real Estate Purchase Experience!
I am mentioning a few things that I feel are important to enhance and better the overall experience for the client. I have gone over some of these with colleagues and thought I would put it out there:
Email info for appointments back and forth between agents, inspector and client - Simple!
Try to ensure that all expectations are met.... This sounds simple right? One simple thing like asking someone "What concerns do you have....?" You'd be surprised what you hear
Be on time... I'm usually the first one there, I've found that I'm generally the only one who's not nervous, think about it. It took me awhile to realize that I'm the only one in the Home or Business that is not generally nervous about what's going on. I try to keep that in mind when dealing with the public, sometimes a small comment from anyone that is inappropriate can scare someone off.
I'm writing this today as most of the purchases as we all know are foreclosures, or bank owned. Most views here are opinion and not really reflected as an inspector, especially on site.
I still see that the majority of my customers as a Home Inspector are investors, or people buying as a second property. Although, in May I did see a few more people buying for themselves.
As an inspector, I'm objective. That is to say that it's a home or business and I'm there to look at from an independent perspective. I DO keep my mouth shut from opinions that I may have and try not to interject much other than the task at hand. Which quite frankly, is less than I can say from some of my colleagues.
Anyway, I was at one the other day in the antelope valley and the customers main concern was simply whether or not FHA would approve the purchase or not. It's not my place to really say whether it will or not from my knowledge of prior loan programs, things change and can be dynamic. My concern and/or insight was simply that they were looking at a home that did need a fair amount of work and they admittedly didn't have much else by way of money besides what they are paying me and to close the transaction. My Inspection Pricesare quite fair, btw.... Does this put them in an awkward spot, moving into a home that needs a few things and they're not in a position to do much about it?
My first thought is, no... they are better off buying than renting. The benefit probably outweights the other concerns.
My second thought is, hopefully they have a "plan" to deal with deficiencies and such.
But DO people really? I hope so as it is indicative to a lot of the homes I've looked at recently displayed signs that the buyers (sadly) could never afford the home in the first place.
I hope that along with even me personally being hit by some of the downturn in Real Estate that the lower prices will help my neighbors!!
In today's market I'm sure we are all seeing signs of deferred maintenance. Simple roof leaks that could have been fixed before damaging framing, drywall and other components. A simple leak in the drain under the sink that turned into damage to cabinets.. mold and whatever else.
As a Home Inspector, I see a lot of this. Homes that are in worse shape for their age. Newer homes that have been neglected almost from day one.
This raises the question, should most of the people who purchased the home originally have been there? What I mean is, there are certainly a lot of people in homes that were good "housekeepers" and ran into a bad situation. But, I've seen a lot of homes that looked like the occupants were in a struggle from day one.
With the "adjustment" that is going on, It is this persons wish that the next generation of homebuying takes into account what it takes to protect your investment in a home.In the antelope valley a good suggestion is to have a complet home inspection done to ensure objectivity
I had a phone call today, someone was price shopping around and asked me a few questions. How long have you been in business, what is your background, are you certified and how much?
Pretty reasonable questions and seemed to know what he was looking for. I quoted a price, let him know that I had been doing inspections since the mid 90's and my background and so on...
He mentioned that the last person that he called said "Don't bother calling around, I don't know of any inspectors that know what they are doing". I remarked that I was available, but, if I wasn't that I did in fact know of some other qualified people. He said he had mentioned it simply because it was a bit of a turn off.
This brings my point to a head, if you will. Do you sell yourself and try to let them know what you have to offer? Or, are falling victim to being negative and preying on other's shortcomings.
Did you know that most of the damage to our roofs come by way of hail here? And, over the last couple seasons that can add up to a bit of damage. Most of our leaks happen slowly on our homes and short of climbing up there, what to do?
Have a reputable roofer come and take look may be the first idea that comes to mind. Why not! If your roof is getting up there in age or you live in an area like we do in Colorado Springs, it's not a bad idea to have someone qualified to take a look!
As a matter of fact, when was the last time many of us actually had some of the most basic things looked at in our homes?
As mentioned, roofs are exposed to damage. Is the water pressure slowly creeping up as well and wearing some of the flush valves amongst other things prematurely? Has anyone looked at the electrical panel in the home since it was built? A lot of times as an inspector, I've found a number of things that people were very surprised about and had no idea that they needed to be taken care of.
As kind of a check up if you will, some inspectors will perform a basic inspection of properties that people have no intention of selling, just to make sure some of the major components are up to par.
I have done these and continue to do Basic inspections, I don't make very much at doing them. It does though, perform a service and I may meet that customer down the road for something else.
A Basic Check up from me is about $75.00 to look at the Roof, Plumbing, Roof and Heat/AC. An inspector in your area may do this as well. Not everyone has a program like that, but many do!
Maybe you are purchasing a home or maybe you are just walking around your home and a crack in the foundation has been called out or noticed.
What makes a crack in the foundation of concern? Lots of things, let's get started.
How big is the crack? Many times we look at the size of the crack in width. Generally a crack of 1/4" or more is worth being concerned about.
What age is the home? A 1/4" crack in a home 50+ years old depending on condition may not be as serious as a crack the same size in a home that is brand new..
Has it moved? A small crack that has not had adjoining material move in any direction is many times of not as much concern as a crack that has material to left and right or above and below that is no longer aligned.
Which direction does it go? Diagonal? Horizontal? Vertical? Diagonal? Generally we can discern as to the underlying condition and cause of crack by things such as this.
Is it uniform? For instance a crack that is larger at the top than the bottom could indicate some different underlying conditions such as settling or poor compaction.
Is it rather harmless crack near poor drainage? Situations like this could lead to moisture intrusion and may simply need to be sealed along with correcting poor drainage as well.
A good inspector can and should evaluate this for you to determine your individual situation. If further attention is needed, this information along with some suggestions should be provided to you.
This is just a quick primer into a rather complicated topic and is not meant to substitute expert analysis of your particular home or situation.
So your offer was accepted! Great news. You have your loan, moving from point A to point B, wrapping up whatever details of the home you are living in now and the list goes on. All the important things to worry about.
Wait a minute the home inspection thing too. Probably not a bad idea to make sure the home you are buying is up to par. Even a new one! Who to choose, the Realtor had a couple to choose from.. are they right for me?
I've been through the wringer a few times myself with all of this.
Here's a couple suggestions:
1.) Price- hmmm, the cheapest one.. how much time do they take to look around for us? Do they have anything to back up their work like a warranty or insurance? I suggest asking, as having a warranty to back up my services is important to me.
2.) Concerns- If there is something about the home you have concerns about, albeit age or condition of a major part of home ie. furnace, air conditioning, windows etc.. is something to mention to any inspector.
3.) What do you want. One inspection may not fit all of your concerns. If you are doing a major renovation why should you pay for a full inspection when you are going to replace the windows, major components, etc.. Let an inspector know what you are looking for in an inspection.
These are just a couple of things to think about, I will add some more later. If we can be of any help, let us know.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
;)
;)
