Top Five Problems Home Inspectors Find

What are the top five home problems that inspectors find? Having this information - whether you are a homeowner, a seller, or a buyer - will help you understand what to look for and where to spend your maintenance dollars after moving in. These tips will also allow you to negotiate a better deal if you really like the home. Here are the top five.

Dirty furnace filter and lack of maintenance. While some homeowners have a checklist for maintenance, 80% do not. I find furnace filters that have not been changed in years, and dirt buildup in HVAC (heating, ventilation, and cooling) components. I find piles of construction debris still lying inside the air supply vents. What to do: have your HVAC systems serviced twice a year by a professional. You can check and change your own filters each month.

Outside grading. 70% of the homes I inspect do not have a steep enough slope, or grade, to lead water away from the home in a heavy rain. If you wonder why you have a damp basement or crawlspace - this is the reason. The first 10 feet out from your foundation should drop at least six inches. This may not be easy to do here in the mountains where we place our homes into the side of a hill. What to do: install a drainage ditch on the up slope to lead water away from your home.

Missing or damaged gutters. Closely aligned with the grading problem above, gutters that are not functioning properly will introduce moisture into walls, basements, and crawlspaces. Mildew and mold follow, causing damage to materials, and introducing contaminants into the air that you breathe. What to do: Inspect your gutters and downspouts at least twice a year and make repairs. Make sure you observe what is happening in a heavy rain - your gutters may not be sized correctly.

Missing smoke detectors. 65% of the homes I inspect either do not have any working smoke detectors, do not have enough smoke detectors, or the detectors are not in the right places. Over 5000 Americans died last year in residential fires. What to do: check your home now. How many detectors do you have? Are they working? You can push the "test" button on each unit to see if it's working. What to do: Have several alarms on each floor of your house, and make sure they are audibly linked. Put them in halls and in bedrooms. You can buy wireless linked alarms on Amazon.com or at your favorite hardware store.

Missing insulation. 50% of the homes we inspect have missing or worn door gaskets, missing insulation barriers over attic doors, missing under floor insulation in crawlspaces, and no insulation in attic spaces. A home that is not insulated will cost a lot more money to keep warm or cool. What to do: Take a look at these areas: attic, crawlspace, doors or hatches to the attic, and windows and doors. You can add insulation batts and gaskets yourself, or have a qualified contractor review and correct these areas.

If you are buying a home and your inspector discovers some or all of these issues, you should negotiate a lower price on the home, ask for seller repairs, or keep looking. If you are in love with the home, at least you will know what needs to be done when you move in.

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Home Inspection Reports Prepare Homeowners For Winter

Home inspection reports are thought of as only being for prospective homeowners, however having a home inspector come every few years to check the stability and efficiency of a home can save homeowners money in the long run.

One of the easiest ways to help homeowners save money is through Infrared Thermal Imaging Systems. These cameras detect hot and cold spots throughout a house. They not only reveal water leaks, but they expose air leaks. Leaks around doors and windows can spike energy bills. The leaks can be through the windows or around the frame of the windows. Oftentimes replacing single pane glass windows with double pane glass reduces heat loss in the wintertime. Another inexpensive solution is to install double cell window treatments or blinds. Some have sealing mechanisms down the side to prevent heat loss in the home.

The second crucial function home inspectors perform is a full fireplace and chimney inspection. This is a safety issue, as one of the most common causes of fires in homes with wood burning fireplaces is due to creosote build up in the chimney. Smoky fires or green wood being burned can cause this. Chimneys should be swept or cleaned annually. New homeowners may not think to check the chimney before burning wood for the winter. The same is true of wood burning stoves. A qualified home inspector will check chimneys, flues, dampers and associated components. They will also look at fireboxes, hearth extensions and permanently installed accessory components.

Manufactured solid-fuel or gas-burning appliances will be examined to ensure there are no gas or fuel leaks. Natural gas burning fires tend to be more efficient than wood burning and put less pollution in the environment.

These are just a few of the services that home inspections cover relating to winterizing a home. Heating systems are checked including heating equipment and operation using normal user controls such as thermostat controls. Venting systems are looked at to make sure there are no clogs in them that could back up the venting system. Combustion and ventilating air are looked at. Energy source and connections are included, as are heating distribution systems including a representative sampling of ducting, duct insulation outlets, radiators, piping system and valves.

