1. Prepare home buyers for successful negotiations

2. Clearly identify the most critical construction defects

3. Satisfy a review of all components as required by your local governing authority

4. Prepare home buyers for home ownership with a list of DIY issues and less concerning repairs that will affect the value of the home if differed

5. Protect home buyers with attention-to-detail necessary of a legal document that represents your long-term best interests

A simple definition of a home inspection: a survey of the condition of a property, searching and documenting critical failures of the major components in a home.  Any home inspector you hire should follow all rules as determined by the local governing body, in our case, the Tennessee Commerce and Insurance Department, Division of Regulatory Board. No matter who you use for a home inspection, the process, the service, and the report should leave you prepared as both a home buyer and a home owner!

A Negotiation Tool

Your home inspector should primarily be focused on creating a document that addresses the most relevant defects on a home that pertains to the real estate transaction.  A skilled home inspector protects his clients by writing a report with professional language that puts pressure on the Seller’s to pay for significant repairs needed.

Not all real estate agents are equal in their negotiation skills so it is imperative that your home inspector is skilled to help arm you with necessary facts about the home and detailed facts about specific construction defects for successful negotiations.  Home inspectors with construction experience can have a huge advantage in this arena by painting a clear picture about not only what is wrong but why a defect needs to be fixed sooner than later.  Professionally elevating a defect can quickly prevent Seller’s or Seller’s Agent arguments.

Need help choosing a realtor with great negotiation skills?  We work with the best of the best in Nashville, TN – just call and ask us about our experience!  We are happy to provide a preferred realtor list.

Your home inspector should be capable of quickly distinguishing simple DIY repairs from significant construction defects that require professional trade contractors.  Wasted time and wasted energy will be lost if this part of the process is not handled efficiently.  Most offers being accepted in Nashville are extremely competitive leaving our clients with a very short inspection window to not only complete a home inspection but also have the follow-up inspections often needed by HVAC technicians, pool inspectors, qualified contractors and engineers.  Although a home inspector may be thorough, it is important that they are very timely in providing you clear directives so that follow-up inspections (with quotes) can be scheduled and completed before your deadline.

Basics of a Home Inspection Report

Before hiring a home inspector, ask them for an example report.  This report should be thorough with a technical review of all house components.  A summary of these components would include:

Roof

Electrical

HVAC

Plumbing

Exterior

Interior

Structural

Attic and Crawlspace

A more comprehensive breakdown visit: All House Components

What you may not know about a home inspection

A Home Inspection Report is a Legal Document

Most home buyers do not know this but a home inspection report is a legal document.  In a worst-case scenario if a lawsuit were to be filed regarding the real estate transaction your home inspection report will be used in a court of law as a legal document representing the condition of the property on the day that it was inspected.  That inspection report that so often goes unread (Yes! You would be surprised) becomes scrutinized, word-by-word, line-by-line by multiple parties including:

• Sellers
• Buyers’ Agents
• Sellers’ Agents
• Structural Engineers
• Trade Contractors
• Municipal Judge
• Governing Arbitrators
• Attorneys
• Insurance Representatives

Accurate, precise descriptions of the property are extremely important in such an event as a lawsuit.

In the case of a Builder Warranty Inspection (in which our clients have us return to review the property and create a punch-list of issues for the Builder to repair before the end of your new construction warranty), that Warranty Inspection report is a legal document that could extend the statute of limitations on new construction defects.  Your Builder Warranty Inspection report is legal proof that you did your due diligence in making the home builder aware of a defect that should have been repaired within that first year of home ownership!

In Summary

A well-qualified home inspector is a consummate professional capable of both preparing you and protecting you during a real estate purchase.  Keeping the top five purposes of a home inspection in mind, you now have a gauge to help you qualify the home inspector that will best suit your long-term best interests.  Download our FREE Checklist: How to Interview a Home Inspector

Magnolia Guarantee

Magnolia team members are driven to maximize every dollar you spend on a home inspection.   Pre-purchasing costs can add up and we understand that most buyers are feeling a cash crunch leading up to final closing.  That is why We Promise you Peace of Mind or your money back. From the ease of scheduling to the on-location walkthrough and next-day written report we guarantee you peace of mind through every step of the process.

We would love to talk with you about any questions you may have.  Even if you have not used us for a home inspection in the past, please view us as a resource for your home improvement problems!

