Kevin Boyer

My Home Inspection business is expandin its horizons. Looking for new Realtors to promte our products.

What make my Home Inpsection different than the others?

• State Licensed General Contractor- I have been in ths Conatruction Industry for over Twenty years, locally in Southwest Florida and a remodeling professional
  
• Competitive pricing
• Detailed Reports and quick turn arounds. (usually within Twenty Four Hours)
• Repairs and structual damaged areas will have a generated accurate amount attached to each repair or scope.
• FREE WIND MITIGATION INSPECTION FOR EVERY CLIENT (THIS REPORT CAN BE HANDED TO THER INSURANCE AGENT FOR POSSIBLE SAVINGS) $150.00 VALUE free
• Free Chinese Drywall Inpsection with every home inspection a $90.00 value
  
• Couteous and professional attention

www.thesarasotahomeinspector.com

Kevin Boyer

941.735.1413

Thermal Imaging used in home inspections

Picture shows heat (Red) escaping from the windows and door ways and also the sofits

Can your clients benefit from having a thermal imaging scan? The answer should be yes, this technology of infrared cameras, have changed the way home inspectors can see the home. Thermal imaging can save consumers Hundreds to Thousands of dollars on the purchase of a home. Though the inspection is not a deal breaker. Most Realtors will be thanked by there clients for being educated in there purchase of there new home.

Infrared cameras can spot:

Most inspection costs for thermal run between $300- $500 depending on the size of the home.

*some information supplied by NACHI

Kevin Boyer owner of A-Absolute Home Inpsections in North Port Fl

Sarasota Energy Audits

North Port Home Inpsections

When I see red I can save you green

Chinese Drywall

by Nick Gromicko, Rob London and Kenton Shepard Amidst a wave of Chinese import scares, ranging from toxic toys to tainted pet food, reports of contaminated drywall from that country have been popping up across the American Southeast. Chinese companies use unrefined "fly ash," a coal residue found in smokestacks in coal-fired power plants in their manufacturing process. Fly ash contains strontium sulfide, a toxic substance commonly found in fireworks. In hot and wet environments, this substance can offgas into hydrogen sulfide, carbon disulfide, and carbonyl sulfide and contaminate a home's air supply.
The bulk of these incidents have been reported in Florida and other southern states, likely due to the high levels of heat and humidity in that region. Most of the affected homes were built during the housing boom between 2004 and 2007, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina when domestic building materials were in short supply. An estimated 250,000 tons of drywall were imported from China during that time period because it was cheap and plentiful. This material was used in the construction of approximately 100,000 homes in the United States, and many believe this has lead to serious health and property damage.

Although not believed to be life- threatening, exposure to high levels of airborne hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds from contaminated drywall can result in the following physical ailments:

• sore throat;
• sinus irritation;
• coughing;
• wheezing;
• headache;
• dry or burning eyes; and/or
• respiratory infections.
  

Due to this problem's recent nature, there are currently no government or industry standards for inspecting contaminated drywall in homes. Professionals who have handled contaminated drywall in the past may know how to inspect for sulfur compounds but there are no agencies that offer certification in this form of inspection. Homeowners should beware of con artists attempting to make quick money off of this widespread scare by claiming to be licensed or certified drywall inspectors. An inspector can use the following tips to identify if a home's drywall is contaminated:

• The house has a strong sulfur smell reminiscent of rotten eggs.
• Exposed copper wiring appears dark and corroded. Silver jewelry and silverware can become similarly corroded and discolored after several months of exposure.
• A manufacturer's label on the back of the drywall can be used to link it with manufacturers that are known to have used contaminated materials. One way to look for this is to enter the attic and remove some of the insulation.
• Drywall samples can be sent to a lab to be tested for dangerous levels of sulfur. This is the best testing method but also the most expensive.
  

Contaminated Chinese drywall cannot be repaired. Affected homeowners are being forced to either suffer bad health and failing appliances due to wire corrosion or replace the drywall entirely, a procedure which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. This contamination further reduces home values in a real estate environment already plagued by crisis. Some insurance companies are refusing to pay for drywall replacement and many of their clients are facing financial ruin. Class-action lawsuits have been filed against homebuilders, suppliers, and importers of contaminated Chinese drywall. Some large manufacturers named in these lawsuits are Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, Knauf Gips, and Taishan Gypsum. The Florida Department of Health recently tested drywall from three Chinese manufacturers and a domestic sample and published their findings. They found "a distinct difference in drywall that was manufactured in the United States and those that were manufactured in China." The Chinese samples contained traces of strontium sulfide and emitted a sulfur odor when exposed to moisture and intense heat, while the American sample did not. The U.S. Consumer Safety Commission is currently performing similar tests. Other tests performed by Lennar, a builder that used Chinese drywall in 80 Florida homes, and Knauf Plasterboard, a manufacturer of the drywall, came to different conclusions than the Florida Department of Health. Both found safe levels of sulfur compounds in the samples that they tested. There is currently no scientific proof that Chinese drywall is responsible for the allegations against it. Regardless of its source, contamination of some sort is damaging property and health in the southern U.S. The media, who have publicized the issue, almost unanimously report that the blame lies with imported Chinese drywall that contains corrosive sulfur compounds originating from ash produced by Chinese coal-fired power plants. Homes affected by this contamination can suffer serious damage to the metal parts of appliances and piping and lead, potentially leading to considerable health issues. While no governing body has issued regulations regarding contaminated drywall, it is advisable that home inspectors be aware of the danger it poses and learn how to identify it.