A basic home inspection covers the roof to the foundation. Roofing issues in the middle of winter can be disastrous for homeowners and can cause them to have to temporarily relocate until repairs can be done.

Having a home inspection performed every few years on a property or home can be the difference between a safe, warm winter and a cold, frustrating one.

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What Is The Importance Of Getting A Home Inspection?

From the seller's point of view:

If a buyer is presented with a pre-listing home inspection report you can win the confidence of the buyer for you and your home. You can draw the attention of the buyer towards your home and they will be more interested in your home over other homes of the sellers who have not chosen to have an inspection done by Home Inspections Service.

A Professional Home Inspector will help you identify the problems that you may be unaware of before you decide to put your home for a sale in the market. If you are able to notice the imperfections of the house before listing it, you have the chance to repair it. As almost every house needs some or the other kind of addressing to make it perfect looking especially for the home that is been used for a while.

Being a seller of the house, you tend to be eager to sell your house as soon as possible. If you have skipped the home inspection process and issues arise while buyer shows some interest in your home and undertakes his own home inspection, then there could be unnecessary delay in the selling procedure. It could also deter the buyer from investing in your home if the problems are found. After realizing all these problems you decide to come to an agreement with the buyer and consider the repairing charges involved, this way you might get to convince the buyer and sell your house but it will take time and you end up dealing with the delay caused by the negotiation process.

From the buyer's point of view:

There are myriad benefits to the buyer for getting a home inspection done. You might like the home from its outer look and take its first impression to conclude that the home is good to buy, but it is a wise thinking to consider the aspects of the house that are less visible.

You need to hire a trained professional to do the inspection work for you. He will check every nook and corner of the house. This starts from inspecting the foundation and structural integrity of the house to doors, windows, roofs, walls, to electricity fittings, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and every other important aspect of the home.

Conclusion:

Once you are sure and satisfied with the condition of the home after reading the unbiased report presented by the inspector, you can go ahead and buy the home. Even the sellers have their own benefits of getting a Professional Home Inspections Service. I wish you good luck with buying and selling homes and hope you can find your dream home soon.

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Why Do You Need a Professional for Property Maintenance?

A property, either residential or commercial needs maintenance. Depending upon whether the property is big or small you would need to take out time for its maintenance. If you are a person who is dedicated to real estate profession, then it's quite possible that you can find time to maintain your property. Otherwise, it is quite difficult to give time for property maintenance amidst the busy schedule of your office and home.

What is property maintenance?

Broadly speaking property maintenance involves complete upkeep of a building (residential and commercial) and the land surrounding it. This word is most commonly used by real estate people in context with leasing or renting of an apartment complex, house or an office building. Small residential properties are generally handled by individual families if they are living there. The need for a caretaker, property manager or landlord is felt when the property is too big and requires regular upkeep. The basic functions that are involved in maintenance of a property are repairing and cleaning of laundry room, foyer, and building's shared spaces that receive maximum footfalls. In case, the building is surrounded by garden, then maintaining the surrounding property area also comes under the duties of property maintenance such as salting walkways, shoveling snow, moving grass and painting outside facades and steps. Maintaining the plumbing and electric supply also comes under the duties of property manager.

How does a property manager help in maintenance?

If you have a small property area, maintaining it by employing a residential manager can be easily done. But then, you need to keep a tab on his working so that he works with full dedication and responsibility and warn him if he fails to complete certain duties. Again this calls for your personal attention. On the other hand when you make a contract with a property maintenance company, they will provide you with a property manager who is highly professional and knows all the latest laws and regulations, including the leasing, renting, and re-selling rates.

There are lot of legal hassles such as preparing documents and agreements for leasing, or renting, finding out tenants who pay on time and are well behaved, getting security deposits, deciding the amount of security deposit and also of the rent and so on. When you handover the job of maintaining your property to a property management company you are freed of all these worries. Moreover, with proper maintenance and upkeep, the value of your property keeps on growing in multitude.

