Home is the place that every person looks to go when he finishes his daily work. It is the biggest investment of a person in their life. Choosing the right kind of home at a reasonable price is a difficult task. So, it is recommended to look out for some good professionals to help you in making the correct decisions regarding the purchase of a home. Home inspection services and home inspectors with tools are the right professionals to hire.
Before making any decision regarding the right home inspection service provider, just consult your real estate dealer, as he can guide you in a better way regarding the good and reputed home inspector. After choosing the right service provider, ask for the set of tools they have for doing inspection. Home inspection tools are very important for good and detailed inspection of the home. Firstly, the inspection company should have a reliable inspection vehicle. The vehicle should be in clean and good condition. The most common tools used for home inspection are the flashlights, measuring tapes, ladders, electrical circuit tester, gas detectors and digital cameras. You can ask for all these tools and the service provider must not be embarrassed to show them. Measuring tapes and ladders are always carried along while doing inspection.
You can even borrow measuring tape from the home inspector to have the exact size of the windows for curtains and the furniture so as to check whether it will fit or not. Ladders are useful in getting to the roof. An electrical circuit tester has its application in checking out loose wires and other electrical faults in the home. Gas detectors are important as they help in detecting some poisonous gases that can be harmful to the health of the members residing in the home. Therefore, these tools are very essential for choosing the best home inspection service provider and a dream home too.
Pressure washing services are a vital component of improvement projects or commercial constructions. Whether it is a driveway, asphalt, new roofing, or concrete walkway, people will need professionals to do the work for them to make sure that it is done the right way. It has been pretty tough for private individuals to get into the industry in the past.
Still, today, with the improvement in modern technology, it is possible to get jobs that require these professional services. Usually, it is the process of using chemicals and high-pressure water to clean surfaces like concrete or carpets.
This process uses an extremely powerful and high-temperature water pressure to wash debris and dirt that would otherwise have tapped with the concrete or carpet’s cracks or fibers. In the United States alone, this kind of service is usually used in commercial buildings with floors with carpets, where carpets would require deep cleaning to remove debris and dirt that may be trapped on them. In this article, we will take a closer look at the reasons why individuals should hire a local pressure washing service.
How does pressure washer work? Check out this site for more details.
They get the job done a lot faster
First and foremost, in cases of big construction projects, local contractors will be able to get the job more efficient and a lot faster than if people do it by themselves. Not only that, individuals can find out more about the process from professionals with tons of experience and actually do the job than from someone with no experience and does not know anything about it.
Also, once people hire service providers for pressure-washing service providers to do the work for them, they will be able to use their services whenever they need it. For instance, if they have to change service providers or contractors because the one, they hired is not providing them with satisfying results, they will not have to worry about it again.
Allow people to save a lot of money in the long run
Another reason why individuals hire professionals that offer their services in their area is that they will save a lot of money in the long run, especially for commercial construction projects. Some service providers charge a lot for their services, but since people will not be paying for transportation costs, there will be no additional money they have to cover.
The savings people will see from which will help them pay off the amount they originally spent on the job. Finally, suppose individuals do decide to do commercial construction projects on their own. In that case, they could end up spending thousands and thousands of dollars on supplies and equipment, which they won’t have to buy if they hire a professional pressure washing firm to do the job for them.
This way, they will only have to pay a small fraction of their spending if they hire service providers to perform the commercial construction job. When it comes to residential needs, hiring a reputable local pressure washing company is also very important because people can save a lot of money on the cost of having an expert professional clean the house for them.
For instance, if you are a member of the homeowner’s association board, you have the responsibility to keep common areas very clean. It is where hiring a professional company comes to the rescue. Usually, everyone will want to use a company or professional services with tons of experience in this industry. While some might think that could do the cleaning by themselves, there are some areas they would need to take care of.
