Michael's View: August 2009

Yesterday, I got a real treat - not a treatment. For the past several months I have been nurturing my moon flower vine. Over the past few days, my efforts have been rewarded by an abundance of beautiful, fragrant, brilliantly white blooms. Yesterday, there were over 30 blossoms. The soft subtle fragrance from these beautiful 6" blooms filled the back yard with the pleasing scent very reminiscent of a fine perfume. The kind that only mother nature can supply...

Helping YOU Live YOUR American Dream...

When one is purchasing a distressed property or a foreclosure, there are often many hidden issues that the trained eye of a professional inspector can reveal. One major issue that I find with foreclosures are environmental issues - primarily fungus. In the state of TN, we legally cannot call it what it really is but have to refer to it as a "mold like substance" or "what appears to be fungal activity of some type" due to legalities. After the suspect material is tested by a certified lab, then and only then can we refer to the suspect material as "MOLD"

Mold, just loves cool dark environments such as basements and crawlspaces. In foreclosed properties, the power is often turned off for several months at a time. With dehumidification turned off, this allows moisture to seep into building materials such as drywall, carpeting, and framing materials. Mold will grow on just about surface and anything material once the conditions are right. In building materials, once the moisture content surpasses 18% it will support fungal growth. Mold is to the plant kingdom what bacteria is to the animal kingdom. Mold will start to decompose your house. 

Often, the musty odor associated with these micro-organisms is passed off as "that closed up house odor" and the remedy is opening the door and windows to air the property out. Sometimes this is the case. However; if the physical presence of mold is detected, then depending upon the amount and location, the cost of remediation and build-back can quickly run into the thousands.

In most cases, affected properties can be successfully repaired. As part of the process, I also recommend to have the duct-work professionally cleaned. This is an area often overlooked by consumers. The contaminated environment of the house is circulated through the duct-work, allowing sports to be deposited in the system. Once the system is turned on, billions of spores will begin to circulate throughout your new home.

You can read more on this series by clicking on the link Inspecting Foreclosures - Part IV - Windows - Part II. It will have links to other posts in this series.

Helping YOU Live YOUR American Dream...

As I stated in the earlier, window issues cover a wide range. Failed seals in insulated windows probably accounts for the huge portion of items written up in the report. Failed seals can range from a slight discoloration or lack of clarity to the obvious milky calcium stains. More often than not, the trained eye of a professional inspector can tell the difference between a good window and one that has failed.

Repairs to failed seals can vary. There are some window revision companies that can "salvage" these windows by drilling a small hole in the exterior of the window and spraying a solution between the panes of glass which will keep the calcium from building up between the panes. These can be done for a fraction of the cost of replacement especially if there are several windows to deal with. If there are one or two windows and they are standard size, the cost of replacement may range anywhere from $100 - $150 per sash. Larger fixed windows can run into the thousands depending on style, size, and the amount of labor involved.

Windows that are cracked or have calcium between the panes will need to be replaced. If there are several in the property, get an estimate from a minimum of 3 contractors. Have the quote broken down into cost of the window and labor. See if painting the new frames is part of the quote especially with wood windows. Hiring a painter will add to the expense. 


Inspecting Foreclosures - Part I
Inspecting Foreclosures - Part II - Exterior Issues
Inspecting Foreclosures - Part III - Mechanical Issues
Inspecting Foreclosures - Part IV - Windows - Part I

Helping YOU Live YOUR American Dream...

As I stated in the earlier segments of this series, one has to do their "due diligence" when purchasing foreclosures. For the most part, the properties are distressed, and the maintenance is not on par as compared to other properties in the market place.

One are that can cause huge areas of expense are windows. For the most part, most properties built since the mid-80's are of the double pane construction, and depending upon the age and the manufacturer, the quality will vary drastically. The older anodized metal frame windows, will generally have a myriad of issues ranging from failed seals to broken sash balance tubes. While some of these are repairable, many are not as the manufacturer may have gone out of business or parts are no longer available. Sometimes, it will be far cheaper to go with vinyl replacement windows.

The main problems I find with wood frame and wood sashes is lack of maintenance. Modern windows use lumber from sustainable growth forests. Sustainable growth wood is a faster growing plant and the cell structure is not as dense as old growth lumber. Hence maintenance such as periodic priming and painting is mandatory. Once the protective shield of paint has been compromised, it does not take long for wood deterioration to set in. Depending upon how long the property has been setting vacant, repairs may no longer be limited to just the frame, sash and nosing. Hidden structural damage can easily run into the thousands. The trained eye of a good home inspector can point out these issues and help you make an informed decision.

Window defects covers a wide range of issues. I will follow up with part II soon.

Inspecting Foreclosures - Part I
Inspecting Foreclosures - Part II - Exterior Issues
Inspecting Foreclosures - Part III - Mechanical Issues 

Helping YOU Live YOUR American Dream...