It is not possible for a common man to be abreast with all the rules and laws of real estate and therefore you need a guide who can take care of all these hassles without causing any distress or problem for you. Handing over your property maintenance to a professional property management organization is the right step for assured upkeep of your property.

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Tips to Hire a Good Home Inspector!

Once you decide on the budget, area and type of house you want to buy you need to hire a home inspector who will help you buy a home that is up to the mark. There are many things that need to be considered while buying a home so that you don't have to spend extra money after buying the house on repairs and other expenses. A Qualified Home Inspector will undergo a thorough home inspection and provide you with a detailed report of the findings both verbally and in a written format.

But the question is how to find a Licensed Home Inspector, where in some states it is not necessary for home inspections.

Here are a few tips that will help you find a good home inspector:

Full time inspector

First of all ask your home inspector if he is a full time inspector or a part time inspector. It is important to know that because this will help you to know how seriously he takes up his profession. For a Quality Home Inspection you need a full time home inspector.

Guarantee for the work done

Another thing that you need to know and ask your inspector is if he gives guarantee for the inspection and the report that he submits. This will help you to know how honestly the work is done by the inspector and you can rest assured that the inspector is good and confident about his work.

Sample inspection report

To find a good inspector you need to see the sample reports prepared by the inspector for other homes that he must have inspected. A good report contains twenty to fifty pages with color photographs of the defects highlighted. If an inspector is showing you a report of less than 10 pages then you must take that as a sign that the inspector is not qualified.

Charges

You must also know the charges that the inspector quotes for Home Inspections Services. Sometimes there are major problems quoted by the inspector that needs to be taken care of on a priority basis. When the sellers make the necessary changes and make the house as per the required standards you can ask your inspector to visit again and inspect. But it is important for you to know whether he will charge for revisit or not as some inspectors charge for re-inspection and some don't.

Certificates and Credentials

One of the best ways to choose a home inspector is by viewing his credentials and certificates. An ideal home inspector must be formally trained and must have a certificate of completion of licensing program. A good inspector also keeps updating his knowledge by participating in professional organizations and continuing education.

Conclusion:

I hope these tips will help you find a good home inspector who gives honest, unbiased and straight forward report of the home inspection undertaken.

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Importance of a Company Website for Home Inspectors

Successful companies need an online presence. Phone books are almost irrelevant and when a consumer is looking for a service they ask people they know and they search online. If they search online and don't come across your company, you have most likely just lost a sale to the competition. Creating a company website can be done easily and inexpensively and can serve as a great way to attract new customers.

A company website gives you a voice to clients you have not yet spoken with. In many cases, it is the first opportunity you have to make a good impression on a potential client. It is critical to have a professional looking website. You can decide what to include on your company website, but there are a few items that are must-haves. First, you need your contact information. Make it easy to find so that it is as easy as possible to contact you for an inspection. This includes a company phone, possibly cell phone, and an email address at the least. Some inspectors offer a way for their clients to schedule an inspection online. Second, you want to include a sample of your inspection report. Most clients will want to see what the report they will receive will look like, and this gives inspectors the opportunity to show off their great looking report. Third, you will want to include some information about yourself. This is an opportunity to tell a prospective client about the experience you have and why they can trust you to be a part of such a major decision in their lives.

It is critical that as you put together your website you are focusing on your potential clients. Make sure you build a website that will be easy for them to use, and easy for them to get the information they need. Keep this in mind when choosing color schemes and navigation methods. Just because the site is easy for you to use, and you understand how it works, doesn't mean that others will. It can be very helpful to have a few people not directly associated with the home inspection business give your site a 'test run' to see how easy it is for them to understand. Ask them for honest feedback and look for ways to make it easier to use.

Along with a company website, you may want to look into using social media as another tool to promote your business online. Some of the more popular social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Each of these sites offer their own benefits and you will need to decide which is right for you and your business. Keep in mind however, that a company Facebook page doesn't replace a company website. A Facebook page is a great way to connect with clients, but it should be used to serve a different purpose than a unique, company website.

A company website is a must have and should be treated as a vital part of any company's marketing efforts. Keep your website up to date and make sure it is easy for your clients to get the information they need, and ultimately choose you as their inspector. Don't give your competition an easy advantage.

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