Scott Baker- Home Inspection South & Southeast King County

About Us:

Your Local Home Inspector

Area including Algona, Auburn, Bellevue (South of I-90), Black Diamond, Covington, Des Moines, Enumclaw, Fairwood, Federal Way, Issaquah (South of I-90) Kennydale, Kent, Newcastle, North Bend (South of I-90), Maple Valley, Pacific, Ravensdale, Renton & Snoqualmie Pass (South of I-90)

In October of 2005 Scott and Anne Baker purchased the Pillar To Post franchise territory encompassing Southwest King County in Washington State. This area includes the communities of Algona, Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent & Pacific. Three years and hundreds of inspections later they purchased the rights to the Southeast King County territory in July of 2008. This expanded their service area to include the additional communities of Bellevue (South of I-90) Black Diamond, Covington, Enumclaw, Fairwood, Hobart, Issaquah (South of I-90) Kennydale, Newcastle, North Bend (South of I-90), Maple Valley, Ravensdale, Renton & Snoqualmie Pass (South of I-90)

Lifelong Washington residents, they have called Maple Valley home since 2002. They bring a combined total of over 30 years experience in the areas of home improvement, business management, accounting and customer service. They have earned the trust of buyers, sellers and real estate professionals, and have grown their business into a well liked and highly respected professional home inspection company. Their service team includes a full time certified home inspector, a Washington Department of Agricultural licensed pest inspector, a Washington State licensed real estate Instructor, as well as a highly trained customer service and marketing representative. The team has inspected homes in all kinds of neighborhoods, from older historic neighborhoods, to the new luxury homes, ranch estates, condos and everything in between.

As part of your community, we are pleased to provide our local customers, real estate professionals, home buyers and home sellers with a home inspection service that brings to the buying or selling of a home unmatched quality, precision, integrity, and professionalism.

We call what we do The Moment of Truth. It is the moment when the emotion of buying and selling a home meets the reality of the issues of that home. Our work is to communicate effectively, knowledgably, efficiently, and openly about the condition of a home. We understand that our customers trust us to inform and educate them about what we see and what we find, and this is a trust we hold in the highest regard.

Areas of Expertise

Home Inspection Services

Proudly Serving the South & Southeast King County Area including Algona, Auburn, Bellevue (South of I-90), Black Diamond, Covington, Des Moines, Enumclaw, Fairwood, Federal Way, Issaquah (South of I-90) Kennydale, Kent, Newcastle, North Bend (South of I-90), Maple Valley, Pacific, Ravensdale, Renton & Snoqualmie Pass (South of I-90)

A professional home evaluation of more than 1,600 items inside and outside the home is the core of the Pillar To Post inspection. Our inspectors conduct a visual inspection of accessible systems and components of the home including:

• Structure and foundation
• Electrical systems
• Plumbing systems
• Roofs and Attics
• Basements and Crawl Spaces
• Gutters and Drainage
• Walls, Floors and Ceilings
• Porches and Decks
• Property and Site

We also inspect and operate:

• Furnaces in heating season
• Air Conditioning in cooling season
• Plumbing Fixtures in Kitchens and Baths
• Water Heaters
• A representative sampling of Lights and Receptacles
• A representative sampling of Windows and Doors
• Built-in Appliances

Pre-Listing Inspections for Sellers

In preparation of listing a home for sale, the professional home inspector will visually examine the readily accessible systems and components of a home and operates those systems and components utilizing state and industry Standards of Practice. The owner is encouraged to attend the entire inspection. Areas to be inspected include:

• Property & Site
• Exterior & Garage
• Roof & Attic
• Basement/Structure
• Heating/Cooling systems
• Plumbing Systems
• Electrical Systems

Upon completion of the inspection, a computerized Inspection Report with color digital pictures of defects & features is printed. It is presented in the Pillar To Post Inspection Report Folder.

Additional copies are made available for distribution to potential buyers.

Introducing Foundation Inspections for Manufactured Homes from Pillar To Post® and Hayman Residential Engineering Services

If you've ever been involved in the sale of a manufactured home, you know how tricky it can be to secure financing and close the deal. Because an engineer's certification is necessary to approve an FHA backed loan on a manufactured home, many Realtors avoid these types of homes completely. Finding a certified professional engineer who is willing, able, and familiar enough with government regulations to certify the foundation of a manufactured home - let alone someone who will provide the certification in a timely manner and at a reasonable price - can be a huge challenge.

Fortunately, there is now a way to simplify the certification process and get to closing with fewer delays and less frustration.

Pillar To Post, the industry leader in home inspection services, and Hayman Residential Engineering Services (HRES), a nationwide engineering firm specializing in manufactured home inspections, are pleased to announce a strategic alliance. This new alliance will allow lenders, Realtors, and home owners from coast-to-coast to quickly and easily obtain foundation certifications on manufactured homes from a certified professional engineer.

