Jay Markanich

It took me a couple of phone calls over a week's time to put it together.

But I did.

It was a husband and wife tag team. With the same foreign accent. With the same questions about my prices. With the same suggestions about what discounts I should offer. All on an inspection they wanted to schedule in the same area of the same city.

They found my website and knew all about me. They knew my pricing backwards and forwards. They started by trying to negotiate down my inspection price. How much could I discount it? That didn't work.

Then they took a different tact - that I should do an IR scan on their whole house as a part of the inspection. It should be free. I would make more money if I offered free IR inspections because more people would call me and that I should begin on their house.

Oh, then there was the "other" inspector out there who will do an inspection cheaper than I, and throw in IR and a free termite inspection. It got comical.

Amazingly, I quoted them each the same price for what they were asking. I do discount an IR exam $100 IF it is done at the same time as the home inspection. That is on my website and beyond that I didn't budge on my pricing.

They were consistent with this negotiating technique while each calling me independently over the course of many days. I eventually put them together.

Then yesterday the wife called to say there was an inspector they called who would give her, in addition to all of the above, a free 6-month home warranty and she wanted me to offer her one too. I called her by her husband's name and she got dead silent.

"You are very clever," she said.

"Not really. I started bowling when I was 8 and I can add really well. But as you see, I don't subtract well. Not only do I not offer a home warranty, I have you sign an agreement which specifically states that I do not warrant anything in the house beyond the day of the inspection. I can't warrant that my furnace will be working 6 months from now, how could I possibly warrant yours? You probably also think the government is going to provide you better medical coverage then you have now and for free! If you are looking for a free home warranty, you are looking for the other company to do your inspection. You should call them. And good luck." (Yes, I said that...)

I hung up.

Of course I blew them off! Free IR? Free termite? Free home warranty? I know there are those home warranty programs out there and I have read the exclusions. Those companies are making a LOT of money offering "peace of mind."

My recommendation: Be who you are. Don't be who "they" are. And remember the very time tested economic principle - There is no such thing as a free lunch. Because there isn't...

I was 520 pm yesterday. I was finishing up my last inspection for the day. The mobile phone rang.

A lady was having moisture issues with the HVAC system ducts, dripping on the ceiling between the first and second levels. It was causing mold development in many spots in the ceiling and general staining all over. "I just found your website and want you to do a thermal image examination of this problem. I have had two HVAC companies over and they can't tell what the problem is."

"Sure, I can help you. When would you like this inspection, morning, afternoon or evening?"

"How about right now? I work at the Pentagon but happen to be home this afternoon. I don't care what it costs."

Now, what am I going to say to that! "OK, I can do it now. It will take me about an hour to get there. Is that alright? Is your AC on? (She said yes.) Good, keep it on!"

"Yes! Thank you! I will be home."

The problem turned out to be the rear wall of the house. It just happened to be in the sunlight when I got there, very hot, and easy to evaluate with the camera. PERFECT!!

There is a small roof overhang over the rear door and windows. It starts over the window on the left and extends all along the rear wall. Two sections of it had little to no insulation. They just happened to be in line with the two ceiling registers. You can see the duct trail as it turns left to service the ceiling register. That lack of insulation and open-web floor trusses would heat the area between the floors dramatically. In the image, that area over the kitchen door is 98.7 degrees F. The max temp at the window is 131F. The duct work is 50.1F. They are circular, solid metal ducts. I think that Delta T (difference in temperature) might just cause those ducts to sweat. What do you think?

This second picture is of mold development (which I called "evidence of mold" in the report) on the ceiling. It is one of many spots - all with a colorful, moldy appearance.

It is 60.2F, as opposed to the ambient air of 68.7F. So it is moist. I didn't put my moisture meter on it because I didn't want to disturb it. But it is moist.

I think the problem was evaluated. I recommended that she have an insulation company come and add insulation to those areas. With my photos, they can see exactly where they need to install insulation, and perhaps improve the other areas as well. I also recommended a mold remediation company to evaluate any mold problem(s) and get rid of it.

While there I swept the rest of the house, for fun, which really impressed her. I found a lack of insulation in many aspects of a cathedral ceiling of the upstairs TV room (4th level of a townhouse). She said, "So that's why this room is hot." Yeah, I guess so!

So, because of my website and diligent SEO work, my site popped up and I was available to this client. She was very happy last night to get her report. She was impressed with - my website, its rankings, my professionalism, my willingness to come late in the day and the final product. And how cute I am...

I ended my day a few hundred $ richer than I thought I would be when I started! It all began with the website.

Thanks Dom *!

* That's Dominic Maricic, owner of Home Inspector Pro -- computer, inspection software and website man en excelsis! Call him, you will be glad you did...

My recommendation: Have a great website, work on it to get it onto page 1 of Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc., and answer the phone!

Sometimes the cosmos throws you a blurry question mark. Should you interpret it, get upset, throw it out as aberration or chalk it up to good luck?

I received an email at 1130pm, from a potential home buyer, requesting a home inspection. I get them all the time.

I responded at 430am, typical for me. I answered his questions and referred him to my website to learn more about me.

No further communication happened for two days.

Two days later I received another late-at-night email. This is it, quoted.

It read:

"Thank you for your quick response! You were the first to respond to me. You have the best website of anyone else I contacted. It is very complete and gave me a wonderful picture of your many services. Your book looks like a great resource. I feel like I know you.

You should know that you came very highly recommended by my Realtor, a friend who previously used your service and two web business-rating services. Your great reputation precedes you.

Unfortunately, we selected another company to perform our inspection."

