What I'm Seeing Now

Yesterday I had an inspection with a concerned, very nice young single mother who bought a 4 year old foreclosure.  She moved in about a week ago.  She noticed things with the house.

Her agent told her that since she was obtaining a Veteran's Administration loan, the VA would do an "inspection" and she didn't need to have a home inspection.

The VA inspector/appraiser told her the same thing.

Well, she should have had an inspection!  Had she my list in hand for the VA guy he could have required lots of things for the bank to do prior to her occupancy.  Things apparently he knew nothing about.  Now, they are all her problems.

I spent a lot of time with her teaching.  She needed it.  There are many fixes needed and she should get right on them.  Her family can help, so she is in luck there.  Fortunately she lives only a mile from us and my wife will make sure she is taken care of.

At the end of the inspection I got a hug and kiss on the cheek!  She called me "awesome!"  That does not happen very often.  She now knows what she needs to do and where to go for help.  And she can count on me...  Peace of mind is worth a million bucks!

My recommendation:  get a home inspection!

Can a home inspector help when it comes to codes and new home construction? Since the inspector has no juice as an Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), what can he do? And what do home buyers do about codes and their new homes?

Most new home buyers have little way of knowing if a house has been properly constructed. While your home inspector may not have jurisdictional authority, he should, and most likely does, have a basic or specific understanding of the codes in the area. Most inspector's reports have verbiage that identifies items he thinks suspect, and recommends further investigation.

This will go for older homes as well. It doesn’t matter to your inspector if the homeowner does not have to improve something to meet a modern code. If he sees something that is not correct, or should he identify something as lacking, insufficient, unsafe or whatever, almost always he will recommend it to a specialist for further evaluation for reasons of safety or common sense. Deck guardrails, for example, if built today, are to have vertical balusters that are separated by the width of my hand. That is how I check them! Older decks may have balusters that are spaced wider apart or even guardrails that are horizontal. Is the homeowner required to bring that up to the modern standard? No. But I have language already built into my report software that identifies many such problems and recommends further evaluation.

The AHJ sometimes renders imperfect inspections of new construction. There are few inspectors in most jurisdictions, usually with many, many homes to inspect. They really have little time for each structure and are looking for big things. On one recent pre-drywall inspection, the county inspector showed up and asked me what I had come up with. After pointing out some things to him, he said, “I’m failing it,” and walked out! He had been there less than five minutes and I was very surprised. But I do NOT think that is common practice.

Builders usually give a guarantee for what I call “the structure and the stuff.” If someone bought a home that did turn out to have some flaw to report to the local code authority, most jurisdictions give them a year to do so. If the AHJ was to agree and report it to the builder, the flaw then becomes a violation and subject to court action.  But if the builder has gone out of business or left the area, the new homeowner may be ordered to correct the error. And any other deficiencies found to be violations. Code enforcement authorities are usually quite amenable and reasonable and even help to work things out.

For remodeling, most community Home Owner Associations require permits for maintenance, repairs and improvements so going through them often gets one square with what the County might require. Also, as to codes, community rules often supersede local codes and, in effect, become “THE CODE.” Check the rules with both authorities before a project is begun.

You should know that MOST code enforcement is against homeowners and not professionals who don’t follow the rules. The best way to avoid having to tear things apart and start over is to get a permit first. If a contractor says to you that a permit isn’t necessary, beware!

Remember, codes are minimum standards! They may not be adequate! This is especially true if a house is used in an unintended way. How many of us have converted a bedroom into an office, adding shelving, cabinets and all kinds of equipment? Part of the code-compliant room may be overloaded beyond the floor strength it was designed to handle as a bedroom.  A roof overloaded with ice and snow can be code-compliant but collapse. Codes are minimum standards.

My recommendation:  When I am asked if this or that is a good builder, my response is that it depends on the supervisor on site every day and on the subcontractors. The supervisor is responsible to make sure that the architectural specs are implemented. If the supervisor does not want to work with you, or is incommunicado, get answers from someone else! And a pre-drywall inspection and one just before the final walk through are highly recommended!

So, does your inspector know? Or, better, what does your inspector know?

The National Electric Code (NEC) contains nearly 800 pages, packed with charts, graphs, tables, etc., is updated every three years, and each update usually contains about 1,000 changes. Plumbing, mechanical, building, fire, and so forth are similarly overwhelming. Further, codes refer to hundreds of standards published by various organizations such as the National Bureau of Standards, American Society for Testing and Materials, United Laboratories (you've seen the UL listed stickers on appliances), the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers – there are dozens more!

Personal note: my community HOA will ding you for algae on vinyl siding. As such, that becomes the local “code.”

