About Chelan County, WA

Can a Home Inspector work on a home? Chelan Home Inspection Services

Is your Home Inspection firm or Home Inspector soliciting repair work during or after an inspection?

The State of Washington has made it very clear that any licensed home inspector may not solicit any work on a home that has been inspected for one year. This includes any employees or affiliated firms.This is to ensure you receive an unbiased and objective home inspection.

From The Washington State Home Inspection Standards of Practice-

“Not for one year after completion of the inspection repair, replace, or upgrade for compensation components or systems on any building inspected - this section applies to the inspector's firm and other employees or principals of that firm or affiliated firms.”

If you hire a home inspector that solicits repair work or you feel is unethical you should report them to Washington State Dept. of Licensing at the link provided.

http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/homeinspectors/hicomplaint.html

I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.

Abraham Lincoln

NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

Your Wenatchee and Chelan Professional Home and Structural Pest Inspection Service

509-670-9572 or on the web atwww.ncwhomeinspections.com

Every month my wife Allyson puts together a list of all the houses that have sold in Leavenworth. We list how much they sold for, how long it took to sell them and how much they were originally listed for. I apologize for not linking to these posts on Active Rain lately.

January 2012 Leavenworth Home Prices

December 2011 Leavenworth Home Prices

November 2011 Leavenworth Home Prices

Our friend Don Hester who is a home inspector in the Leavenworth and Wenatchee area told me the other day that he managed to kill his heat pump by turning it on too soon after a power outage.

We don't get many outages in Central Washington and they aren't ever as serious as those in Western Washington.

Even so, you know something is up when your home inspector admits to killing his heat pump.

Read Don's article here

Give yourself some credit!

Give yourself some credit, or at least make sure it’s in good shape before embarking on the loan process if buying a house is on your wish list. More than ever, having a healthy credit score is important and could mean the difference between obtaining a home loan or not. Interest rates are at historic lows, so don’t let old habits or debts prevent you from taking advantage of this market.

This is something I consistently see happening in Wenatchee, WA where I sell real estate for RE/MAX Landmark. Buyer’s contact me and are eager to purchase a home, the first thing I do is put them in touch with a lender to get them pre-approved.

The biggest obstacle recently is people having trouble getting financing. People want to buy, but many have blemishes on their credit preventing them from even getting the process started. That’s a big problem right now.

The first thing to do when checking on your credit is to get the facts. You can visit www.annualcreditreport.com once a year for free to view your credit report, but you must pay a fee to see your score. Once you’ve seen your report, scour it for errors and contact each of the three major credit reporting bureaus to have your report updated if something is wrong.

If your credit is in good shape or fixes have been made, you’re good to go on the home-shopping front. But be sensible. This is not the time to open new accounts and lines of credit. And resist the urge to purchase high-ticket items such as a new car, appliances or furniture. Wait to make those purchases until after you've closed on your home.

This is also a good time to start paying down balances on credit cards. While some revolving accounts such as car payments and mortgages show that you’re a responsible borrower, having high balances on your cards reduces your score. Whether you’re looking for a house or not, paying late obviously is never a good practice. If you need to set up payment reminders or automatic withdrawals for certain bills in order to pay on time, by all means do it. Every reported late payment docks your score and stays on your report for years.

Lastly, pay off debt instead of moving it around on various cards. It might be tempting to do so, but that doesn't remove the history from your credit report. Responsible spending and payments are how you build a spotless credit record.

If you are looking for a home in the Wenatchee, WA or surrounding areas give me a call I would love to help you.

Search the Wenatchee area MLS ~ Every Listing!

Information versus Minimums- Wenatchee and Chelan Home Inspection

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Walt Disney

Curiosity, asking questions and challenging the paradigm should always be the forefront of any professional.

In the world of home inspection there are two schools of thought when performing the home inspection. Do what the SOP (Standards of Practice) states no more, no less versus providing the best and most inclusive information you can provide.

This seems to be one of the great debates and a business decision. I want to challenge the current paradigm.

For those who just doing the minimums of the SOP the feeling is that it is most consistent and is the best protection from being sued. Then there are those who see it as a starting place to move forward. I am of the later persuasion.

For those of the later persuasion the next juggling point is how much information.

Case in point as I perform a home inspection.

I evaluate a HVAC system and I know that the said system has R-22 refrigerant system (information on R-22). I know there are trying to phase this material out of the homes and in doing so will incur additional cost at some point. Now the standards say we must report any defect we see with the system. And this is not a defect. This is how this system is designed. But I feel this is valuable information for my clients. In my report I will give my clients this information.

Another case is the vent boots on the roof. All too often I see these rubber vent boots that are installed on a newer 30 year roof. So here is the crux. These boots are usually only lasting around 10 to 12 years before the rubber becomes so brittle that it cracks and splits which leads to leaks. The roof will last 30 years and the boot 10 years. I will let my clients know that they will need to be evaluating these boots to ensure they are not leaking.

These are just two examples of information that I think my clients will benefit from. Is it in the SOP’s, no! But as a home inspection professional I want to give my clients the best information that I can provide so they can best protect their investment.

I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.

Abraham Lincoln

NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Orville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

Your Wenatchee and Chelan Professional Home and Structural Pest Inspection Service

509-670-9572 or on the web at

www.ncwhomeinspections.com