Jay Tilton

Last Sunday the Morning Call & Philadelphia Inquirer had the article below which essentially stated that buyers were hammering the sellers with the home inspection and that it would be EXTREMELY WISE for the Seller to get his/her own home inspection prior to putting the home on the market to prevent surprises. All home inspectors agree with that but I would take it a little further in that before having the inspection done that the Seller do the following:

ELECTRICAL - Replace broken &/or missing electrical outlet & switch covers, replace missing or burned out light bulbs, purchase ($6 - $9) & use a GFCI tester to make sure the GFCI's work, clear the area in front of the electrical panels,

HEATING - Make sure baseboards &/or radiators heat up, Make sure there is a recent service report under a year old especially with oil fired systems

PLUMBING - Slow drains

STRUCTURE - Replace cracked &/or broken window panes, make sure windows stay up when opened, clear the area around the attic entrance, with pre-1978 homes properly prep & paint flaking & chipping paint

EXTERIOR - trim bushes & trees so they are at least 6 inches from the structure, make sure the house numbers are clearly visible, clear the snow from walkways, driveways, porches, decks &/or patios

GENERAL - Get rid of the clutter (home inspector thinks What is being hidden?).

There are probably other quick & easy checks & fixes but these will reduce the amount of maintenance items & make it look like you really care about your property.

http://www.philly.com/philly/classifieds/real_estate/CTW_realestate_20100126_Suitable_for_sale.html

Today, I received a call from a potential client telling me his bank told him that he had to pay for a Code inspection for the home he was purchasing in Allentown. I explained to him that he needed to call Allentown's Building Standards and Safety Department due to the fact that a Home inspection is not a code inspection. I told him that most Home Inspectors are not licensed/certified code inspectors. I told him that CODE was a four letter to a Home inspector and that home inspectors were aware of code but did not inspect to code. I also said as Home inspectors we were looking for issues with items and systems that were health issues, safety issues, could cause failure of an item or system or indications that an item or system was close to failure.

Finally, I went on to explain to him that for the most part the code inspector is looking for the following items:

• Handrails and stairs that are solid and have certain dimensions and characteristics.
• GFCI's in the kitchen, bathroom(s), exterior and garage.
• Windows that stay in place when opened.
• Cracked/broken windows
• Flaking paint in homes built prior to 1978.
• Knob & Tube wiring.
• Smoke detectors - each bedroom and each level.
• Unprotected light bulbs in closets.
• Ungrounded outlets.
• Double tapped breakers.
• If the structure is a multiple unit then electrical panels for each unit plus one for the Landlord which is the common areas.
• Bonding of the electrical panel to the metal pipes in the structure.
• Outlets, switches and junction boxes without covers or with broken covers.
• Overflow line from a relief valve.
• Drip legs at gas boilers, furnaces and water heaters.
• Various other items.