Your home inspector is a generalist – it is unlikely that he will remember precisely that a fireplace hearth should extend 16” in front of an opening of smaller than six square feet -- and that it should be 20” for openings larger than that! However, a short hearth, of 12” or so, will probably be noticed, and noted on the report. An inspector’s musings or concerns expressed verbally or on the report should be followed up by referring to a specialist.

It is even less likely that your home inspector will remember when a certain code provision was instituted in the jurisdiction he is inspecting. In Northern Virginia, some communities only a few miles apart will have chosen to enforce certain code modifications at different times. Sometimes it is decades. One of the largest suburbs of Washington D.C. only recently began to require powered vents in enclosed bathrooms even though throughout most of the country and Canada they have required that for years!

I understand that some jurisdictions passed the new AFCI codes for bedrooms before the tested and approved devices came out! How was that enforced?

If you think the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) knows all the codes and when they were adopted, think again. They may not even be able to come up with a history of code articles, dates, or where they are enforced. Photocopies of relevant documents or verbal answers over the phone may not be reliable.

My recommendation: If you are buying a home, not knowing whether a deficiency the home inspector has mentioned is a violation of local codes when the house was built, it is best to ask a specialist in that area. THEY are more likely to know local standards at least, if not the codes. They have learned the codes in the School of Hard Knocks, a cruel, but effective teacher. Oh, and remember Mother Nature…

On my inspections I routinely check the legal seal under the electric meter. If it is broken, I note it.

Recently some clients of mine were challenged by the electric company that installed a new meter on their house to show why they should not be fined ($500) for tampering with the former meter's broken legal seal. While the clients could not prove that they did NOT fiddle with it, they were able to use my report commentary, and date on the relevant page, to prove that the broken seal pre-existed their occupancy.  The legal seal is the small blue tag under the meter in the photo.

No blood, no foul!

They were not fined! Sure, it's one of a thousand things we home inspectors check on every inspection. But if it is not documented, it is not documented.

I got a very grateful thank you note... one can only hope that they also sent a Nyah! Nyah! note to the electric company!

This is the first of a few posts regarding home inspections and codes. Stay tuned!

Building codes have been around for a long time. Sometime in the 1700’s BC, in Babylonia, Hammurabi’s Code stipulated that a builder be slain if he built a house that fell on and killed somebody. During the Dark Ages, London planners tried to reduce fires by stipulating a fire stop between row houses. And in 1791, Mr. Washington put forth legislation for the first United States building code.

There are many codes in the United States – national, state, county and local. There are approximately 40,000 enforcement jurisdictions that have adopted various codes and have modified them for local needs. They have published many of these codes, regulating everything from electrical, building, plumbing, mechanical, housing, maintenance, fire, safety, landscaping – you name it.

Do you think home inspectors know all the codes? Think carefully.

Personally, I do inspections in 14 different enforcement jurisdictions, from counties to local incorporated cities. They each have different codes, which for each jurisdiction could fill books that stuff an entire book shelf. Do you think I know all the codes in each enforcement jurisdiction? Think carefully.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of codes in each jurisdiction. Anyone who knows them all would be, well, amazing. And they all change regularly! When a home inspector looks at a 45 year old house, with improvements and modifications made at different times, there is no way to know when things were done and what the codes were at that time.

Home inspectors have no code enforcement authority. They usually do not report code deficiencies to enforcement authorities. I have called a couple of county inspectors I know to report some really egregious things, and they have actually come to the site and condemned things because of the finding, but in my 27 years that has been rare.

Home inspectors are not the so-called Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) when hired to do an inspection. Therefore, they cannot “find” violations of codes as a deficiency is ONLY a violation when the AHJ says that it is. Further, few of these code deficiencies are likely to be noted on a report as such. Safety and pocket book issues are likely to be noted – but NOT as code violations.

Home inspectors often interpret houses based on existing codes. They do this because the codes reflect wisdom and basic performance.   Codes are minimum requirements! They are a “floor” and a baseline, not a “ceiling.” They can be exceeded and many builders do! I will say this:

Good old Mother Nature will enforce the natural principles which inspire a code regardless of whether it has been obeyed or enforced.

Coming up: Does your inspector know? How home buyers can go about repairs. And, help for new home buyers. Finally, a summary of things to remember…

In the last two weeks I have gotten a rash of bounced checks. This happens periodically, but not like this. Are you experiencing the same thing?

It's usually the same excuse - oh, my wife forgot to transfer money, I didn't realize you would deposit it so quick, the same old blah-blah, etc. I have since been properly paid, all except one.

