Posted on 10/24/2020 11:04:08 AM PDT by CaptainPhilFan
COMPLETELY off topic.
Buying a home in a unknown market, just hit with horrendous and unexpected Inspection Report
” The report should at least mention that fact. “
Covered by Federal disclosure laws.
Guy asked a question Gator - I’m not bidding on anything. Just picturing an average 2500 sf home, and rough estimating the scope. Of course, if the house is already selling $50k below market, no need to bicker.
I answered based on the info at hand, clearly stating that I am not a GC of any kind.
“I answered based on the info at hand, clearly stating that I am not a GC of any kind.”
You posted that you have contracted large and small jobs bragging about the accuracy of your bids.
“Of course, if the house is already selling $50k below market, no need to bicker.”
$50k below market! LOL!
Do you have an obsession? It’s not bragging, it’s a fact, it’s what I do for a living. You pulled apart my post, item by item, replying on individual points, for what?
I don’t know what your area of expertise is, but if you were responding to something in your field, I probably wouldn’t take your approach, even if I questioned your veracity on the subject.
Shall I submit my 35yr resume for your approval?
“Shall I submit my 35yr resume for your approval?”
Just submit the part about negotiating home purchase prices sight unseen. Not even a photo or description.
He only dings them for things that are obvious. Black mold, bad visible plumbing (copper pipe runs touching air-ducting or gas lines), electrical seen in the panel or low voltage lines or data lines paralleling high voltage (one had a closet of shelves with 32 recepticals installed with the four [?] Romex lines feeding them from the panel just laid across the tops of the joists in the attic and not a single mention of the issue in the report. I think someone was running a bitcoin mining operation, or some kind of data server.), lack of wall or roof insulation easily observable if the inspector bothered to look or scan with an IR camera, roof shingle damage the same, construction issues that stick out like sore thumbs, such as houses where previous owners have pulled out load bearing walls in ill-advised remodels to make it open-concept and the upstairs master bedroom floors are bouncing and sinking under the load... all with no mention in the inspection reports. Again you are criticizing something you’ve never watched.
The inspectors are hired for their expertise to observe things that will prevent major expenses the buyers are not equipped to notice themselves. These are things THEY missed that even a novice inspector should have seen. A home inspector should come with the proper equipment to do a proper inspection which includes an infrared camera to look at the status of the insulation in the walls and ceilings, a ladder to get on the roof to look closely at the condition of it and any stacks, flashing, chimneys, etc. He/she should be willing to get INTO the attic and crawl space, not just poke his/her head in and glance around or stick a camera up and in. They should RUN the appliances, not just note their presence, flush the toilets, run the faucets, fill the sinks, tubs, showers, and drain them, and not how well each fills and drains, looking for leaks on the feeds and drain plumbing. The inspector should put a receptical tester into every outlet and test every light, ceiling fan, turn on the A/C to full cold and then full hot, then check every register for air flow and returns the same. Every window should be tested for opening and closing and sealing. Same for doors. Every room should be examined for signs of water damage. The inspector should have a IR camera to scan every wall to see temperature differentials and see if the walls are insulated or not, or if the insulation has failed (old insulation often settles under the pull of gravity, especially blown in.), and attic insulation can often be inconsistently spread or just not thick enough.
Why would that be part of the scope of remediation of problems? If you want it, you can add it. The seller doesn’t need to pay for your wants, just accommodate remediation if they want to sell.
“He only dings them for things that are obvious.”
Turns out he is in the inspection business.
Even Holmes doesn’t do all you say should be done in the basic package!
If the comparably priced houses in the neighborhood have been upgraded over the last 30 years and kept up-to-date and up-to code, yes. If this house has been left as a time-capsule of 1950 by its owners it’s not worth a comparable selling price and they need to come down to compensate for bringing it into the 21st century requirements and codes. If that’s what he’s buying, it’s a fixer-upper and needs to be priced as such, no matter how vintage it looks. It can still be restored to LOOK and FEEL vintage, but it can operate in a modern, efficient, economical, and safe manner with modern amenities and services.
I can assure you an A/C system installed 30 years ago cannot operate as efficiently as one made today. The operation cost savings are significantly lower.
The point is that a home inspector’s job is to FIND the pigs under the lipstick, not ignore the red flags that the pigsty might be there. It’s his job to dig into areas buyers generally do not go and LOOK and then warn the potential buyer that there’s a really expensive pig under all that glitzy make-up.
Why do you assume comps have all been renovated to 21st century standards and codes?
Thanks, I was unaware that he still does initial inspections. I see that he does have a home inspection company.
His basic package includes:
I would trust his far more expert opinion inspections far more than others.
Holmes dings other “inspectors” when they miss obvious things from that first list above, after having charged the buyers hefty professional fees for their “expert” opinions and not delivering a professional performance.
As for my assumption in your other reply about comparables being updated and brought up to code, I just bought a house just over a year ago and that was what we found. There were houses that were fixer-uppers that were being offered at the “comparable” prices in neighborhoods that were being compared to houses that had just been completely remodeled and brought up to code. The fixer-uppers had LOTS needing to be done, but their pricing did not reflect it, or did not reflect enough of what was required.