By working together, HRES and Pillar To Post have streamlined the certification process. Rather than wait up to 3 or 4 weeks for an opening in a local engineer's schedule, within two business days of receiving your call, a Pillar To Post home inspector will visit the property to collect the necessary measurements and photographs. This data will be passed along to HRES, where a dedicated team of professional engineers with special expertise in this area will either provide the certificate, or determine that the foundation does not meet FHA/VA criteria. The turnaround time on the certification is just 3-5 business days with a 24-hour RUSH service available.

As an added value, if the home does not meet the criteria for certification, HRES can recommend repair contractors who are FHA certified to make the necessary repairs. Neither HRES nor Pillar To Post make any commission in any form from these contractors. This is purely provided as a service.

Home Energy Tune-uP Inspection

Step 1: INSPECTION

To reduce utility bills, the first step is to find out where you are wasting energy.

To do this, you need a residential energy inspectionâ€"which should be done by a certified energy inspector who has no financial interest in the improvements recommended.

The energy inspector will examine, measure, and evaluate the factors that affect energy use in your home, e.g., size of the home, efficiency of appliances, insulation, draftiness of rooms, and efficiency of heating and cooling systems (HVAC).

Step 2: DETAILED ANALYSIS

The information gathered during the energy audit is analyzed using specialized software to produce a comprehensive Home Energy Tune-uP^® Report. The Report shows which energy-efficiency improvements would reduce energy costs and make the home more comfortable. The analysis takes into account regional variables such as local weather, implementation costs, and fuel prices.

The Report contains estimates of the savings, costs and payback for each energy-efficiency recommendation. It identifies the group of improvements that, if financed, will save more on energy bills than it costs. These are the improvements that everyone can make since they require no out-of-pocket cost when financed.

The detailed Recommendations section enables contractors to provide preliminary cost estimates without a visit to your home. It also explains how to get the best energy savings from these improvements by listing related no-cost low-cost measures that you can take.

Neighborhood Environmental Report

The effects of environmental problems on out properties and in our neighborhoods are of greater concern than ever before. Mishaps such as leaking fuel tanks or industrial toxic waste spills can leach into the soil and groundwater, posing health threats to you and your family. Harmful vapors caused by pollution can migrate into living spaces. Drinking water can be contaminated. Even the stream or ball field down the street where children play could be a health risk.

Most properties and neighborhoods appear to be clean. A Pillar To Post EDR Neighborhood Environmental Report will help you learn if they really are. It reports records of contamination from relatively common occurrences such as leaking underground tanks to more serious issues such as "meth" labs, hazardous waste sites or spills, and EPA Superfund sites. We will investigate the address you provide and then search beyond the property to check your new neighborhood as well.

It's important to know before you buy. With an EDR Neighborhood Environmental Report from Pillar To Post, you will be alerted to existing conditions that could cause current and future problems. You may also learn that the neighborhood you're considering has a clean bill of health.

Wood Destroying Insect Inspection

A visual inspection of accessible areas for active, or evidence of past infestation of wood destroying insects to include termites, carpenter ants, beetles and other Wood Destroying Organisms by a State of Washington Licensed Inspector. A WDO inspection report is issued with a full report of the findings. WSDA #71129

Flood Analysis Report

What is a Flood Analysis?

A Flood Analysis is a concise, homebuyer-friendly report that shows at a glance:

An aerial view of a property.

Whether or not a property is located within a Special Flood Hazard Area (high-risk flood zone).

Whether or not a property is located within 1,000 feet of a Special Flood Hazard Area.

If the community currently participates in FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program

As a home seller, a Flood Analysis will set you apart from the competition. As a buyer a Flood Analysis helps complete the picture of the prospective new home offering additional peace of mind.

Flood waters don't care about lines on a map. A home may be technically mapped outside the nearest high-risk flood zone, but only be a few feet away. A Flood Analysis provides the details needed to accurately depict the property's flood status and risk.

A flood map change may have altered the property's flood status. If the applicable flood map has been revised, a buyer may be unaware that the home's previous flood zone status may not be accurate today. A Flood Analysis provides the most current information available.

Deciding to purchase flood insurance now, based on a Flood Analysis, could pay off in major savings later.

Even for properties in zones where flood insurance isn't required, obtaining coverage at the time of the home purchase could prevent devastating financial losses later if a flood occurs.

Re-Inspection

A visual examination of areas to be determined by the client, designed to evaluate whether work requested in a contract addendum has been completed in a satisfactory manner. A copy of the contract addendum and the client, or the clients, representative must be present during the re inspection. A re-inspection report will be issued at the conclusion of the re-inspection.

Testimonials

Scott,

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated the pre-inspection that you did on my personal home, I didn't realize the value of this service until I used it for myself. I staged my home and did the pre-inspection and priced it at the absolute top of the market, you can imagine my surprise when I received a full price offer within 2 days (and I'm talking August of 07) the market wasn't exactly blistering. The best part about this story is that the buyers had an inspection contingency, but once they saw that I had done a pre-inspection they just looked at it and came to the conclusion that they didn't want to spend the money on another inspection. Scott, I would highly recommend this service to anyone that truly wants to sell their home in this current market (or any market for that matter). It saved us time and headaches and money! Great job and thank you!

Sincerely,

Dennis Ranch - Operating Principle
Keller Williams Federal Way