One guy, who claimed to be buying a $1.4 mil house for cash, wrote me a business check for the inspection. I didn't notice but he back dated it one week. It bounced. I always call the realtor and have him/her contact the client. This time the realtor had moved to Texas. She said that the whole thing was a fraud. Apparently everything this guy did bounced, ALL the way to settlement. His website*, up on the day of the inspection, is mysteriously down now. Phone cut off. The address on the check does not exist (he changed a couple of words, but I did find his apartment, empty). The bank account was viable, though empty of funds, on Friday when I called him on another number I found. I returned to the bank on Monday to see if funds were there and it had been closed. I think I'm stuck with a jerk!

The D.A.'s office said I can prosecute criminally or go to small claims court. But neither is a guarantee. There is nothing to attach and they told me that I would obviously win my case against him, but that there was no guarantee that I would get anything out of him from the judgment. He is not around and they do not go about trying to find people. So here I am. I don't think it's worth the time, effort or stress to go after the twerp.

I have been doing inspections for 27 years. I can't remember this ever happening before.

The laws in this country really favor the scam artists - you can't evict someone for months when they are living in your house and not paying rent - you can't go after people for bad money if they have covered themselves sufficiently - you can't, you can't, well, you know! We are at the point of saying to people - cash, bank check or money order - no guaranteed checkie, no inspectie...

Is this a sign of the times or what? I was interesting in knowing - are you experiencing the same thing?

Caveat inspector...

* The Auto Innovators - Gabriel Cunningham ("Gabe").  Business plan - mobile wi-fi connections that move with the car.  Interesting, but don't trust this guy!!

I had occasion recently to see a need satisfied, two needs really, and at the same time!

In a group of young men, stripling boys really, some singing would have been dramatically improved with some piano accompaniment.  No one stepped up to the plate.  I did not know that any of them played, and I thought I knew them pretty well.  To my surprise, and apparently everyone else's, one young man sat down and began playing.  He knew the song by heart.  And he played beautifully!  Actually he was great!!  The singing not only improved, but got more buoyant and loud and enthusiastic.

After much back slapping and atta boys, suddenly our pianist became the center of attention.  No one knew he could play!  His family had been sworn to secrecy.  He was afraid that his piano playing might be viewed as dorky, and, when with his friends, he buried his talent.  He showed it and got really rewarded.  He satisfied a need for the group and the group satisfied a need of his.  It can't get better than win-win.

Suddenly there was a cathartic moment.  Confessions spilled out.  "I play this," ..."And I play that."  Proud proclamations!  It was a great teaching moment, about buried talents, and sharing and how we all got a bit closer together (I never miss a chance).  One kid even laughed and said his mother had told him this would happen!  He was shocked that she was right.

On a personal note, I have to confess that the older I got the smarter my mother got too.  It was an amazing transformation...  Now as I look back, I realize just how brilliant she was.

Do you have talents that you can share, but are afraid that someone else might consider it dorky?  You never know how sharing it might just improve a circumstance or a relationship or a life.  Even yours!

I'll bet the next time our group needs a talent shared more volunteers will show up.  I catharsis, therefore I am... or something like that.

I have had clients over the years who bought houses that were well within their financial means. There were others who bought way over their means. Their motivations are not my call.

Similarly, I have had clients buy houses that were in excellent condition. Others bought properties thoroughly trashed and probably expensive to repair. They will sometimes ask me if they should buy a fixer-upper. My answer – it depends! It depends on so many things – their skills, their energy, their time, their finances, their ability to see beyond the mess, their contacts, their, their… But there is a terrific market out there for handy-man specials. I salute those who take them on! Such buys they are not right for most people. And, they can be real hardships for even the most talented.

There are many clients who have stuck with me for many years through many inspections (total masochists apparently). One young lady who has called me many times is a great example of prudence. She started years ago with a small one-bedroom condo. The market made her money. She went from there to a larger two-bedroom condo. The market made her money but she also fixed it up. She moved from that to a townhouse, which, after market improvement and fix ups, she sold for another gain. At that point she married and bought a single-family home. Now they have two children. This young lady has always been well situated and well within her budget. They have steadily improved on this house. Is the current market downturn bothering her? No.

I get questions all the time – Is this house a good investment? I don’t know, but the house has great bones. Is this a nice neighborhood? I have been in here many times and it seems nice to me, but ask a few neighbors. Is the house in good enough shape that you would buy it? I would be comfortable with my mother living her, if that is what you are asking. Is this a good house? That is up to you – does it feel right? Will we like living here? I don’t know, but I hope you are never satisfied with the house and always try to make improvements. Call me when you do!

One thing a real estate agent or home inspector cannot tell you is if the house is a good fit. Those variables are too many to know. But I find that most clients just feel right about a house. They can somehow tell if it fits.

And if the house fits, wear it!

This time of year the furnace becomes a very important appliance.  Checked it recently?  What kind do you have - gas, oil or electric?  Do you have an annual service contract?  Do you need one?  Replaced or cleaned the filter recently?  Can you even get to your furnace?

