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Jammer
Posts: 1487
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 4:04 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: We're back

Post by Jammer »

That's great Frank. I thought about doing home inspections after I saw what a crappy job most of them do. I think the lending companies tel the inspector to not point out small stuff, just big, dangerous, obvious, problems. I had to replace my electrical panel box before I could sell my house, apparently that brand would burst into flames for no reason. Why wasn't I told this when I bought the home 10 years before? I really pushed the electric too, I was always popping the breakers.
quando omni flunkus moritati 8-)
F.C.
Posts: 560
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:28 am

Re: We're back

Post by F.C. »

Truth is, Jammer, the lending companies seriously desire these inspectors "DO THEIR JOB" as those inspections protect not just the lender but the buyer as well. While looking for another home to buy I've performed my own inspections and rejected three homes for a variety of defects, two homes in fact, should be considered total condemned. Outward appearances the places looked like model homes. One home was such black mold infested in a dirt basement it affected my respiratory system within five minutes of entering the home. The realtor kept saying "I think you just have a cold... I don't smell anything or feel those symptoms". I've been doing environmental/health & safety surveys of structures for over 12 years and have credentials to prove my opinions. They didn't want to hear that and blew me off. Pulled the home off listing, had "someone" come in and fumigate, then relisted it citing it was thoroughly inspected for mold and passed. That was a lie. The second home was beautiful inside and out. Once I got into the crawlspace and my eyes adjusted to the low light I noticed a thick black coating on the subfloor insulation backing. I'd never seen anything like that before. As my eyes focused I realized that the insulation was sagging "a lot" at every location where a water service was located within the home. One area was 1/3 the underside of the structure in size and sagging to within 6 inches from the dirt below. I low crawled close to that location and put my hand up against that sag and realized that thick black coating was rubberized and been acting like a bladder and literally was supporting over a ton of water. At another location I saw where the insulation had collapsed and took photos of the subfloor above which was thick black of mold. I got the hell out of there out of fear another collapse could crush me and drown me under that structure. Once out, I returned home, called the contractor that built that structure and asked what would it require to replace the entire subflooring. They told me, "You'ld have to deconstruct the entire structure to foundation, replace the subfloor, then rebuild the entire structure to include wiring, plumbing, etc., etc." Needless to say I backed away from that deal too. I told the seller's realtor what I found, even sent photos of it, and they pulled it off the market. Two weeks later it was back on the market bragging about all new plumbing and upgraded insulation throughout the crawlspace.

This county has some of the most unscrupulous realtors ever and will do anything "cheap" to make a buck. Imagine a family buying into that and begin to suffer health issues due to all that black mold saturated subflooring that never got abated. Myself, alone, I could have no effect in publicly damning that structure as I'm not licensed or certified as an "actual" home inspector. Virtually the majority of all the homes in this county have a damp musty moldy smell to the interiors. Respiratory issues run amuck in this area. Gee.... wonder why. Good grief, the nickname for this town of Goldendale for decades has been "OLD and STALE".

The only hazard I foresee to myself in doing inspections might be finding myself dead on the side of a backroad somewhere whacked by a realtor that drew short straw and got rid of me. But it never ceases to amaze me that inspectors from outside this county come here to inspect homes and literally ALL of them give every home a 4 star passing inspection with only minor shit like replacing a GFI outlet, upgrading smoke alarms, etc.

I'm put'n a stop to that bullshit. The banks know what I'm talk'n about as each buyer has had issues with properties they bought and their insurances fix whatever needs done. That should be the seller's responsibility, not the buyer's. If a buyer has to pay 200K for a house it damn well should be worth it and reliable to live in. That's the way buyers see it as do the banks. The banks are anxiously waiting for me to get my certs and license so this shit can stop and the market flourish like it should. And you can damn well believe it I'll be armed wherever I go, on the job, to and from jobs, and on my own time out and about. Anybody tries to do me harm there's only gonna be one story told about it in court... mine. Like I said earlier... there's gonna be a new sheriff in town doing these inspections in this county.
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