We need to keep in mind that having a professional who knows what they are doing is pretty expensive. Still, if you ensure that you are working with an expert that will provide the best service for your needs, you will not have to worry about spending a lot of money on this service. In short, while people never know what might happen in the future, if they do not have a reliable professional on hand, they could end up losing tons of money on something they cannot do themselves.
Usually, there are a lot of reasons people hire local professionals instead of learning how to do the job themselves. The bad news is, a lot of individuals do not always consider most of these reasons. Some have concerns that the process will damage the outside of their houses or the structure of their property in a way that it will be pretty expensive to repair.
While the truth is that damage is a common occurrence when you are using pressure washing as a way to clean your home, it can be avoided if you hire professionals and experts and work with companies that offer a full warranty for their services.
Tips on hiring a pressure washing company in your area
Now that you know why it is best to hire a reputable contractor to do the pressure washing job, there are some tips on finding the right experts for your needs. The best way to find the best firms is to ask your friends, family members, neighbors, or co-workers for any recommendations.
Talk to people who have been there and done that. A firm with a massive client base can get a good idea about what the average consumer experience is like. If there are a lot of complaints, then it is hard to see the difference when the possible client is talking to companies. If they look very busy and unwilling to speak to potential clients, it could mean that the firm is not successful in their business and can affect the level of quality they can offer.
Bottom line
People need to remember that most service providers are more than willing to work with contractors, landlords, renter, or homeowners to get the task done right. For example, a commercial pressure washing near me can help get rid of mold, old grease, stains, and mildew in my home, and ruin my property’s appearance.
That is why hiring a service provider with a reputation for doing quality jobs will make houses look better, and the work will last a lot longer. But no matter what type of pressure washing job individuals want to find, they need to make sure that they are taking the time to look at all the options before deciding who to hire. People should always ensure that they get the full warranty on the job they choose and ensure that they offer an acceptable return policy.
San Diego is one of the most popular places to live in California because of its majestic beaches, great weather all year round, and plenty of wonderful outdoor activities where you can participate. These make San Diego homes pretty expensive. If you are planning to purchase your dream house in this sunny city, you have to make sure that you commit no error during the home buying process. One important thing that has to be in your home buying checklist is hiring a certified home inspector in San Diego.
Home inspection services in San Diego can provide you with valuable information on your desired home. When buying a house, there are many details that the potential owner has to know-from its wiring and plumbing to the roof. It is important to know that everything is in good condition. Hiring home inspection services guarantees that you will have a clear picture of the structural, electrical, and mechanical condition of the property. This is because home inspection services conduct a thorough examination of a particular property from the foundation up to the roof. Consulting a well-informed San Diego home inspection service can give you peace of mind and assure you the safety of your new residence.
Among the items to be inspected include:
• Structural components, which include walls, ceilings and floors, roofs, and the house foundation
• Exterior of the house, including the coverings of walls, landscape, grading, altitude, and drainage. Other important items that are checked include the driveways and sidewalks, fences, entrances, windowpanes, front yard, frills, illumination, and outdoor containers.
• Roofing, including the loft, frames, provision of fresh air to a room, roof structure, flashing around the chimneys and other junctions, and rain gutters.
• Plumbing, which consists of identification and evaluation of the condition of piping supplies used for pipes such as drain, waste, exhaust, and potable. Tub and bath equipment such as toilets, sinks, faucets, tubs, showers, and traps are also checked. However, the sewerage system is not included in the inspection.
• Ventilation, cooling, and heating systems and their components
• Electrical system, such as the circuit breakers, main panel, exhausts and ceiling fans, wiring, grounding, receptacles, and light fixtures.
• Built-in and major appliances, which include dishwasher, oven, range microwaves, smoke detectors, and garbage disposal.
• Garage, including the paving slab, walls and ceiling, vents, entrance, firewall, door and windows, garage openers, lights, receptacles, outer walls, and roof.
However, asbestos, radon gas, lead paint, toxic mold, and pest control are not covered in home inspection services. Specific licenses for each item are required for the inspection.
