The market is shifting, and the data doesn’t lie; 34.5% of active orange county listings have had price reductions, and 31.1% for L.A. county as of august 2022). Gone are the days when a seller could expect 20-50 offers above asking and tell a buyer to pound sand unless they waive X, Y, and Z. […]
Get a pre-listing inspection. A pre-listing inspection by a certified home inspector is designed to catch everything the buyer’s inspector will be looking for, and I highly recommend you get one before you sell your home. In bringing in your own inspector before listing your home for sale, you can learn about the condition of […]
Why do foundations crack? In our local area, we have a lot of older homes that were built upon a poured concrete raised foundation, and finding foundation cracks is a common occurrence. These older foundations crack primarily because of moisture sitting at the foundation over a long period of time. Most foundation movement […]
ERMI testing is a DNA test method developed by the EPA to determine the relative mold burden of home in the United States. ERMI stands for Environmental Relative Moldiness index. The EPA surveyed 1,079 home across the United States for 36 different types of mold and analyzed the mold burden of those homes with the […]
Homeownership comes with so many benefits, but it also takes work such as annual A/C system maintenance. As with most HVAC systems in Southern California homes, you most likely have a split system consisting of an outdoor unit and an inside unit. The exterior unit has an array of tiny coils like a car’s radiator and […]
If the seller has agreed to have some items fixed that were found during the initial home inspection, I always recommend double-checking any reported repairs by having your inspector perform a repair verification inspection as part of your due diligence process. You are required to perform your due diligence and the phrase “trust but […]
A Sewer Scope Inspection inspects the sewer line that is between the home and the city main line under the street. A special camera system that uses a waterproof camera on the end of a long flexible fiber optic cable is fed through the line from an accessible cleanout location to determine the pipe material […]
Congratulations, you’ve just scheduled a home inspection! If you are reading this because you have chosen me as your home inspector, I’d like to thank you for the opportunity to serve you. The home inspection is just one step of many in the escrow process, but it’s a critical one! Chances are you only saw […]
AFCI circuit breakers monitor their respective electrical circuits for problems that could cause a spark. They sound a lot like their cousins called GFCI breakers. However, they work differently. GFCI breakers protect the home occupants from accidental shock, whereas an AFCI breaker protects against sparks and fires. AFCI circuit breakers use advanced electronics to “sense” normal conditions and for dangerous situations. […]
If you own a home, you have a roof to take care of, and my guess is seven out of ten of you have an asphalt shingle roof. Here in the southland, asphalt shingles cover the vast majority of homes, and for a good reason. They are the least expensive option to choose from when […]