Your Inspection Expert - Home Inspections With a Difference!

by Lisa Turner

Those of you who are using the North Carolina Association of REALTORS® listing agreement Form 101 Revised 11/2010 know that Item 14 says:

There must be a home Inspector Lobbyist on the Real Estate Commission!

Seriously, are you having a discussion with your sellers about getting a home inspection? Have they asked you, "What is the advantage of spending money on a home inspection when the buyers will probably want their own inspection?" What are you telling them?

Even though I am a home inspector, and most certainly this change in the contract benefits my business, I will step back from this natural bias and use some logic to talk about the pros and the cons of having the seller get a home inspection. Armed with this information, you'll be able to help your client decide whether their money will be well spent or not.

Getting a home inspection is a good idea if:
 The seller wants to avoid the last minute surprises of a buyer home inspection. Sometimes both parties are very surprised at what is found in an inspection. Suddenly there is work, aggravation, and a small measure of irrationality as both parties wrestle with who will do what.
 The seller wants an extra edge in marketing the home. The competition is fierce; any extra effort or component to make the home more appealing to buyers will help set that home apart from everyone else's home. Getting an inspection also indicates to the potential buyers that the seller is serious about taking care of the home.
 The home is already in good condition. A home inspection will probably turn up some items that the seller was unaware of, but they will be small items and the seller can take care of these relatively easily. The inspection then becomes a marketing tool when the inspector produces an "all items corrected" report on a free return visit.

Getting a home inspection may not be a good idea if:
 The seller knows that there are numerous problems with the home and would rather not dig up the details on them. This is a little ostrich-like, but some sellers feel that it is better to not disclose defects and rely on the "buyer beware" doctrine even though he or she knows there may be ramifications at contract due diligence time.
 The home has very serious known defects and is being sold "as is - where is". There is little point in illustrating the multiple deficiencies of a home by the seller in an inspection report when they know the buyer will probably be ordering their own inspection.
 The seller is asking a high price for the home and sticking to it - by the time the home sells it may be years down the road and the inspection will not be a timely tool.

Sometimes the seller will tell you "I'm already spending enough money to get this home on the market; I don't want to spend the money on a home inspection." We have an answer for that: big discounts for your sellers! You know we almost always have $25 coupons for your clients; well, how about $50 off a seller inspection price? We're also working on a special Seller Inspection format that de-emphasizes cosmetics (torn rug, loose hardware) and focuses on structural, mechanical, and systems -0 the things that buyers care about most. These inspections will be less expensive than the full array. Stay tuned.

See and download our article for home sellers here: Feel free to give this out to your clients.

Here's what we actually see on out inspections!

By Lisa Turner

Think about your automobile a moment. As you are getting into your car, you’re thinking about the work day, your family, a recent crisis, or some other consuming issue. The car starts, you put it in gear, you drive off. You get to where you are going, turn it off, and start the day.

We don’t think about the car. Before we get in the car, do we say to ourselves, “Gee, I better check the tire pressures. I should talk a walk around the car to see if there are any new dings, or items falling off, or a flat”. No, we turn the key and drive off. We are lucky that our cars are so reliable!

What does this have to do with HVAC, or the heating and cooling systems in our home? Here’s the connection: we don't pay any more attention to our heating and cooling equipment than we do to our cars. Cars are built to take this neglect, and survive it pretty well. But HVAC equipment is not built to run without regular maintenance. So, as a home inspector, when people ask me to tell them how their air conditioner or furnace is, I can tell them about its current state - but can’t guarantee that the unit will keep working for them, because most of the time folks think it does not need regular maintenance. This misconception ends up costing consumers a lot of money, since 12-14% of your income every year is being spent on electricity or propane for these beasts.
KEEP READING HERE

"Please Don’t Kill the Deal"
By Lisa Turner

Home inspectors walk a delicate line between their loyalty to their client (the home buyer) and the relationship with their referring real estate professional.  As the broker, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Your buyer is excited about the house. There is momentum in the deal, and everyone is glowing with happiness after walking through the home of their dreams. Finally! This is the one!

