All Forum Posts by: Eric B.

@Mike Sumsky Thanks for the invite.  I've looked at the bremertin market with a friend of mine from silverdale it's an attractive market.  I'm a short ferry ride from PO so that might be an option at some point.  What kind of areas are you invested in?

I'm slammed this week but would love to get involved locally.

@Scott Price Thanks!  Medical?  Facinating. What is that like?  My wife manages a large clinic. I hear crazy stories.

@Michele Fischer Thank you!  I'm always glad to hear about other stay at home dads it's some thing like .1% of the male population and even fewer by choice.

@Mike Landry That sonds like an awesome plan!  How did it go?

@Bryan R. I have not forgotten your question.  I recall my instructor said it to me.  It was on the wahome inspector test but I can not locate it in the HI law.  My suspicion is that it is a case law thing (not an attorney).  Its bugging me that I dont have a definitive awnser for you so I am going to keep digging.  My contract has that paragraph but right under it there is a space for "not valid in".  Ive drawn from that At Least in some places around the country local laws do not permit that limitation.  Whereas it is common enough that the national contract standards include it.  I'm very new to this so take this with a grain of salt.

Here is the thing-  Inspectors are not good insurance plans from an underwriting standpoint. Many inspectors are contractors who never managed to put enough away to retire on before their bodies began to give out.  I'm different but my assets are not good insurance for anyone as we just arent worth that much (yet).  So far though i have always felt that i have saved my clients more than i have cost them. 

oh another thing that people are doing here is bringing an inspector to the showing doing the inspection on the spot and waiving the contingency on the bid.  Certainly makes a better bid.  I beatout someone who was offering more this week by doing just that.  Course if you are buying things not on the mls that might not work.

sorry to hear that @Steve Might. Now regulatuons vary from state to state.  Here in washington state that is not the case.  Here my understanding is that it is against the law to limit your inspection liability to the cost of the inspection.  You could always see if any inspectors carry insurance and dont limit their liability, course it sounds like the standards are different in your area.  Look into it you might find a niche there of doing your own inspections.  Course a big part of what you pay for is the experience of the inspector and that they are doing it more frequently.  That said I just did my own inspection.  I think if you vet your inspectors like i suggested you might have better luck.  Also home warranties may be a way to go if you are looking for a financial hedge for your investment, they are fairly cheep around here.

couple rules of thumb

1% rule

If your house is worth say 100000 and you can rent it out for 1000 or more then do that.

.5% rule

If your house is worth 1000 and would rent for 500 or less then sell it.  

Every thing in betwean is a sliding scale.  What do you expect prices to do in the local area?  Are you trading up or down?  What does your personal balance sheet look like?  Can you make sacrifices to scrape together a down payment for the next house?

We were in your same situation 3 years ago and raided retirement funds to get a down payment on the next house.  3 years later the old house has apprciated 65000 while never quite reaching the 1% rule but also never falling to the .5% rule.  But the new house has appreciated 50000 and having equity capture of 75000.  While raiding the retirement funds is against conventional wisdom it worked out for us. 

Hope that helps.

Hi Craig.

So there are plenty of check lists out there.  Why do you need one?  Are you doing your inspection on you own?  A check list is only as good as the person using it. Example: your list has kitchen sink. If a typical buyer were to use thelist they might look at the sink and check that off " yup there is a sink". But a good home inspector will bring his own stoper fill the sink and the drain it all the while looking for leaks.  At the same time he will check the temp setting of the hw tank.  Another example would be the electrical main panel.  A buyer is going to look at it and see only the surface but standards of practice for home inspectors nationnaly are that the inspector will take the cover off and inspect the wiring.  That is something that should no doubt be left to a professional.

Here is the best list that i can give you:

I don't know about Utah's home inspection laws but if the state licences hi's get on the state licensing website and look up all the local inspectors.  If utah does not then look at ASHI's website for members in your area.

Then call them up and ask them these simple questions:

How long do you take on a typical inspection?( Sfh 2000aqft 3bd 2 ba)

Are you licensed or accredited by a state or national body?

Are you bonded or insured?

How long is your report turnaround?

(And if needed) Do you do whole house/termite inspections?

If the awnsers are any thing but unhesitant

3-4 hours

Yes

Yes

And 24 hours

Move on to the next inspector.

If you get alist of good ones. You can then hire one or take it a step further and call around to Realtors and ask for references.

IMHO. Inspections are the best value in realestate today.

By the way i have family in Saint George.  I love that place!

I was doing an inspection for an investor the other day and I had an issue come up that could have easily been a dealkiller.  I truly believe that fear is the absence of knowledge and the job of your inspector is to inform you of issues with your property that leaves you with better knowledge and hopefully less fear.  So what is the scariest thing that your inspector could say?  Termites?  Water damage?  Solid branch aluminum wiring?  Now none of these things in and of them selves should kill your plan for a property BUT like most things, the devil is in the details of what your inspector has found.  That's why it is critical that you be able to communicate effectively with your inspector and he/she with you.  Arguably your relationship with your inspector is more important than any other of the professionals that are involved with your transaction.  So what makes a good inspector? A plumber? A electrician?  A master builder?  No it's simply a highly obervant person who has minimum competency in the building type you are investigating and can communicate with you in an effective manner what they have found and what it means for you.

I know blah blah blah.  What you really want to know is what did you find and what happened?

Fortunately my client was a cool guy (it was me) and really thought on the significance of what i was saying.  The house was a 1945 3/1 1 story with timber carrying beams in the crawl space.  One face of one timber was absolutely loaded with dampwood termite damage(in washington state most inspectors cant say that as they would need a special license called an spi).  But here is the kicker I signed the papers today for that house and tonight I will sleep like a baby.  How can that be?  Basically not all termites are the same and dammage is all relative to what corrective actions are needed (or not). Invest some time finding an inspector who works and communicates well with you !  It will reduce your risk and can make you money!

@Nghi Le Well you are in my backyard as I'm in Normandy Park!

@Jon Huber Working on it.  Love the guys' podcast!

@Roger Vi Thanks!  Wasn't my intent but that would be awesome I really do love helping people in the inspection process.  I've got some Ideas for inspection related posts, do you think people would be interested?

Hello from Seattle Washington. In the shadow of century link field home of the world champion SeattleSeahawks.  Just had to throw that out there.

My name is Eric and I'm an investor in the South Seattle and Tacoma areas  I just signed on my 3rd property today. I've been a bigger pockets lurker for some time now and thought I might throw my hat into the ring.  I invest in single family property that I rent out to college students. I do my own property management I mow my own lawns roof my own roofs change and repair my own toilets.  I'm here basically to learn and become a better landlord and investor.

I'm also a state licensed home inspector just starting out which i love becasue i get to help people in their home buying process and i get to poke around houses and learn all kinds of things.

But these are basically hobbies as my full time job is as a the stay at home dad to two great kids my boy who is 6 and my girl who is 4.  I've been fortunate enough to be at home with my kids for the last 4 years.

Anyway greetings and I look forward to learning from all of you and contributing a few of the things that I figured out over the last few years.