Watch Out For Flipped Homes part 1

Flips can be a disastrous purchase. While there are some good flippers out there, a lot are out there just to turn a quick buck not caring what their doing. Make it look good, even if it's #notdoneright. Get the most money and move on. We'll be showing some of the flips we inspect in the coming weeks in a new series. "Watch Out For Flipped Homes". In the part below you'll see how the structure is moving, wrong materials are used, and just lack of knowledge or care is done to sell at top dollar. Without a home inspection this buyer would've been in serious financial issues trying to fix it  

#bloodhoundhomeinspection

#notdoneright

#homeinspection

#homeflips

 

Things you might not see without a home inspection #2 Water Leakage

One of the biggest items home buyers don't want to see is water leakage. A lot of basements get painted, I mean a lot, when people are selling their home. They either paint it for better appeal or to cover something up, especially if it is a flipped house. Without trained eyes to spot evidence of former or current water leakage into the home, you may never know until that first hard rain. Watch the video below to see some things to look for when purchasing a home.

#bloodhoundhomeinspection #youngstownhomeinspection 

 

Real Estate Agents, what to watch out for on a home inspection

I get a lot of joy in teaching real estate classes on various topics including home inspections. Here is one of my latest classes Avoiding The Aggravations of Home Inspections. In this class I teach what to expect during a home inspection, contracts that the inspector has, what is covered and what is not. There are also red flag issues to watch out for that you might come across when you tour a home that is for sale in the Northeastern Ohio Area.

 

#bloodhoundhomeinspection

#homeinspection

#homeinspector

#youngstownohio

 

Attic Stair Installation Done Wrong

 One thing that a lot of people don't realize is that attic stairs get installed incorrectly quite frequently. One of the things home inspectors look for is how the ladder is fastened to the framing. A lot of times they get screwed into the framing. You may ask: What's wrong with that? Screws hold things together, right? While screws are easier to install then nails on these units, it's wrong. The shear strength of a nail is stronger then that of a screw. The manufacturers even put tags on these units that say to place nail through holes in brackets. These labels are usually found near where the ladder meets  the framing. When we come across this, we recommend adding 16D nails to the unit for better support as opposed to taking the whole thing down.   

Basement flooding? Check the grade first.

One of the most common items buyers are afraid of when purchasing a home is a wet basement. No one wants water in it and you don't want to have to pay thousands to correct it. So before you go hiring a company to bust open the floor, install drain tile, and a sump pit, check the grade and downspouts. A lot of times your downspouts are draining right next to the foundation. Water drains straight down and finds the weak spot which is the floor to wall connection and then leaks into the basement. So put those extensions on the downspouts and drain it away from the home. Next, look at the grading. Are their low spots around the home? Does it slope towards the home? If it does, get fill dirt and slope it away. Don't use mulch or rock landscaping as it won't direct water away. Fill dirt, slope away and monitor. You'll find that a lot (not always) of times this will fix your leaking basement and you won't need to go to the costly repair of busting up the floors with drains and sump pits. If you do this and you still get water, then seek out a waterproofing company. Make that your last step, not the first.

#bloodhoundhomeinspection

#homeinspecton

#homeinspector

#wetbasement
 

What a blown window seal looks like and what it means

One of the things we look for during a home inspection is blown window seals. What is a blown window seal? The short answer is this: Windows are vacuum sealed at the factory. Over time, those seals can go bad and the window loses it's vacuum seal. When this occurs you will typically see a fogging or moisture in between the glass. This doesn't affect the weather coming in, however, it does affect the energy efficiency of the window and they can get pretty ugly. Check out the video below.

There's not many, if any, companies still around that fix these, however, if you know the brand name and size, sometimes you can order just the replacement sash. A lot of times you will need to replace the window.

#homeinspection

#bloodhoundhomeinspection

#windowsealfailure

#youngstownhomeinspector