Prevention Is The Best Approach

Although we've heard it many times, nothing could be truer than the old cliche "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Preventive maintenance is the best way to keep your house in great shape. It also reduces the risk of unexpected repairs and improves the odds of selling your house at fair market value, when the time comes. Remember to conduct regular preventive maintenance checks to extend the longevity of your home and the installed systems and components.

REGULAR PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE TASKS

EVERY MONTH :

• Check that fire extinguisher(s) are fully charged. Re-charge if necessary.
• Examine heating/cooling air filters and replace or clean as necessary.
• Inspect and clean humidifiers and electronic air cleaners.
• If the house has hot water heating, bleed radiator valves.
• Clean gutters and downspouts. Ensure that downspouts are secure, and that the discharge of the downspouts is appropriate. Remove debris from window wells.
• Carefully inspect the condition of shower enclosures. Repair or replace deteriorated grout and caulk. Ensure that water is not escaping the enclosure during showering. Check below all plumbing fixtures for evidence of leakage.
• Repair or replace leaking faucets or shower heads.
• Secure loose toilets, or repair flush mechanisms that become troublesome.

SPRING & FALL:

• Examine the roof for evidence of damage to roof coverings, flashings and chimneys.
• Look in the attic (if accessible) to ensure that roof vents are not obstructed. Check for evidence of leakage, condensation or vermin activity. Level out insulation if needed.
• Trim back tree branches and shrubs to ensure that they are not in contact with the house.
• Inspect the exterior walls and foundation for evidence of damage, cracking or movement. Watch for bird nests or other vermin or insect activity.
• Survey the basement and/or crawl space walls for evidence of moisture seepage.
• Look at overhead wires coming to the house. They should be secure and clear of trees or other obstructions.
• Ensure that the grade of the land around the house encourages water to flow away from the foundation.
• Inspect all driveways, walkways, decks, porches, and landscape components for evidence of deterioration, movement or safety hazards.
• Clean windows and test their operation. Improve caulking and weather-stripping as necessary. Watch for evidence of rot in wood window frames. Paint and repair window sills and frames as necessary.
• Test all ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) devices, as identified in the inspection report.
• Shut off isolating valves for exterior hose bibs in the fall, if below freezing temperatures are anticipated.
• Test the Temperature and Pressure Relief (TPR) Valve on water heaters.
• Inspect for evidence of wood boring insect activity. Eliminate any wood/soil contact around the perimeter of the home.
• Test the overhead garage door opener, to ensure that the auto-reverse mechanism is responding properly. Clean and lubricate hinges, rollers and tracks on overhead doors.
• Replace or clean exhaust hood filters.
• Clean, inspect and/or service all appliances as per the manufacturer's recommendations.

ANNUALLY:

• Replace smoke detector batteries.
• Have the heating, cooling and water heater systems cleaned and serviced.
• Have chimneys inspected and cleaned. Ensure that rain caps and vermin screens are secure.
• Examine the electrical panels, wiring and electrical components for evidence of overheating. Ensure that all components are secure. Flip the breakers on and off to ensure that they are not sticky.
• If the house utilizes a well, check and service the pump and holding tank. Have the water quality tested. If the property has a septic system, have the tank inspected (and pumped as needed).
• If your home is in an area prone to wood destroying insects (termites, carpenter ants, etc.), have the home inspected by a licensed specialist. Preventive treatments may be recommended in some cases.

________________________________________

Please feel free to call me should you have any questions regarding the operation or maintenance of your home. I don’t promise to know all the answers but I do know where to get the answers. Enjoy your home!

Erby Crofutt
B4U Close Home Inspections & Kentucky Radon Testing
Georgetown, KY
502-570-4054
KY Lic# : HI-2041

Serving Central, Northern & Eastern Kentucky with Kentucky Licensed Home Inspections and NEHA Certified Radon Measurement including Lexington, Georgetown, Richmond, Frankfort & Winchester.

Several years ago, when I moved to Kentucky, I asked my Exclusive Buyer's Agent in Austin, TX to recommend a Buyer's Agent in the Lexington Kentucky area that could help me find a home for my family. He sent me to Gale & Mark Fulton. Now I feel sorry for what we put them through, but back then her attention to the idiosyncratic needs of my family and her unstinting efforts to help us find a home (over four months) was most appreciated. I've always (since my first bad experience with a dual agent) used Buyer's Agents.

First order of business for me was to find an agent that was more about my family's needs than playing a dual agent role for the paycheck. We were fortunate to find Gale & Mark. I won't delve into the details but my family's idiosyncrasies were enough to drive a person mad. Not Gale & Mark. They were always pleasant and personable. In the end, we've been very happy with the home they helped us buy. They certainly reduced the stress on my family of a long distance move. We've ran across each other several times since I started B4U Close Home Inspections & Radon Testing. Its always been a pleasant experience.