FREE Additional Resources

Download: Checklist for Hiring a Home Inspector

Article: How much does a Home Inspection Cost?

Article: Who Should I Hire for a Home Inspection

Have you lived beside a perfect neighbor who owned all the tools necessary to complete house projects; someone who has researched all aspects of a project before starting?  These are the neighbors that we recruit and train as home inspectors!  (If this reminds you of someone you know please have them visit our career page for an awesome opportunity!)

The post Top 5 Purposes of a Home Inspection appeared first on Nashville Home Inspection | Magnolia.

10.  These are pictures of shadows from the eclipse in 2017, one of the few odd occurrences during a total eclipse of the sun.  As the remaining sunlight passes through small holes, such as the space between leaves of a tree, an image of the light source is projected over the shadow.  The same effect can be produced by holding a tightly woven basket up toward the eclipse.

9.  Bird perch on a new construction roof.  For safety purposes roofers fasten boards directly to a finished roof.  This was discovered on an 11-month Warranty inspection for a client that had used another home inspector when purchasing the home.

8.  This is a welcoming Southern porch… even the deckboards are waving hello!

7.  Buyer Beware!  This is a $100 toy that can be purchased on Amazon to read Radon levels.  A well-known company in Nashville is using these to provide free Radon tests and then recommending that they perform the mitigation when this toy read HIGH…  If you see these toys as a Realtor, know that there is a tremendous amount of risk and liability when an individual poses to be a Radon professional but is operating outside the bounds of the guidelines provided by the EPA and the National Radon Proficiency Program (NRPP).

6.  This situation took a while to get sorted out.  The termite inspector was the first to enter the crawlspace and identified a 1 ½ inch line that was continuously discharge water into the crawlspace.  The realtors were then informed that a main water line was potentially flooding the crawlspace.  In actuality, the neighbor was tired of water being pumped onto his driveway and shoved the sump pump line back through the hole in the side of the wall into the crawlspace.   The sump pump was running continuosly spraying water back into the giant pool under the home.

5.  Can’t.. quite… reach it…  What is astonishing about this situation is that this was a serious leak causing mold growth in the past.  Notice the white paint on all the joists.  Someone took the time to treat the mold issue but didn’t have the integrity to fix the http://tr5tm4gn0.wwwmi3-sr26.supercp.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/computer-pc-workplace-home-office-159760-1.jpg cause of the issue.  If you have been told that repairs have been completed to a home… get it inspected!!

4.  It is not very often that we encounter live termites in a home.  Most often termites have built a shelter tube up the foundation wall and then retreated for better opportunites elsewhere.  On this particular house, not only was there termites actively eating away at the walls and structure of the home, the highway from the ground into the house was a giant ¾ inch mud tunnel.  This is the largest tunnel I have ever seen, active or inactive.  The termites made their way through the walls into the roof framing.

3.  Talk about abandonment issues…..

2.  Walking the line…  this million dollar home was not free of defects.

1.  Funhouse!  This was one of three supporting beams that were crushed under the floor system.  The floor bounced like a trampoline.  Issues like this are not difficult to fix.  The problem is finding a contractor that is willing to leave a profitable job to crawl into a crawlspace that is no higher than 18 inches to perform load-bearing structural repairs.

And here are a few more fun ones we couldn’t leave out..

BONUS 1.   Sally the salamander.  Note, if you see one of these guys in your crawlspace you have a moisture issue!  This particular house was half way down a large hill with water being channeled by the street and grading features, directly toward the foundation of the home.  There was such a large amount of water passing through the foundation and into the crawlspace of this home that the piers were noted as possibly being compromised from erosion.  Sally here was very healthy (see her fat belly) – moisture attracts insects in addition to other negative impacts.

BONUS 2.  This ended up being an embarrassing photo taken on an 11-month Warranty inspection.  11-month Warranty Inspections are performed on new construction homes a month or so before the Builder’s Warranty expires.  After a somewhat emotional conversation with the builder and the plumbing contractor, it was eventually discovered that the new owner had placed the clothes washer discharge into the floor drain located in the pan under the clothes washer… some people need more direction than others.  (After the discharge was placed in the proper drain the plumber did extend this back up drain to the exterior of the home)

BONUS 3.   These termites, and the ‘developer’, do not deserve a clean plate award.  An important aspect of performing a good home inspection is being aware of your surroundings – gathering information from clues about the potential condition of the home from evidence that is not necessarily in or on the home itself.  In this case old floor framing was removed and hidden under the vapor barrier.  Less experienced home inspectors may see a large section of structural floor framing with new lumber , take a picture of it with a thumbs up for the report.  We treat this condition, however, as a red flag (an obvious condition of a flipped house) requiring a slower process with more attention to detail on what may be covered up.  Working in a tight crawlspace is not a fun work environment.  This is a location in which even important  repairs integral to the long-term structural integrity of the home can often being rushed.