That is, until the home inspector shows up and finds rotted siding, mold in the basement bedroom, cracks in the foundation, and a leaking plumbing stack on the roof. Now your buyer has cold feet, the seller is upset, the listing agent is upset, the mortgage company is upset, and the inspector feels like an uninvited guest at a funeral.

What can be done about this? Is this just the way things are?
You know you need to refer inspectors who will be thorough for your own protection as well as for the protection of your client. What I’m about to say does not cover 100% of the cases, as it IS possible to have a “bad” house, but it is very rare, and YOU will know it long before the inspector gets hired. So where is that balance? Here is what to look for in the home inspector you refer to your clients:

• Do they establish a relationship with your client early on and talk to them about any concerns that they have?
• Do they provide your client with information on what a home inspection is and is not, before the inspection? Some buyers are upset when they get the report and the septic system or the low voltage lights or the shed was not inspected.
• Do they welcome the client to the inspection if the client wishes to attend?
• Does the inspector provide a thorough walkthrough for attending clients and explain the problems in language the buyers can understand?
• Does the inspector refrain from exaggeration regarding defects but positions the issues in perspective? Although inspectors are not allowed to specify or cost quote repairs, they should be able to ballpark the seriousness of the problems found.
• Does the inspector follow up once the report is delivered, especially if the client was not at the inspection? Are they available to consult and answer questions “after the sale”?

Lastly, make sure that your inspector’s liability insurance covers you too. If you make a referral and the inspector gets sued, you may be dragged in too.

So, it IS possible to walk this fine line - it’s all about communication and positioning. Done right, everyone wins and that glow of anticipation is back.

Don't forget Your Inspection Expert
now has 3 Continuous Radon Monitors!

We do not have to send charcoal canisters
off to the lab and wait for results. We tell you
instantly at the conclusion of the test what
the levels are and you get a graphic printout!

Heres what we actually see on out inspections!

In the summer you might not mind jumping into a shower with out of the tap temperatures, but in wintertime this is out of the question unless you're Chuck Norris. One of the worst things that can happen in your house is to hear, "No hot water!" discovering that the water heater has failed just as you're about to step into the shower on a chilly morning.

Is there a way to have your cake and eat it too, or have instant hot water at your water tap and not spend a fortune doing it? As soon as you turn on the faucet, hot water is there - no running fixtures for minutes waiting for the hot water to show up. This is an interesting debate, as heating hot water in our homes represents 30% of our total energy bill.

If you do want instant hot water, you have some choices. The first is tankless, or "instant" water heaters that heat water quickly and deliver it to your tap on demand. Or you can use a conventional tank type water heater outfitted with a recirculating pump to deliver instant hot water. Which system saves more money and is more efficient? Which one works better? Should you consider a hot water circulator? When your hot water heater fails should you toss it and install a tankless water heater?

Read the rest of this short article: Click Here
Read more about your home at: Click Here
Here's an additional link to the articles on Instant Hot Water Systems:: Click Here

1. We bought Continuous Radon Monitors this year for accurate, fast radon testing results! You asked for it, we delivered it.

2. We now produce and deliver the inspection report on site, same day.

3. We've added a new section to the web site called Your Healthy Home. Send your clients here for the latest in tips and tricks maintaining their homes. Click Here

5. Our Work Order is online and automated:

You know Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong, it will. Here are some interesting variations:
1. Light travels faster than sound, which is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
2. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
3. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.
4. If you lined up all the cars in the world end to end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them, 5-6 at a time, on a hill, in the fog.
5. The things that come to those who wait will be the things left by those who got there first.
6. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day, drinking beer.
7. Flashlight: A metal tube used to store dead batteries.
8. Definition: The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.
9. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

As a home inspector, I have come up with a few of my own Murphy Inspector Laws:
1. Of all the tools you will carry on your belt on a job, the one you will need will be in the truck.
2. Once you're on the roof and all the way up to the chimney flashings at the roof peak your camera battery light will come on and the spare will be nowhere to be found.
3. The day you forget the directions on the MLS listing for the property to inspect, the GPS will fail.
4. The key the realtor gave you will fit in the wrong house across the street from the house you are supposed to inspect.
5. Your high powered flashlight bulb will burn out when you are in the crawlspace in the darkest, farthest away from the entrance spot, and your assistant outside will have your spare light.

