| Home Inspector Secrets (real estate)
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Home Inspector Secrets
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Relocate With Fewer Moving Costs
Cost counts.
That is a basic fact to realize if you are planning to move. The cost is usually the top priority when relocating. Whether someone or you will shoulder the expenses, it is better to include in your plans the following questions:
1. How to budget your moving? 2. How to save from moving expenses? 3. How to approximate correctly?
How to budget your ... Read real estate article
HUD Foreclosures
You have found your dream home and it is a HUD foreclosures. You have done a walk-through of the HUD house and it seems to be in good shape, just a few minor repairs.
Unfortunately, you have already made a major mistake. Your real estate agent, who is your uncle, has never sold a HUD home foreclosure. He does not have any idea how much you should offer for a HUD foreclosure. Your uncle ... Read real estate article
Home Inspector Secrets
A prudent home inspector can be the difference between buyer satisfaction and buyer's remorse. Home inspectors are hired for one of three purposes:
Determine the state of a home before putting it on the market
Assess the value of a home for mortgage approval
Inspect a newly constructed home, prior to the expiration of the 1-year warranty
What are home inspections? Home inspections are a visual assessment of the systems and structures that comprise a home:
Air conditioning
Attic
Basement
Ceilings
Doors
Electrical systems
Floors
Foundations
Heating and ventilation
Plumbing
Roof
Surface insulation
Walls
Windows
Obtaining the truth necessitates a qualified inspector. A viable home inspector will identify, project and detail what predicament(s) may evolve from fixing or ignoring a house malady. Even better are the ones who offer direction. Use the following consumer tips provided by TheConsumerJournal.com questions to qualify the expertise of a prospective home inspector.
Home Inspection Question Checklist
1) How many years have you been licensed to inspect homes?
Novice home inspectors do not have the expertise of more seasoned inspectors. To verify a home inspectors license, visit your state's local chapter of Department of Financial and Professional Regulations
2) Annually and on average, how many inspections do you conduct?
Generally, full-time inspectors average 300 home inspectors a year.
3) Do you have a proof of business liability insurance?
The vast majority of inspectors' contracts are limited to the liability of the home inspection. Despite the fact that some inspectors have insurance for damage incurred during the inspection, other inspectors are carrying an "errors and omission" policy for losses resulted from the home inspection. (Nevertheless, home inspections should not be misconstrued with an insurance policy or warranty against any pricey defects unfurled after a sell or buy).
4) Are you associated with any home inspection associations?
The American Society of Home Inspectors and the National Association of Home Inspectors have discerning standards in licensing.
5) How much time is needed to conduct the home inspection?
A standard home inspection takes approximately two and half to three and half hours.
6) What is your fee assessment?
Home inspections range in price, from $350 to $475.
7) May I see a sample copy of your home inspection form?
A comprehensive form is a telltale sign of how thorough the home inspection will be.
Consumer Home inspection tip:
Never hire a home inspector based on their rate. Do not forget to print this article off to help obtain a comprehensive home inspection.
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Fixing and Flipping a Mobile Home
In April of 2005, my Mom (who, like me, is also a real estate agent) was looking through our local "Thrifty Nickel" weekly classified ads newspaper. She saw a very interesting ad and brought it to my attention. The seller who placed the ad offered to sell six mobile homes, all on their own lots. The mobile homes were real property, not mobile homes located on rented lots. They were all being offered with seller financing.
The seller lived out of town and when we called him, he told us the mobile homes had been empty for a couple of years. He said to drive by them and then call him back if we were still interested.
Of course we, (my Mom, Dad and I), went to look at them immediately. One was occupied by a transient squatter, so we couldn't get in to that one. Four were literally falling apart from rotten roofs and all the rain we had been getting. The last mobile home was in good enough condition to consider. We called the owner and asked him to meet us, so we could get in to look at it.
Our initial inspection revealed outdated appliances (think yellow and avocado colors). There was rotting under the kitchen sink, and an ugly master bath shower that had been painted in order to make it "look better". There were different types of carpeting in each of the rooms, and there were water leaks in the roof in various places.
Of course if you have ever worked on a fixer-upper you know that what you see on the surface is not the only work that needs to be done and we took that into account.
We went ahead and bought the mobile from the owner for his asking price of $65,000 by putting $5,000 down and creating seller financing for the balance at 8% interest for 30 years with no balloon payments. I think our payment was about $500/month.
We put about $10,000 and a ton of sweat equity into the property over the next 90 days.
As we were working on the mobile home, we found lots of extra things that needed to be fixed. For example, we took out the old shower stall in the master bath so that we could put tile in. After it was out, we found that the flooring under the shower and under the hot water heater, located directly behind the shower, were rotted through. The rotten flooring had to be replaced, and then the hot water heater had to be replaced. Those were just one of several unanticipated costs and repairs.
Other items of repair or upgrading included:
- Replacing all of the carpeting.
- In the kitchen: replacing the kitchen sink, repairing the rotten floor, painting the walls and cabinets, adding a dishwasher, a disposal, and then replacing the stove and the refrigerator.
- Repairing the roof and then painting the ceiling where the water staining had occurred.
- In the master bathroom we replaced the vanity, the mirror, and the lights. We also tiled the shower and tiled the floor. This work is what really sold the home...it looked awesome!
- Outside we cleaned up the knee high weeds, removed dead bushes and trees, trimmed the over-grown shrubs and then planted lots of flowers.
- The home also included a sunroom which had rotten walls, and ceiling from the leaking roof. The sunroom was also heavily infested with termites. This room had to be almost totally rebuilt. Termite eradication was $500.
- We also hauled away seven large trailer loads of trash and remodeling debris.
- Nearly all of repair and remodeling work was done by my dad. (Way to go dad!)
When finished, we ended up putting the mobile home up for sale at $130,000. This was three months after we bought it.
We had it for sale for about three weeks and then withdrew it because we started thinking about using it as a rental. It would have rented for about $800/month giving us about $300/month positive cash flow, before expenses.
The day after we took the home off the market, we received an offer from a buyer for $120,000, cash, which we accepted.
After the remodeling dust had settled, we made $45,000. This was a tidy profit for 90 days of fix up work. We haven't been able to find anything like this deal since then, but we keep looking!
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