Jason Jakus

In Florida, under House bill 713, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is responsible for the oversight of home inspectors; however there is currently no professional board. Under Chapter 468 part XV of the Florida Statutes enforcement for the regulation began July 1, 2011. Under Chapter 468 Florida allowed for three new groups of professionals to apply for licensure by grandfathering as a home inspector which include individuals with current certification as one and two family dwelling inspector issued by the International Code Council or the Southern Building Code Congress International, individuals with current certification as one or two family dwelling inspector issued by the Florida Building Code Administrators and Inspectors Board and individuals with a current Division 1 contractor license under part 1 of Chapter 489. These three groups of professionals will be allowed until July 1, 2012.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation require new home inspectors to complete a total of 142 hours of education and training including 20 hours of hands on training. In addition new home inspectors must pass the National home Inspector Examination and obtain $ 300,000 in commercial general liability insurance.

With the new regulations all home inspectors will either be grandfathered based on experience or have the minimum education and insurance as required by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations. So what is important when selecting a home inspector? I recommend interviewing any home inspector prior to hiring them. Here are some excellent questions to ask.

1. How many years experience do they have conducting single family dwelling home inspections?

2. How many single family dwelling home inspections have they completed?

3. How many inspectors are at a typical home inspection?

4. Do they perform defective drywall inspections?

5. Do they include pest / bug / terminate inspections in their typical inspection?

6. What do they charge for a home inspection?

7. Do they have professional liability insurance?

8. Are any of the inspectors a licensed general contractor?

9. Does the inspection include photographs?

10. What format is the report comes in? Do the inspectors complete the report on site?

A home inspection is highly recommended when purchasing a home. Many times an inspector can identify damages in areas that are not readily visible to the buyer such as water damage in the attic or electrical issues.

You may be living under a rock if you have not heard that “right now” is the most optimal time to buy real estate. If you have heard this, you probably are familiar with terminology like short-sale, foreclosure, REO and traditional sale homes; but do you fully comprehend the idiosyncrasies of these types of transactions and structure of how the deal must be handled?

The biggest complaint I get is around the structure of a Short-Sale transaction. The complaints include the time it takes to reconcile and solidify a contract, now knowing exactly what type of offer to make, or for how much to list the property, and lack of communication with the bank. There are many things that both the seller and potential buyer must know before they get involved with this multifaceted transaction. I am going to provide you with some excellent tips on being able to effectively navigate through a short-sale.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->The first thing you need to do is find a Real Estate Agent that is educated, trained and experienced in Short Sale transactions on both the seller and buyer sides. The National Association of Realtors has a designation called Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource that requires specific training around these types of transactions.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->When structuring an offer for a short-sale understand that the property has already been discounted due to depreciation of that asset, and the bank is looking to obtain a price slightly below fair market value because they are going to be taking less than the pay off amount of the mortgage. If you are serious about purchasing a property that is short-sale your price needs to be realistic because the property will go through a Broker Price Opinion (BPO) and if your offer is substantially less, you probably will not obtain that property.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->If you are looking to purchase a short-sale or foreclosure property understand some of the legal rights you have, and ask your agent to describe the structure and anatomy of the transaction. You will have a right to inspection, but banks typically will not accept any contingencies. Did you know that a bank can provide an addendum halfway through the transaction that will change the dynamics? These are questions that should be clarified prior to seeing your first property by your agent.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4. <!--[endif]-->The structure of the offer represents the strength of the offer. This means that a cash offer of full price and 30 day close may appear stronger than a 10% down and financing with a 60 day close that is also full price. A trained agent will understand how a contact needs to be structured in order to have a higher probability of being accepted. It does the buyer no good to wait for an answer from the bank while other viable properties are being bought all around them if the structure of the offer will not be accepted. The key to today’s real estate market is leveraging time, like the old saying goes, time is money.

It is not hard to find great value in the current real estate market, but it is also easy to lose deals left and right. If you have questions about short sales or foreclosures, please contact our office for a free booklet on buying distressed properties.

One of my most biggest suprises when I moved to Southwest Florida was the price of home owner insurances. The two significant exposures for homes in Southwest Flroida is flooding and hurricanes. Home owner insurance prices are reflected with quotes my clients receive from the insurance companies. As a real estaet professional, I am always trying to save my clients money anywhere I can and insurance is one of those areas.

I have been able to save my clients up to 40% on their hurricane insurance premiums with a wind mitigation inspection. The wind mitigation inspecation can be done any one of the several companies in Southwest Florida and cost between $150 - $250, whcih normally can be saved in the first year of insurance premiums.

The process is pretty simple and can be compared to a normal home inspection, but with a wind mitigation inspection the inspector will review the structural components of the home that qualify for discount credits and will usually suggest improvements that will give you additional credits.

In Florida, insurance providers are required to provide discounts, credits, other rate differntials, or other reductions in deductables for residential properties where construction methods that have been shown to reduce loss caused by windstorms are employed according to Flrodia Statue 627.0629.

Some of the construction methods include hurrican shutters, hurricane glass windows, roof covering types, wall construction type, roof to wall connections and gable end bracing. Another feature that some homes have that will provide insurance discounts is a second water resistance on the roofing.

Don't pay more than you have to for insurance!