Knowing how home inspection services check out your house can give you peace of mind in dealing with a certified home inspector. Accordingly, many people find themselves uneasy about home inspection simply because they are unaware of the processes involved. However, as mentioned, hiring a certified home inspector can save you from a lot of trouble and money in the end. Most potential buyers only see the external appearance of the house without realizing that behind the beautiful facade might be hundreds of dollars worth of underlying problems.
One of the most important parts of purchasing any home, whether in San Diego or somewhere else, is the home evaluation process. The cost of hiring a professional San Diego home inspector is very little compared with the cost of possible repairs in the future. In order to make sure that you are making the right choice, have your potential house checked by a professional home inspector before signing the papers.
I got an unexpected and very generous bonus at work not long ago. We usually use my bonuses for vacations, so I knew that this was something we could spend on something my wife and I both really wanted. Our house is really nice except for the bathroom in our room. No one ever sees it so it has not been too big of a deal, but we still did not care for it. When I told my wife to look at a company that installs shower doors in Essex County NJ, she admittedly was a bit confused at first.
She did not know I got a bonus, but I told her when she just looked confused. As soon as I showed her the check, she knew that I wanted to use it to finally redo our bathroom. We had talked about it and even planned a lot of it out. That is why I told her to look for shower doors. She had showed me from a magazine she subscribes to a set of shower doors that are really nice. I was not sure if we could get them from a local installer, but I figured we could ask around and find out.
She got busy on it the same day, and we had an appointment with the shower door company that same week. We have always had a tub and shower combo, so the bathroom was going to be completely gutted and redone. The construction company we hired was able to get the work done quickly, and the last thing we needed was to have the shower doors installed. The ones she picked out are very similar to the ones she liked in the magazine with one exception. She definitely likes the ones that she has now much better than anything she has seen elsewhere!
When you receive your home inspection report you will find out about many things that will need to be fixed or repaired. Some things will be small and other repairs will be large. In some cases a handy man will do. In other cases a contractor will need to be called in. It is important to ask the inspector his opinion on the matter. Most Home Inspectors will not reinspect the repairs on a home or property unless the repairs were made by a qualified licensed contractor. Even then the best home inspectors will want to see invoices for the completed work. So when the seller of the home wants to fix a broken door knob or the chalking around a window it is pretty safe to say that would be OK… Plumbing, roofing, electrical, foundation, stucco and framing should be left to the professionals.
In the state of California your home inspector can not make any needed repairs on the home or property for a minimum of 12 months. If your home inspector offers to make any repairs, call someone else. Get a second opinion. Frequently, we get the request in our office for a “partial” inspection. This is just another of those things that truly escapes my logic. While I am sure that the basis for this request is the desire to reduce the expense of the inspection, partial inspections are often a high-risk event for everyone concerned. The liability for home inspectors is high. So are the dollar amounts involved.
Well, the inspector is subject to laws regarding home inspection and should have the proper certifications and/or licenses through the state. But what purpose does a home inspection serve?
The home inspection is a visual assessment of the condition of a house. Inspections are frequently performed when an individual is going to buy a home, but can be done at any time to see what is wrong with a home in order to ensure it stays in satisfactory condition. However, this is a service that is utilized mostly when an individual is buying a home.
What a home inspector does
All you have to do is call the home inspector of your choice and have them meet you at the home. A home inspection can take a couple of hours, while the inspector walks through the home and looks at certain areas. An inspector knows exactly what to look at and, although he or she cannot see within the walls, can sometimes spot telltale signs that something is wrong inside the structure itself.
The home inspector will:
• Assess the outside and inside of the home
• Look for cracks, holes, and any other signs of structural damage such as water damage
• Look for any creaks and cracks in floors
• Evaluate any evidence of electrical issues
• Look at basements for signs of leakage and will look at piping if it is visible
• Look at an attic to ensure it is properly insulated and if any other issues exist
There are so many areas that a home inspector can observe. Once the observation period is over, a report is generated.