Don’t miss out on spotting these nightmares before making an offer on a home.

Trust Magnolia with your home inspection.

The post Top 10 Home Inspection Pictures Through The Years appeared first on Nashville Home Inspection | Magnolia.

How bad can it be? I mean, Codes Inspectors are looking at all these houses and Builders are obligated to fix issues that appear in the first year anyway, right? The fact is, inspection reports for new construction homes are often larger compared to homes that have been lived in for 5-10 years including major defects that were corrected before the eventual catastrophe. Magnolia has put together an inspection report of many of those major defects to help bust the new construction myth, helping realtors better prepare their buyers and hopefully educating new home buyers for the need of an construction experienced advocate when purchasing a new home!

New Construction Failures Report

Just within the last 400 homes Magnolia has inspected there appear to be consistent construction defects across the board on new construction. It is our interpretation that major defects found on a new construction home appears to be the result of high-volume building, Nashville’s booming real estate industry, in which production takes precedence over quality control by quality Builders and Codes Inspectors alike. Here is some of our interpretations of why so many major defects are appearing on new construction homes:

• Quality Builders are producing at maximum or even beyond their limits resulting in experienced superintendents being spread thin across multiple construction sites with less time to oversee the completion details, detailed work that might prevent a roof leak, or malfunction of brand new HVAC equipment months after new buyers take ownership

• Due to a lack of communication, or planning Trade Contractors often run out of material resulting in the ‘appearance’ of a complete job. On so many new construction homes insulation is only installed in the immediate visible areas from the attic access or crawlspace entry – there is no insulation installed on the other side of the large ductwork.

• Quality Builders are forced to hire superintendents that are not as experienced or detailed-oriented; the demand for production can exceed the demand for quality construction.

• Besides the fact that there are very few quality trade contractors, these contractors are being forced to hire workers that are not as experienced or skilled; the demand for production can exceed the demand for quality construction.

• Superintendents and Codes Inspectors are human. Their ability to concentrate on the details in combination with long hour work days, the amount of work or the number of inspections to complete do not allow these individuals to be present during an inspection

• Codes Inspectors are not required to walk on roofs, strap on knee pads to crawl a crawlspace, or investigate attics at the end of construction.

• Low-quality Builders expect the Buyer, the Realtor, the Codes Inspector and a Home Inspector to point out all the issues that need to be fixed in order for the house to be SOLD. Low-quality Builders are only focused on profit and sales factors (i.e. stainless steel appliances, nice cabinets and granite countertops).

With the rise in popularity of home inspections even quality Builders appear to be relying more on the presence of an experienced inspector to arrive at the end of the process to help provide the necessary punch-list to be completed by the Builder before the new buyers take ownership. This is actually Magnolia’s approach to new construction inspections. “I see our job when inspecting new construction homes as serving the best interests, primarily of our clients but also everyone involved. Home inspectors should never be in competition with the Builder, quite the opposite. Quality Builders care about the interests of home buyers and welcome inspectors with a construction background as part of the process to help deliver the best quality product to the buyer. The best inspectors are willing to crawl into the most uncomfortable areas of a home to advise on detail finishes that may prevent emergency phone calls for failing HVAC equipment, water leaks and other catastrophic problems that Builders never intended to happen.”

At Magnolia, our Inspector’s primary aim is to use our construction experience to help our client’s protect their investment while making the most informed decision possible. Home inspectors with construction experience can have the deepest understanding of what to look for, how to resolve and the whys behind many issues in homes while highlighting the difference between common and uncommon construction defects.

Foundation cracks in a new construction home??? Yes, it does happen. The cost of a new construction inspection should yield a return on investment when your home inspector is a professional with a construction background! For those still in doubt, see our New Construction Report of the various major defects we have found!

New Construction Failures Report

The post No Home Inspection for New Construction? Prepare for an April Fool’s Surprise!! appeared first on Nashville Home Inspection | Magnolia.