So to the point of the story, seven years later, she's starting her one year term as the President with the Lexington Bluegrass Association of Realtors (LBAR).

Congratulations, Gale.

I'm sure you'll have a great year, though you may need a long vacation when your year is over. Here's the press release from LBAR.

Gale Fulton has been elected by LBAR members as their 2009 President. Gale has been a REALTOR® for 13 years and is an Accredited Buyer’s Agent, Certified Residential Specialist, a Quality Service Certified Sales Professional, a Graduate of the Real Estate Institute, Kentucky Real Estate Education Foundation Trustee, a Director for the Kentucky Association of REALTORS®, a Certified New Homes Construction Specialist, a Bluegrass Tourism Ambassador and is At Home with Diversity Certified. Involved with leadership of the Lexington-Bluegrass Association of REALTORS® for nine years, Gale has served as the association’s President-Elect and Chair of the Education Committee. She was also the recipient of the Nat Sanders Award given by the Kentucky Association of REALTORS® to recognize exceptional service in real estate education. A REALTOR® and Team Manager/Trainer with RE/MAX Creative Realty, Gale also was a charter member of the Homebuilder’s Association of Lexington’s Sales and Marketing Council.

Other newly elected officers and directors are President-Elect Anthony de Movellan with Prudential A.S. de Movellan; Treasurer Mike Wheatley with Milestone Realty Consultants; Treasurer-Elect Larry Freels with RE/MAX Creative Realty; Don Hudson with Rector-Hayden Realtors and Brenda Stewart with Keller Williams Bluegrass Realty.

The 2009 LBAR Board of Directors also includes Judy Craft with Milestone Realty Consultants, Shirley DeBoor with Keller Williams Bluegrass Realty, Barbara Curtis with Coldwell Banker McMahan, Donna Ensminger with Prudential A.S. de Movellan, John Groft with RE/MAX Creative Realty East, Sherrye Guthrie with Jonah Mitchell Real Estate & Auction, Laura Hayden with Rector-Hayden Realtors, South, Kathy Pendleton with Coldwell Banker McMahan, Ashley Trautner with Trautner Real Estate & Auction, Mike Wheatley with Milestone Realty Consultants and Linda Wiley with Keller Williams Bluegrass Realty.

As the region’s leading advocate for homeownership, Lexington-Bluegrass Association of REALTORS® (LBAR) understands the value and joy of owning a home. LBAR represents more than 2,000 REALTORS® located in Anderson, Bourbon, Boyle, Clark, Fayette, Franklin, Garrard, Harrison, Jessamine, Madison, Mercer, Montgomery, Scott and Woodford Counties. Visit www.lbar.com or call 859-276-3503 for buying and selling resources and real estate listings.

I hear this from home buyers quite a bit.  I'll bet a lot of agents here it too!  Do you have an answer for your buyer's. 

Are you increasing your liability by NOT recommending a private third part inspection of new homes.  What happens three years from now when your buyer is now your seller and the new buyer hires a quality third party home inspector.

Here's my answer: (the pages flip themselves or you can use the arrows to flip them.) (Click on the document to open it in a new window where it can be resized to be readable.)

Open publication

Protect yourself.  Get educated with a quality third party home inspection.  No, not that guy that was doing computer work last week and now decided to be a home inspector after his layoff.  Get a quality education on your new home.

Make sure you attend the inspection.  Some things just don't communicate well in written form and you'll learn a lot more when you have the ability to stand in front of something and ask the home inspector questions about it.

Inspectors should police themselves, shouldn't they!

You'd think so, but no mechanism exists for that policing other than the free market and some weak licensing laws. Here's a take on it from one of my fellow home inspectors: Posted with permission but I've decided to withhold his name. I will send him a link to this sad commentary on our profession. If he desires to identify himself, he can do so in the comments section.

=====

To all of my Fellow Home Inspectors:

I have a story to tell that may be a little long winded but bear with me; it may open your eyes as it surely did mine.

I set out last year to increase my business with the Real Estate sector. I wanted to make my Home Inspection business viable with greater income. Now keep in mind I have been doing this in my area for over ten years, so I know many Realtors with little repeat business from them, always to wonder why. When pressed for an answer, I always received some half baked response from the Realtors.

My business partner and I mapped out the area and offices to devote our marketing program on, seventeen offices with approximately 750 Realtors. We started in Oct. of 07 with a combination of flyers, discount coupons [we thought everybody loves coupons] and a candy jar [all chocolate] with a great photo of us, cards placed on top. You couldn't miss us unless you were literally blind, always talked and introduced ourselves and spoke at meetings. Now keep in mind we are not new to the area or game, we are well known. Our strategy was to provide information, great service and always keep chocolate in the jars every ten days, and we did this straight from Oct. 07 to Nov. 13, 08.