Water leaks are the bane of every home owner. I have heard true life horror stories of people leaving their home to go on a cruise or vacation only to get a call from a neighbor who says that water is running out their front door. I saw icicles stretching down from the second story siding where the pipes froze and burst inside a cabin retreat once when I arrived for an inspection!

Are you water aware? What do you do when you leave your home for an extended period of time? Most of us, if we are leaving for many days, turn the water off where it enters the home, or sometimes outside or in the crawlspace at the well pump. But when you think about it, we could leave for work and have a burst or leaking pipe do the same amount of damage as leaving for days at a time.

No, I'm not trying to give you nightmares, although the scenarios above are pretty scary. Here are some tips for making sure the insurance company does not get a call from you anytime soon about flooding. Even if you do not have water that "escapes" the system on to your floors, you can still have leaks internally in appliances that run your water bill up, or consume running time on your well pump. For example, a toilet that leaks internally (flapper not seated) can waste over 200 gallons of water a day.

First, know where your water shutoff is. Make sure everyone in the house knows where it is. This way, in an emergency, you can cut it off quickly. Second, take a look at all of your water gulping appliances. Are there shutoffs nearby? Most appliances - especially toilets and faucets - have their own shutoff valve so that maintenance is possible. These valves themselves can leak.

Second, take the time every couple of months to look under sinks for seepage. Check the shower head where it meets the arm coming out of the wall (as a home inspector, I find leaks here all the time - if left unchecked, these will grow and spray water above the shower enclosure), look behind your laundry appliances, the bottom of your refrigerator and dishwasher, and around the faucets in your shower and sinks - sometimes these will seep from the base of the fixture. Water dripping from your shower faucets can seep behind the fixture and damage walls - if you see any dripping from the faucet handle, you should have it repaired. Take a good look at where the water is running during a shower - if there is any possibility that water can run into cracks in tile or behind the tub faucet, caulk these areas. Check tile thoroughly - small cracks can develop over time and allow water to run in under the shower pan.

Third, check your toilets. Toilets can leak without making noise - but first take the toilet tank cover off and take a good listen. 90% of the time, if you have a leak in the toilet internals, you will hear it. It might be a slight hissing, or just the sound of intermittent drips. Non-leaking toilets will be completely silent. If you are unsure, put a few drops of food coloring in the tank (not the bowl). If the color shows up in the bowl, your flapper valve at the bottom of the tank is leaking. These are easy to replace and cost just a few dollars.

GO TO http://yourinspectionexpert.com/yourhealthyhome.html for more tips and a continuation of this series on water leaks!

In last month's newsletter, we talked about how we take our home appliances for granted because they rarely fail us. Why not get even more life from them? All of these devices can last longer and save us money if we follow a few simple tips.

Did you know that your water heater can last longer - often a lot longer - with some routine maintenance? I know that some of us "install it and forget it" and say, "we'll buy another one if it breaks" because we don't want to be troubled with maintenance chores. Stop and think about it. If you pay a handy-person to clean the sediment out of your tank every year and you get 5 extra years from your appliance - that's a real savings. The cost of new appliances has gone up, so consider the smaller maintenance cost to keep things running longer.

You have heard this before and its true: your water heater should be drained (several buckets worth of water) regularly to minimize sediment in the tank. If you're handy, you can do this yourself. Find the booklet that came with the tank and follow the instructions. This sediment is a mineral deposit build up which reduces the efficiency of the tank, costing you more money to heat the water. That cracking and bubbling noise you may hear when the unit is heating up is the sound of air bubbles between the sediment layers turning to steam and bursting . . . . read article here: Click here