Who uses home inspection?
A homeowner getting ready to sell their home may use a home inspector. They do this so that they can make necessary repairs before placing the home on the market. Banks will provide a list of inspectors to potential buyers and the report may be provided to the bank so that the bank knows the property is not an extreme liability. And sometimes buyers will call on an inspector on their own to ensure they are making a good buy.
This is a necessary service as a homeowner and as a home buyer. It provides protection for all parties involved and also helps a buyer reduce the amount they pay on a home based on the flaws that are found.
More people are buying homes and condos. Sales of homes and condos are up 11.4% in the first quarter of 2010 compared to 2009. The reasons are pretty simple – low prices and low interest rates. Short sale and foreclosures are representing over half of all sales in some markets.
Short sales and foreclosures are presenting some truly amazing bargains and getting one of these great deals is what you’re after. To get the best deal, it’s important to follow some critical steps when buying. This short guide will give you the basics of buying in the current market.
1. Know What You Want
What do you want in a home or condo? How much will you pay? Where do you want to be located? Answer these questions before you get serious. The number of properties available in the short sale and foreclosure markets make this step really important. When you’re browsing, this step is not as important, but when you think you are ready to explore buying, you really must define your wants and needs.
2. Know the Market Where You Buy
You need to know the local market and the smaller markets within the broad markets. You can find a lot of information and pricing trends at , , and many others. These services are great for research, but the information is often a few months behind. More current information is available from an active local real estate agent.
3. Get Your Financing in Order
In many cases these days, we are dealing directly with banks and mortgage companies. When we make an offer on a short sale or foreclosure, financing or proof of funds must be in place.
4. Venture Out
Once you know what you want, it’s time to view properties. Viewing properties is a process. You may start with a list of properties that interest you, maybe 5 or 10. You can get that list from different places, but the best list will probably come from your local real estate agent.
You may like a few or none of the properties on the first list. Don’t be discouraged, this is part of the process and quite normal. What the best real estate agents will do is ask you questions about each property you view to determine what you like and dislike. The next time you go out, you will be seeing properties based on those criteria. You continue through the process until you find the home or condo that meets your needs. Then you are ready for the offer and negotiations.
5. Make the Offer
How low should I go?
The offer you make will be based on a few main factors:
* How long has the property been on the market?
* Are there other offers?
* Competition in the price range
* Time and Patience
* You
A two bedroom – two bath condo on the beach at a low price may draw competitive bids. If the property is on the market for a few days and has multiple offers, going well below the listed price will probably not work. If the property has been on the market for a long time, going low makes sense. For short sales and foreclosures, you will often wait for weeks or months for an answer from the banks, so patience is needed. You have a better chance of going low with short sales. Once the bank has foreclosed on a property, they set a price they are looking for based on current market.
Know the local sales numbers. In what price range are most of the sales taking place? In some markets, homes and condos selling under $200,000 make up over 75% of the market. If you are making an offer in a hot price range, there may be more competition.
The decision on making an offer on a property is yours and depends upon you more than anything else. A real estate can offer guidance, but you need to make the decision. Let the real estate agent get all the information available on the property and the most recent similar sales and tell you what they think, but you need to make the decision.
6. After Your Offer is Accepted
After the offer is accepted you MUST get an inspection. An inspection is necessary for you to protect yourself. You also need to carefully read to Title Report, especially if additions or modifications were made. Make sure what should have been permitted was properly recorded.
Read the Appraisal Report. You are looking for errors, missing features and anything else that could make the appraised value lower than it should be.
7. Get Help
A good real estate agent should make the process as easy as possible. Find out who the best short sale and foreclosure agents are in your area. The agent should have training and certification and a track record of closing these types of transactions. If you hire a lawyer or accountant, hire the best you can afford. Get the best help you can.