Now, there was always the little nagging voice in our heads as to why we were not getting more business. We asked, met Realtors, spoke, consultations, you name it because we wanted more business, honest business. I have always prided myself on doing the best for my clients, not nit picking houses apart but the issues that need to be known and by my state law. I figured naively that that is what others would want for their clients, enough said.

Bob and I go about our route yesterday and decided to discontinue the candy and info. Here's why. I keep track of all my records; we had visited each office at least 30 times since we started. Now I know a little about marketing and know consistency is a large part, I also know that out of 750 agents something would stick. For our hard work we only obtained six inspections and spent approx. $3,000 in costs. By this time both of us are really scratching our heads and trying to figure out why, is it us, our report, people hate you and so on. Throughout the day as we picked up our candy jars we pondered this question further. As we were walking out of one office we happened upon the broker who is also one of the high Ramalama's on our state board and founding father, so to speak. This is what happened that has answered that annoying question of Realtor business and has slightly changed my way of looking at life.

We engaged the broker for about twenty minutes talking about the economy and home sales, and by the way, if you don't know by now they are dismal. Bob finally turns around as we are leaving and directly asks Mr. Board member why we can't get more business from the Real Estate Sector.

He looked at us for a moment, thinking what to say, and said, "You have too many bad Home Inspector's in the business."

We both looked at him as he went on to say that there are inspectors out there who are not doing what they are supposed to be doing and the agents know who they are, that's who they use.

It took both of us time to regroup from our dropped jaws and re-compose. Now keep in mind that he seemed truly sad about the issue and said there was nothing he could do, it would have to be up to our profession to weed them out. He also went on to state that he thought our fees were ridiculously low with the amount of responsibility we take on.

After we bid good bye, Bob and I finally had our answer, we didn't play the Reindeer games and never would. After a year + of steady marketing and trying to provide exemplary service, it does not work in this business.

The saddest part that bothers me is that this is the normal operations of a large organization that people trust with their life savings, to be lied to and steered to vendors providing sub-par expertise all to close the sale, and the public doesn't even know they are being duped.

I know there are good and bad businesses and people, but let's be realistic, I am talking about getting only six inspections out of marketing to 750 agents. Even throwing poop on a wall sticks sometimes.

I have lost a lot of faith in agents in Real Estate and will no longer seek their business, I will continue to do it my way with Honesty and Integrity, never to suck more out of life then I give. I hope there are more Home Inspector's out there that feel the same and maybe we should have some national or regional spokes person at least informing the public about bad decisions; I for one would gladly volunteer.

Well, as I start my new day in business and life I have one consoling thought, at least I don't have to lie, cheat, be a low life or ner-do-well to survive. At least I did it my way, regrets, I have few.

I give my consent to anyone who wants to use this letter to put on the internet, re-print or use in publication, I just ask to be informed, honestly!

Sincerely,

KRT

==

The sad thing is that "those inspectors", and the agents who steer their clients to them, aren't likely to be here to read this. They don't usually bother with mundane stuff such as continuing education beyond that minimum level required by the state or the association.

I've personally experienced this several times. I'd call a prospective client back to see if they decided on an inspector only to be told they'd chosen someone else. When I inquired why, they said things like:

Our agent said you were

•· too picky,

•· took too long to do the inspection,

•· cost to much,

•· etc, etc.

Odd thing is, more times than I have fingers on both hand, "our agent" would call later to have me perform an inspection on a home that they or their relatives were buying for themselves. That speaks volumes to me about their character and ethics.

Capitalism is a wonderful thing most of the time. I'm not really one to whine about "there oughta be a law" and won't start now. The free market takes out most of "those inspectors" along with the type of agent who steers their clients to them.

But, there's always more coming along to repeat the cycle.

Get Educated B4U Close

It's a wonderful day when you wake up in the morning!

I shared this with some people last year as it so adequately expresses Christmas. I love it.

I don't know who put this together. I don't even know where it comes from.

BUT, it is beautiful and I wanted to use it to share my Christmas wish with you.

For those who celebrate it with me:

MERRY CHRISTMAS

For those who celebrate in other ways:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

It's a Power Point Presentation and I don't know how to start it automatically so it's a download from my file manager on my web server. Click on the Christmas Card to see the slideshow. Give it a minute to download, especially if you're on dial up.

Merry Christmas from Erby, The Central Kentucky Home Inspector

I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I do.

If you don't have Power Point you can download a free Power Point Viewer from Microsoft here:

Microsoft Power Point Viewer