A gas or oil furnace or boiler needs an annual tune up, particularly if it is older than 5 years.  Newer units are more efficient than older ones.  The new code requires a more efficient system, so if you are thinking of replacing your system you should understand that.  The old code required systems with a minimum of a 10 Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER).  The new code requires a 13 SEER minimum.  A 14 SEER is not much more money than a 13, but about 8% more efficient!  I tell my clients to consider that...

Note:  IF you are thinking of replacing your unit, consider the entire system, heating and AC.  But do your homework.  Find out estimated savings or monthly/annual costs.  Calculate what you are spending now (based on your fuel costs per gallon or therm or kilowatt) and how much the new system will cost.  Then you can calculate your savings.  Divide those savings into the cost of a new system to figure out how many months or years it will take to break even.  If you intend to stay in your house, the savings become a dividend!  If you are selling your house, the new system becomes a feature!

A heat pump may not need an annual service contract, but it should be checked at least every other year.  The same energy savings apply to them as to other units.  Calculate your benefits of upgrading!

The most important maintenance you can do for your system is your air filter!!  It should be replaced or cleaned monthly.  There is some debate about whether to use the high-efficiency filters or just the blue ones.  You will have to answer that for yourself.

My opinion is this:  you can almost read a book through the blue filters.  They filter anywhere from 8 - 15%.  That means your system will need cleaning more frequently.  The high efficiency filters capture more from the air.  HVAC professionals do not recommend them because many people are not diligent about cleaning or replacing them monthly.  If you use a high-efficiency filter you must be supremely diligent about replacing or washing it monthly...!  The cheap filters are just that - cheap.  The good ones do cost, some $22 each.  That adds up!

I use the washable electro-static filter advertised on the radio (99% filtration).  I have three in my house, and installed them when we moved in 10 years ago.  They are diligently washed.  My HVAC guy says that my units are exceptionally clean.  The filters cost $65 each when I bought them and we have used them now for 122 months.  That's only $.53/month.  They were a great deal!

Don't pile stuff around your furnace (or water heater).  You may need to get to them fast and they want to breath.  If you can't see it, you will probably be less likely to remember the filter routine.

My recommendation:   do some investigation.  Do some math.  Figure your benefits.  The old adage, "If it ain't broke don't fix it," might not apply!

I have posted something similar to this on other home inspection sites.  I have been asked to tweak it a bit to apply better to real estate and post it here.

In business development, there are lots of keys, all under the heading of organization and marketing. Here is what we all should market:

1. Yourself - consistent contact with clients - or other agents, brokers, loan officers, home inspectors, etc. - personal contact during the sales process, monthly emails like newsletters, blogs, websites, mailings. The key word is consistent. Personal grooming and how you dress should NOT be underrated. How you speak generally and with clients is certainly NOT to be underrated. If your vocabulary lacks, work on it. If you use the words "like" or "um" or "you know" or "I mean" a lot, alter your phraseology.

2. Your company - as an agent, diversify your services. Make it known to your clients, other agents or brokers everything you do and demonstrate that you do them well. Real estate in general offers a wide array of service possibilities.Your company may have a reputation locally or nationally.  Make that a part of your marketing plan.

3. Your abilities - if you aren't learning and growing, you aren't learning and growing, and constantly falling behind those who are. This should be obvious. One of my favorite quotes, hanging in my office, is from Michelangelo, written when he was 87 (he died at 93), "I am still learning." If you aren't familiar with his bio you should be. And HE wanted to grow more. The real estate business is a GREAT way to develop abilities. A general education is important too. Education is useless if not shared. If you don't know how to do something, find someone who is good at it, learn from them, and work at it.

4. Your product and presentation - my opinion is that only about 30% of the real estate business is real estate knowledge. Another 30% would be your ability to communicate, educate and inform your clients during a sales or listing process. If you don't do that well, believe me, the clients and other agents will notice and it will get around their office tomorrow. Another 30% would be the quality and thoroughness of your record keeping - easy to understand yet comprehensive so someone else could step in if you get sick or go away for some reason - this is very, very important not only to the client but to YOU. The last 10% would be people skills, which are hard to teach.

5. Anything else that sets you aside from the pack.  My previous post, The Slight Edge Principle, should not be under rated. Tiger Woods has an average score that is less than 2 strokes ahead of #100 on the PGA Tour. Can you name #100? You may not have ever heard of him. ANYTHING slightly different about you can work to your favor and impress.

If you don't think marketing is important, there are 20 mountains in North America higher than Pike's Peak. How many can you name? As to organization, there are as many kinds of organizations as there are people. You need to start one or find one that complements you and who you are.  The old adage about a shoe fitting does not really apply in business.  Find the shoe you like, or cobble your own, and make sure it fits before you wear it!