Michael's View: November 2007

Property inspections some time around the 11 month is a good idea especially if you did not do the home inspection prior to closing. Better builders will repair defects in material and workmanship during the first year that you own the property.

Depending upon the builder, some properties will have some minor/typical issues. I have seen some require review by a structural engineer. I have seen some that looked like who did it and ran!

For the most part, broken hose bibs, loose hand rails, damaged windows are the typical run-of-the-mill issues found with most new construction. The super is generally running 5-6 projects simultaneously, and does not have the time to see everything that the subs do.

Occasionally, structural failures occur such as the one pictured. I got concerned when I noticed excessive cracks in the drywall and unusual slopes in the flooring in one section of the property. While in the crawlspace, I noticed that one of the support piers had given way causing the problem.

Most foundation contractors would have charged any where from $1500 - $2000 to repair this. The contractor absorbed the cost saving my client several thousand dollars.

This 11 month warranty inspection saved my client a lot of money.

Most good real estate professionals suggest that new construction properties get an independent inspection prior to closing or the final walk-through. Most don' citing money is tight, especially if they are first time buyers. Or, there may be other circumstances that prohibit the inspection process.

Most builders of track or spec properties give the home owners a year warranty on items that may develop with the property and do a one-time repair of cracks or nail-pops.

If you did not do the the property inspection prior to closing, this would be an excellent time to have the property inspected. This way, the builder can take care of any major repairs while the property is still under warranty.

While inspecting a property and I noticed that some of the rock veneer had fallen off behind the compressor units. Upon further examination, I noticed that most of the veneer was loose and I could pull the rock work off with little trouble. To have this stone work repaired will cost the builder thousands of dollars. Had the owner not done the one year inspection, he would have had to foot the bill.

Wise home buyers get the property inspected before thier home warranty runs out.

More often than not, when talking to friends in the real estate business, many people that purchase new properties forgo the inspection contingency because they buy into the line or lie that "It has been inspected by the codes department. There is nothing to worry about."

Well ... Kinda-sorta true but keep in mind that codes are nothing more than the MINIMUM building standards.

Brentwood, Franklin and Williamson County have tough inspectors and high standards, especially electrical. Having in the electrical engineering field in a prior life, I understand and know most of the commercial and residential codes affecting wiring and service panels.

Granted, home inspections are not codes inspections, but knowledge of the more common "accepted trade practices" are helpful in this industry.

The other day, I ran across a service panel which had paint on the inside of the cabinet and on the main buss bar. According to NEC (National Electric Codes), No paint other than the manufacturer's paint is allowed on the interior of the cabinet and no paint is allowed on the buss. According to NEC the panel must be replaced!

To make a short story long, I wrote the panel up as needing review by a licensed electrician and possible replacement due to the offending paint. The contractor was furious citing that the panel was inspected by "The Codes Department" who were there the other day and they passed it! I asked the contractor, "Did they also pass the missing ground on the GFCI plug in the bathroom and the inoperable plug on the other side of the cabinet?"

I understand that no one is perfect - especially me! In their defense, try as they may, I feel the codes officials in this are overworked and under paid for their services. And, they do not have adequate time to spend in each property to do a thorough assessment. 10-15 minutes v/s my 2-3 hours. I try to explain to builders and contractors that I am just another set of eyes making sure that their customer is satisfied and content with the product that they are purchasing.

That being said, wise buyers need to get their properties inspected.

I am still quite new to AR - Joined a few months ago but really did not do anything with it for the first few weeks. I dibbled and dabbled at some posts and then I got to noticing Points!

How in the world did so many people at the top amass such a quantity of points in such a short time? To the best of my knowledge, AR has only been in existence for a little over a year.

I checked out profiles of the leaders found that most points came from posts and comments. AS I am anal and need to know the answer I stared doing the math.

Lets see: 10 posts a week at 200 points per post = 2,000 Points!

              10 responses a day at 25 points = 250 Points X 7 days = 1,750 Points!

              Take this 3,750 points x 52 weeks = 195,000 Points!  WOW!!

Now that I have done the math on how one can amass this quantity of points - What do or can you do with them?

I must be missing something here.

We understand that every home-buyer has a dream...

Part of our job is to help make that dream come true.  Thanks for allowing us to be part of the dream.

~~ Michael Thornton ~~, President

A few minutes ago Tom Braatz from Milwaukee, WI made a post about refrigerator magnets. I have been seeking an inexpensive source for refrigerator magnets. Does anyone have some URL's or sources that use? I have checked out some sites and prices really vary. I am working on some projects in my area that will involve magnetic backing capable of holding up a shopping list. I would be grateful for any and all help.

Thanks
 P.S. When I complete this project, I will generate a post on how well this project worked!

I joined AR about a month or so ago and quite frankly, did nothing with it. Last week I met with the home stager in my area who invited me to AR and she said that she spends about 15 - 20 minutes a day reading and posting blogs. She is in the top 3 in our county.

I decided to look to see who is in AR in my area. I was amazed at how many real estate professionals I knew that are part of the AR community. I contacted several of them.

To make a short story long, I started posting blogs, sharing what I do in this area with the rest of the community and WOW, I have moved from last place in my city to #3.

I want to thank all of the bloggers for the helpful hints that are in thier posting which help in posting better topics and how to create interesting posts.

6.  Make sure your newsletters are INTERESTING

7. Build time spent looking at your newsletters by including CONTESTS and QUIZES.

1. Challenges will hold people's attention
2. Gives a sense of accomplishments
3. Make them look forward to the next issue
4. Have a call back response.
5. Example: First person to call in during President's Month with Abraham Lincoln's middle name wins a free dinner for two at Chili's.
6. P.S. President Lincoln doesn't have a middle name.
   

8.  Everyone has a bit of a soft spot for a good CHARITY.

1. Each referral that we get we will donate $25 to the charity of the referrers' charity of choice
2. A portion of all proceeds will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation
3. Discount for Katrina and Rita Evacuees

9. Get more out of your newsletter by adding an INSERT.

10.  Another great way to make your newsletters interesting are to establish a target NICHE.

• Your first home
• Over 55
• Moving with kids

I have several of archived archived news letters that I make available to real estate professionals in my area. If you are interested, I will share these with the community. Send me an email with your address and I will send the attachments. These are done in word format and within a few minutes you have a finished newsletter.