You have to remember that “comparable” is just an opinion of a Real Estate sales person. . . and comparable sales prices might include transfers between family members, foreclosures, short sales, etc. In a neighborhood I have some of my properties for sale in, there’s two “comparables” that are essentially identical. Each are two bedroom, one bath houses on similar sized lots two blocks from each other of similar ages, both recently remodeled. One sold recently for $853,000, the other for $355,000 on a block (mine) where houses have sold for upwards of $900k. What was the difference? The cheaper one was an inter-family sale to avoid foreclosure, but it’s still considered for comparison pricing.
“What have I mentioned aside from Asbestos and Lead which is standard in most areas that is not listed????”
“The inspector should have a IR camera to scan every wall ...”
Asbestos and lead inspections are extras.
“The cheaper one was an inter-family sale to avoid foreclosure, but it’s still considered for comparison pricing.”
Only if an idiot is doing the comps.
“short sales”
Common misconception that short sales are done way below market.
The first price set by the lender is at market value.
“Holmes dings other “inspectors” when they miss obvious things from that first list above, after having charged the buyers hefty professional fees”
I think this was his second show.
The original contractor who did the addition gets thrown under the bus; Mike says that this is how the job should have been done to start with. While Mike’s work was far superior to that of the original contractor, I think it’s unfair to put down the original contractor. The work was done for the previous owner, permits were pulled, and the work was inspected and approved. We have no idea of what was agreed upon between the original contractor and the previous owners. Maybe the original contractor gave the previous owners a bid to do exactly what Mike Holmes did, and the owners opted to save $10k by only doing the bare minimum.
If the previous owners got three different bids for the job, there’s a slim chance that the contractor who gave them a bid on a beautiful crawl space would actually get the job.
The original home inspector gets thrown under the bus as well. Mike concludes the show by saying that if the original home inspector actually knew something about construction, he would have warned the buyers that there was no crawl space. That comment really bugged me. The home did have a crawl space, it just didn’t have any access, and it was too small for most people to actually crawl in to; that doesn’t mean it’s not a crawl space. I’d love to know what Mike would have said to the buyers if he had done the original home inspection. Here are a few potential warnings:
This home has no accessible crawl space. So what?
This home has no accessible crawl space, but it should. I can’t inspect what I can’t see. Before you buy this house, you should have the sellers make the crawl space accessible and have it inspected. The home inspection was performed in warm weather, and there were no signs of any problems. The work was done with permits and inspected, so what would actually happen if the buyers demanded the crawl space be made accessible for the inspection? Do you think the sellers would agree to that? My experience tells me absolutely not.
This home has no accessible crawl space. I know that permits were pulled for the addition and inspected by the city, but I don’t care. If I can’t see it, it’s probably not right.
https://www.structuretech.com/blog/holmes-inspections/
Your one liner replies claiming that CaptainPhilfan doesn’t need to upgrade the house he wants to live in is ill advised. Maybe he does. YOU ARE NOT THERE AND IT’S NOT YOUR HOUSE! You have not been helpful to CaptainPhilfan.
Go ahead, continue to be the critic. Fine. I am done. It’s not worth my time to keep refuting your assumptions with your ignorance of things you are critiquing while you accuse others of doing it.
As for it being dismissed for a just being a “cold floor,” remember this was Canada, where temperatures routinely get below ZERO! That floor was COLD... and it had no insulation at all.
My Lady’s condo, which she had bought newly constructed, had ZERO access to the attic space, when she started smelling hot electrical and having breakers trip on the Zinsco paneled wiring that had been installed by the original builders. But there was NO ACCESS to go looking for the problem in the attic space. The electrician had to CUT new holes in rooms trying to find the place where some frayed insulation of two lines were stapled together (incorrect according to code) were arcing and tripping the breakers. What would have been a simple, cheap fix, turned into an expensive remediation because some idiot sheet rockers covered over the framed in access point. They did the same in the neighbors’ condos too.
So there is no such thing as “So What” where no access is concerned for safety. It cost a LOT to get it fixed and then refinish and retroactively install proper access. DUMB builders. It passed city inspectors too. It’s called inspection by drive by. Which can be rife with a lot of contractors and city inspectors.
Your blog ASSUMES the inspector noted there was no access, and then asserts the home owners should have required the sellers to install one and then pay for another inspection so the inspector could look. Did he, really note that? On the moved house of my doctor above there WAS easy access and the inspector never looked.
Exactly how was Holmes’ crew going to gain access to that minimal crawl space without demoing that kitchen, and as I recall a laundry room, and pulling the floor, and then rebuilding the kitchen/laundry room, Tex? Got any brilliant ideas? Dig up from below???
The previous contractor used build-it and cross my fingers that the below grade plumbing would hold up over time and not require attention, and that other problems would not arise. The luck did not hold. The plumbing might have held, but the problem that developed was entirely foreseeable and preventable for little money... just insulating that damn floor for a couple hundred bucks, before putting the subfloor on and you’re done.
By the way, Holmes never identifies any of the previous contractors or inspectors in any way.
I’m done.
Obviously my excerpt confused you. Go to the link.
The author was giving three option that MH as inspector had available same as the original inspector.
“Your blog ASSUMES the inspector noted there was no access, and then asserts the home owners should have required the sellers to install one and then pay for another inspection so the inspector could look. Did he, really note that? On the moved house of my doctor above there WAS easy access and the inspector never looked.”
Better reread it.
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