How agents can limit their liability with regard to home inspections.

by Joe Ferry, Esquire and Nick Gromicko, InterNACHI Founder In a world where litigation is the preferred method of resolving even the most minor conflicts, it should come as no surprise to real estate agents that they are increasingly finding themselves named as defendants in law suits wherein purchasers of residential real estate are claiming damages as the result of the alleged fraud and/or negligence of one or more of the participants in the transaction. Aggrieved purchasers of residential real estate are operating in a target-rich environment and have a remarkable array of potentially responsible parties from which to seek financial redress for their claimed grievances. In lawsuit after lawsuit, one finds multiple defendants: the sellers, the sellers' agent, the sellers' agent's broker, the buyers' agent, the buyers' agent's broker, the home inspector, the pest inspector and so on; multiple counts: fraud, negligence, breach of contract; and, generally, hundreds of allegations against the various defendants. Once a lawsuit has been filed and you have been named as a defendant, you can kiss your E & O deductible goodbye. Even if you are blameless, which in the overwhelming majority of instances you are because the overwhelming majority of these types of lawsuits are completely devoid of merit. The size of these Complaints and the sheer number of their allegations guarantees it. No competent lawyer could possibly read and respond to the vastly overblown pleadings that normally characterize these types of lawsuits for anything close to the typical real estate agent's E & O deductible. Therefore, the best strategy is to avoid being named in the suit in the first place. Fortunately, there are a number of effective policies that, if followed, can sharply reduce and even eliminate your exposure to being named in a meritless lawsuit. Lawsuits resulting from a residential real estate transaction almost always result from a feeling on the buyers' part that they got less than they bargained for. After they moved into the property, they discovered that it was not all that it was cracked up to be. Sometimes the alleged defects were present at the time of the home inspection but for one reason or another were not discovered by the home inspection. The fact that the alleged defects were not discovered by the home inspector does not automatically mean that the home inspector was negligent or that you were negligent for recommending the inspector. Far from it. There could be a large number of reasons why the alleged defect was not discovered at the inspection that fall well short of actionable negligence. The defect could be something that is not discovered because its inspection is simply not contemplated by the home inspection, a determination of the adequacy of any structural system or component, for example. Such a determination is outside the scope of a home inspection. Or it could be something that is not reported because it was concealed by furniture on the day of the inspection or was located in an area that was inaccessible. Not infrequently, known defects are deliberately concealed by the sellers. And far more frequently than anyone would imagine, the alleged defect that is the subject of the buyers' complaint was actually discovered by the home inspector, noted in the inspection report and not acted upon by the buyers because they did not bother to read the inspection report. Therefore, when selecting a home inspector for your client, you should bear uppermost in your mind that the home inspector is your first line of defense against a meritless negligence claim. Top Eight Ways You Can Sharply Reduce Your Professional Liability Exposure:

1. Insist that your client hire a professional home inspector to inspect the property and strongly recommend that the inspection also include ancillary inspections for the presence of wood destroying insects and such harmful pathogens as mold and radon.
   
2. Take the time to manage your clients' expectations of what can reasonably be discovered by a limited visual inspection of a property that is full of furniture, carpets and stored items that further physically limit the scope of an already limited inspection.
   
3. Be sure to carry your own Professional Liability Insurance to protect yourself from allegations that you should have independently verified that the property was defect-free.
   
4. Review the inspector's Pre-inspection Agreement to make sure that it contains a Notice Clause that requires the buyers to notify the inspector within no more than 14 days of the discovery of any defect for which they believe he is responsible.
   
5. Avoid conflicts of interest. Never recommend an inspector who participates in preferred vendor schemes. All major inspector associations prohibit participation in such undue praise-purchasing schemes. You have a fiduciary duty to recommend the very best inspectors, based solely on merit, not money. And it goes without saying that you should never recommend any inspector with whom you have a close personal or blood relationship.
   
6. Recommend the high value inspector, not the low price inspector. Good inspectors charge accordingly. Trying to save your client $100 on an inspection could cost them $10,000.
   
7. Only recommend inspectors who adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, such as members of InterNACHI.
   
8. Always attend the home inspection. Many real estate agents have been advised never to attend a home inspection, allegedly by real estate attorneys. Agents who say that they have received such advice are never able to articulate its rationale. You are not any less likely to be named in a suit by hiding during the inspection and the reasons for attending the inspection are quite compelling. First, your presence is a clear indication of your professionalism and concern for your client's interests, two factors well-known to engender referrals. Secondly, it affords a very cogent opportunity to refocus your client's attention to the limited nature of the inspection. For example, you could note the numerous obstacles, such as furniture, carpets and appliances that can obviously inhibit the inspector's ability to see certain areas of the home. Finally, should this transaction come to grief, your interests are usually perfectly aligned with the inspector's and your recollection of such limiting factors would provide powerful corroboration of the exonerating reasons that a defect was not discovered during the inspection.