Following these 7 steps can help you get a great deal when buying short sale and foreclosure properties.
With an increase of Real Estate Owned (RE0) and short sale properties in the market place, we are seeing an increase of properties being listed and sold in their “as is” condition. Is this a red flag and should a buyer be concerned?
In California, most brokers use the Residential Purchase Agreement, which has an “as is” clause stating the property is sold in its present physical (as is) condition. The simple explanation of these two little words is the property is being sold without any warranty and in its present physical condition.
Just because a property is being sold in an “as is” condition, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is something wrong. Every property purchase is unique and there are things to take into consideration prior to making an offer.
Is the property an REO (Real Estate Owned) property? Usually, with bank owned property, the bank does not know the history of the property. When the bank states that the property is sold “as is” they are normally saying we don’t know what is wrong and don’t ask for any repairs.
Is the property being sold as a short sale? When the seller of a short sale property states the property is being sold “as is”, they are making no warranties or representations, and they too will not pay for any repairs. Remember, the seller of a short sale property has a hardship and the seller commonly has no money to make repairs.
The home could be an older home or a fixer-upper that needs lots of renovation and the seller just doesn’t want to bother with the fixes. He may also feel it better to let the buyer decide on how the repairs and or updates and remodel will be done.
The seller may have inherited the property, never lived there and has no history with what the possible defects could be.
A property that is sold “as is” underscores the importance of having a home inspection. Whether a property is sold “as is” or not, a buyer should always have a professional inspector look at the property. It is also important the buyer have the opportunity to walk through the property with the inspector after he has done his inspection. This is the buyer’s opportunity to ask questions and view exactly what the inspector is referring to in his report.
In California, a seller is required to disclose, disclose, disclose. This is stated three times to emphasis it’s importance. A seller provides the buyer a detailed report called the Transfer Disclosure Statement. In addition to this report, the seller provides any and all inspections they have done on the property. It is the sellers responsibility to disclose any and all material facts about the property. Particularly things that would not be easily discovered by an inspector or the buyer. An example of this would be, the neighborhood has hundreds of children, who trick or treat in the neighborhood every Halloween. Just because a seller discloses everything he knows about the property, it doesn’t mean he has to fix it.
If, during the buyer’s due diligence, the inspection reveals significant defects, the buyer can certainly draw it to the attention of the seller. Sometimes a defect may be found that the seller honestly wasn’t aware of. In this situation, the buyer has a few options. He can submit a request for repair, obtain a credit for the estimated cost to make the necessary repairs or withdraw the offer.
Should a buyer stay away from an “as is” sale. I don’t think so. The important thing every buyer needs to remember; do your due diligence, get your reports and ask lots of questions.
Weeds in your garden are a problem because they’re where you don’t want them. Likewise, in your home, water around your foundation and in your basement is a problem because that water is where you don’t want it to be, and it’s a far worse problem than weeds.
If you could find a major cause of water getting into your foundation, you’d want to solve the problem. That would mean you could head off more serious problems. Your house would be more livable for you and for the person who you want to sell it to. Plus, you’d get a better report from your home inspector when it comes time to sell.
Thankfully, there is something you can do, and it’s not difficult. Get control of the gutters and downspouts.
Gutter downspouts are a major cause of water virtually pouring into your home’s basement. That’s because the water goes right alongside your foundation and into your basement. All downspouts should pour that water at least five feet away from your home’s foundation. If that’s not happening, you need to get downspout extensions.
Granted, the downspout isn’t the only source of water coming into your foundation and basement, but it’s one of the worst problems. Simply getting that pouring water out away from your foundation will help tremendously. Try to take care of this problem yourself before you call a waterproofing contractor. Installing downspout extensions could really make the difference for you.
Here’s something else to think about. If your downspout runs into an underground discharge pipe, but you’re still getting water where it shouldn’t be around your downspout, you might have a damaged underground discharge pipe. It could be letting out water right along the foundation, just where you don’t want it.