In Part I of the series Inspecting Foreclosures, I talked about the importance of conducting the inspection and in Part II of Inspecting Foreclosures, I touched on the subject of lack of maintenance.

Mechanical issues surrounding the heating and cooling systems, water heaters and kitchen appliances are a huge concern for many potential buyers. If the property is less than 12 years old, one can generally make the assumption that the major appliances will be about that same age. The home inspector will take a look at the serial numbers and guesstimate the age of the units based on the manufacturers data. Generally speaking, most kitchen appliances and HVAC systems are at or are approaching the end of their service lives when they reach 12 years. Professional servicing and budgeting for age related replacement is a must. Generally speaking, replacement of these systems will cost anywhere from $1500 - $2500 per ton of unit.

Water heaters have a very short 6-8 year life expectancy. Most manufacurers will have a warranty of 6 or 8 years on the glass lining. When the water heater has surpassed that time limit, the water heater is living on borrowed time. Another issue with water heaters I find is rust or bacteria build-up. 

When a water heater has been setting unused for some time, bacteria can build up in the pressure vessle giving that "rotten egg" odor when you open the hot water tap. Rust from the tank can leech into the storage area due to deterioration of the glass lining. If either of these issues are present, a new water heater is in order. Depending upon the manufacturer, size and type these can run from $600 to $1500 to replace.

Helping YOU Live YOUR American Dream...

In Part I of the series Inspecting Foreclosures, I talked about the importance of conducting the inspection and the necessary "due diligence" needed to undertake in order to make an informed decision on these properties. More often than not, the main conditions found with foreclosures revolves around maintenance - or lack there of.

When the home owner gets caught between the proverbial rock and a hard spot of making the decision as to whether to fix the broken gutters or repair damaged siding or eat, doing even the most minor repairs will not be a high priority. Neglecting even the smallest of repairs can manifest themselves into larger even more expensive repairs over time.

A good example of what I am talking about is this damage to the siding. Had it been repaired early on, it could have been a quick fix with little or no damage to the interior of the property. Having been neglected for several months, the repair to the property will be more invasive and costly.

These real time expenses need to be added to the bottom line as to what your total investment will be into the property. Not what the bank is asking. When home inspectors point this out in their report, now is the time to do your homework. Get estimates from several contractors as to the cost of repairs. Rule of thumb - get 3. Make your decision based on what you will get for your money.

Helping YOU Live YOUR American Dream...

Call them what you want, Short Sales, REO's, Bank Owned Sales, Seems like it is taking forever sales, every large community has them. With so many of these already in the mix of inventory and new ones being added on a daily basis, it can be difficult for the real estate professional and the buyer alike to make the decision as to whether to invest in one of these (providing the buyer is willing to wait) or go with a quicker transaction and purchase an existing non-bank owned property.

Should you choose to go the route of purchasing a bank owned property, it is highly recommend that you invest in a home inspection. This investment can not only enlighten you as to what is good with the property, but it can aslo inform you of some of the short comings that may need a little more "due dilligence" on you and your real estate advisors behalf.

In this series, I will take you on a journey through some bank owned real estate to give you an insite of what a professional inspector sees. Property inspecting is a unique disclipine and not all inspectors know what they are doing when it comes to inspecting these distressed properties. Experience and communication skills - both written and oral, are a real must when conveying the property conditions.

Helping YOU Live YOUR American Dream...

Yesterday, I  wrote a 2 posts "Colored Text Series - How to Get Color in Your Responses..." and "Colored Text Series - How to Get Color in Your Responses - Part II..." The first in the series was for MAC users who use the Safari browser and Part duex was for PC users. The last in this series is how to get colorful posts. This will work with both MAC's or as TLW puts it "Pieces of Crap" - Gotta luv that woman...

In order for this to work, download Firefox and install on your computer. Next you will need to add the ScribeFire plug-in and restart FireFox. Click on Tools > ScribeFire to launch the ScribFire blog editor. Write your blog as you normally would in this blog editing tool just as you would in ActiveRain's blog editor. The only difference is that you can dress it up.

Need to add a link? Piece of cake. Load the page you want to use in FireFox browser. Highlight your text in the blog editor. Click on the globe icon (pictured) and you are done. No copy/pasting links. Cool eh? Kinda like falling off a log. 

Now comes the really cool, fun part, after you have finished writing your post, copy your entire post from the ScribeFire editor and paste it into the ActiveRain WYSIWYG editor. No HTML. No Geekie stuff. Simple and straight forward. Upload your pictures as you normally would in the ActiveRain editor and you have created your colorful masterpiece!

While there are editors that will such as Kompozer and Google's Blog Editor, or WordPress that will do similar things, by far, the easiest editor for those who believe in KISS, is ScribeFire. I have written today's post on my MAC and yesterday's Part II on my PC, using these methods. I hope that this series was helpful to the community. Enjoy and colorful posting...  

Helping YOU Live YOUR American Dream...