What do you say to THAT!?

May I translate what he did not say: The other company charged $25 less. Their service is not as comprehensive as yours, or their experience, or their report or final product, but we are paying $625K for our home and need to save pennies. Maybe we will use you next time - when this bad experience teaches us to use the most reputable inspector even if slightly more expensive.

Maybe I am dreaming as I offer that translation. But maybe not!!

I am going to chalk it up to good luck.

My recommendation: The cheapest service is rarely the better service. Maybe, but likely not. When looking for a home inspector, shop around for experience and reputation, NOT price!

I was excited recently when I was called to inspect a very historic property in Northern Virginia. Built in 1902, it has been actively listed and on the market for two years. No offers. Historic properties abound here and I love seeing them. The picture is blurry.

The buyer had grand plans to fix it up a bit and rent it out for a while until the market improves. They were grand plans.

I met him in front. He said, "We need to go through the back door."

"No problem. Let's go."

The rear door turned out to be a piece of plywood over an old cellar door, the metal door long gone. I helped him open it.

And this is what I saw.

It wasn't that deep, but the stairs were a bit frightful!

Well, maybe all this trash was moved toward the door to be able to get it out.

Well, no. On the left, under that window, is the other end of that stair way entrance into the cellar.

We picked our way through the mess.

The house as been vacant for two years, the seller residing now in a nursing home. There is no water or gas, although there was electricity.

When he called, he wanted me to determine the condition of the structure, the heating system, water heater, and roof. I could see from the outside that the roof was in rough shape as a large limb had fallen onto it in the rear. That couldn't be pretty from inside I thought. But as to the rest...

The structure was generally a mish mash of fixes here and there. As something sagged, it was supported from underneath - a column here, another there, a shim or two, some under floor support. All resting right on the ground! And cute!

It was quite wet (muddy dirt floor), moldy, sagging, full of termites and, in my opinion, dangerous!!

I recommended an engineer, but could say that it would need to be replaced, perhaps piece by piece. Since this is an historic property, it could not be razed. Repairs would be mandated, difficult, piecemeal and expensive.

To say the least.

"Well," he asked, "what about the heating system?"

And, here it is...

This is his picture, but you get the idea. The unit was old, rusty, dirty and not usable. The very old radiator service lines were the same, and galvanized!

I told him he would surely have to replace the unit, and probably the service lines as well.

It would be a major operation.

To say the least!

And the water heater?

It was a bit rough as well.

Not very old (12 years) but fairly used up, rusting all over, no incline on the very corroded vent line, no tube on the TPR valve, interesting heat deflector above...

Overall, I think it needed to be replaced.

To say the least!

"How about that old water heater on the other side?"

"Um, no, that one won't work either. You will need a new one period."

To say the least!

He was disappointed to hear all this. (His wife was not...)

"Well, what about the roof? We should at least see that while we are here." We made our way up some scary stairs to the main level. The house was so full of debris and stuff that I could not see the floor or walls anywhere! And I mean anywhere!

This is typical of what I saw when we got upstairs - the ceilings looked like this in most of the upper level bedrooms. I said, "The roof looks to be in bad shape all over."

To say the least!

The access to the attic was a staircase in a bedroom closet. We had to move stuff just for me to be able to get onto the first step! I looked.

I couldn't see too much...

Most of the house looked like this! I did not expect much better in the attic. I was not disappointed! What bothered me most about the attic was the many, many huge piles of raccoon poop! I hoped one would NOT show up. They can be very mean when you approach or enter their territory!

My client said, "I think I'm going to blow up this deal. I was just hoping to remove all the trash, fix a couple of things and rent the place out. I think this is going to be more than I bargained for."

To say the least!

His wife said, "Thank you for saving him from himself!" Another day, another salvation! All in a day's work...

My recommendation: Historic properties can be interesting and a lot of fun! Not all of them are like this. But when you get a call to list or sell one, get a home inspection!

This house is 52 years old. The sellers decided to remodel.

The little gem you see here is the underside of a former coat closet and part of an entry way that was converted into a full bathroom. A powder room elsewhere was converted into a coat closet, nearer to the most-used door.

The far corner is the drain (the vertical pipe) for the new bath sink. To the left is the drain (you see the trap) for the new bath tub. The vertical drain under the toilet is in the center of the picture, beside the old drain stack.

The old cast iron drain was utilized variously to accommodate the new bath. All in all the bathroom looked pretty nice from above. Nice floor tile, heavy appliances and cabinets - very nice looking. But heavy...

What bothers me is the support.

Look closely. The new toilet is supported by a new cross joist, which looks slightly grayer, which is toe-nailed into the original floor joist. They apparently notched the original floor joist to be able to toe nail it. That tells me they may have added it as an after thought because the other end of that gray joist that is hidden behind the vertical toilet drain is merely resting on the top of the cast iron drain. It is attached to nothing. That cast iron drain is newly supported by the 1x4" board near the wall. That 1x4" is attached to nothing, top or bottom - it merely stands there. The end of the gray joist is toe nailed to the floor joist which was cut to accommodate the toilet drain line.

That corner is resting on an old piece of 2x2", which, you can see, is bowing under the load. This is approximately the center of the bathroom.

A large, heavy visitor sitting on the toilet, or Grandma and Grandpa using that bathroom at the same time, might just cause that little 2x2 to snap!

What a mess! Well, at least they used purple primer! Notice that the new plastic stuff is strapped!

My recommendation: If you see a remodeled bathroom, see if you can check the underside before you use the toilet! You might avoid a real surprise if you do...