There’s an easy way to check to see if the underground pipe is part of the problem. Disconnect the downspout from the pipe and add a five foot extension to your downspout to get running water out farther from the house and above ground. Naturally, if the water stops running into your basement, you’ve solved the problem.
If your underground discharge pipe proves to be part of the problem, dig it up and repair it, or leave things as they are with the extension to the downspout in place.
Now let’s take this another step back for a minute. How clean are your gutters and downspouts to begin with? We all hate to do it, but cleaning those gutters is part of life’s little chores when you own a home. If you want water to go where it should and keep it from going where it shouldn’t be, make sure the gutters and downspouts are working as they were meant to.
When cleaning your gutters, you can use a trowel or garden spade to scoop out the junk that has collected there. Then you want to be sure the downspouts are cleared out.
Before you rinse the gutters, put a hose into the downspout and have someone turn it on so you can check the downspout’s flow. If it’s clogged, pack rags around the hose inside the downspout opening to seal in the hose. Turn on the hose full blast. Hopefully that knocks out the clog. If not, you’ll need to clear it out with a plumbing snake, then recheck the flow with the hose.
Next, flush out the gutter and downspout with the hose. Run the hose at the farthest section of the gutter from the downspout. Do this with each of your gutters and downspouts.
In summary, you could eliminate a major source of water into your home’s basement by having a clean gutter system and downspout extensions that release water at least five feet away from your home’s foundation.
The dangerous effects of asbestos have become common knowledge in recent years. Being a fibrous material, the greatest risk associated with asbestos is breathing in the tiny fibers it is composed of. These tiny fibers can become lodged in the lungs and cause serious health reactions.
Due to the heat and fire resistant qualities of asbestos it was used in many products. Some of the most common include clutches in vehicles, components of transmissions, paints and coatings which are heat resistant, materials for roofing, tiles, insulation paper, cement products, pipe insulation, door gaskets for appliances, and fireproofing products.
The dangers imposed by the existence of asbestos depends on the likelihood that it will become airborne. Asbestos that is fully contained such as in tiles or cement products pose no health risk unless and until the asbestos is disturbed by the cracking or chipping of the item. Once asbestos has found its way into the lungs it can lead to several serious illnesses. Prolonged exposure increases the changes of adverse health effects. The most common diseases linked to asbestos are:
• Asbestosis – scarring of the lung tissue which cause difficulty breathing
• Mesothelioma – a cancer affecting the mucus membranes in the lungs, heart, chest and abdominal lining
• Lung Cancer – a cancer than causes persistent cough, shortness of breath, chest pains and anemia
Lung cancer is the most common ailment attributed to asbestos exposure and mesothelioma is almost always caused by direct contact with asbestos over an extended period of time.
Asbestos Found
There are some more hazardous applications of asbestos than others. A home inspector may discover asbestos in a house that you are considering purchasing. What is most important is to find out if and what the posing risks of such a discovery are. Pipe insulation containing asbestos should be replaced because the asbestos can be easily released into the air. Things like floor tiles and siding which are made from asbestos pose less of a direct threat because it is contained and has little risk of being released into the air. The exception to these rules is when pipe insulation is encapsulated and when tiles or siding show visible signs of deterioration such as cracks and chips.
It is perfectly acceptable to ask that asbestos containing materials be removed before agreeing to purchase a home as it can be quite costly. You wouldn’t want to disregard the discovery only to later be charged thousands of dollars to dispose of it.
To make the decision whether to pursue asbestos removal or not you need to do a little investigating for yourself. Ask the home inspector to show you the asbestos containing material so that you can rate the condition. Based on your assessments your real estate agent can work with the seller to hopefully come to an agreement that works for everyone. In order to be thorough you should have an assessment and a removal estimate done from two separate firms whenever asbestos is found. This can be presented to the seller or used for your own personal reference.
