Nolan Kienitz

Chad, She just had to be "hitting on you"! [] I had an agent (in the past month) go over the edge and said I would never work in DFW again unless I lowered my fees and do what her clients wanted. Her comeback was "all about her" and all she had done for me over the years. She had been complaining this past year about all the technical negative items in my reports and why couldn't I instead focus on the positive aspects of the home. Hummm?? !!! It never ceases to amaze me how they can turn on a dime, never look back and never consider the the whole picture. In 'many' cases it simply boils down to their commission check. Click to Enlarge 19.41?KB

Tahoe or Trailblazer or the GMC version of same? I have a 2006 TB and it is fantastic. Approaching 100K and just had a "well-health" checkup and I'm planning for another 100K.

Reach out for Thom Walker at 361-774-7182. He is a very good inspector in the Corpus Christi area.

JD, However you end up building this structure don't do it near growing trees. This "shed" was lifted about 1-2 feet off the cinder blocks at one end as the trees/shrubs grew over time. I did this HI this past week and discovered a well (not in seller's disclosure) in one of three sheds on the 1-1/2 acre site in the middle of a very pricey part of town. Odds are the property will be leveled and a new 'mansion' built at some point and time. Seems like it has started at the East end of this particular street and is slowly moving West. Big lots and high prices as well as taxes. Click to Enlarge 70.65?KB

Denny, It is just an effort to keep you "balanced" !! []

I "have" to do it ... I just "have to" !!! I can't restrain myself !!!! Here it is: This thread "started out" in the "flusher"!!! [:-slaphap

JD, Ditto what Marc said. Very nice indeed. I toured some of that area many years past and was (still am) enthralled with the history. Sidebar question: What digital SLR did you end up getting? I recall the thread of questions on that a while back and know I could search, but I'm 'lazy'. How do you like that particular model you got? My wife and I are thinking about getting one as well.

According to the site this is the or one of the country's oldest timber frame house(s). Fairbanks House - Dedham, MA

But ... more often than not that is our regular summertime (attic) inspection conditions in our Southern tier of states.

The little "blue" pill []

Was doing a final on a new home final, years ago, "out in the county". One of the many things wrong was the hot water to the toilets. I told the client they could steam hot-dogs in the tank. [:-slaphap

You could consider one of these [] Click to Enlarge 9.14 KB

Online Yellow Pages. Like the paper version I get dunned for 'advertising' all the time and have never had a client advise they found anything about me from Yelp (Yes, I ask each client for my records).

My personal choice is: Whisper Reporter There are many options and good applications out there to consider, take for test drives and see which one works best for you. Most of the good applications leave it up to you (the inspector) to develop your own comments, prepared text, etc., etc.. But you already know that.

Also consider: Whisper Reporter ... by Whisper Solutions Very customizable for your specific needs.

Very nice indeed, Kurt.

Got this link from a local inspector friend of mine in D/FW yesterday. Secrets Sellers May Not Disclose ??

I pursued Texas TREC Legal very hard about having them exercise their span of authority over FHA Fee Inspectors and 203k Consultants (there are NOT one and the same). TREC Legal and I went back/forth for over three weeks on this matter and they ultimately told me that they didn't have any desire to have any span of authority over FHA Fee Inspectors and 203k Consultants. The basically washed their hands of this situation in Texas. Now today the TREC Advisor (a monthly TREC newsletter) was released and it lists all the fines against zoids, inspectors and appraisers. One inspector was fined for not having an active/current license since 2006. TREC cited two specific inspections/reports and I'm sure there have been many more in the time since his license expired in 2006. His fee is $10K and of course does not have an active license. Of course trying to collect the $10K will likely be a whole 'nother trick to deal with.

~two years ago a seller took a long-term, well-respected inspector to task for writing an honest report on a home and the buyer walked when the seller refused to negotiate on anything presented by the buyer and buyer's agent. Property was on tax rolls (Houston, TX ... Harris County) for ~$175,000 and the seller sued for well over a million. The legal went on for almost a year and ended up being settled out of court and thus no one knows for sure what the result was. The seller happened to be a litigating attorney who spends his life suing people (his wife also had multiple suits against her employer ... a major school district in Harris County). What is frustrating is that a local judge agreed to the suit and allowed it to proceed. Goes without saying that the judge and the litigating attorney are in each others pockets. Regardless of how much the inspector had to pay to settle the suit there are also the legal fees he also incurred. We all just have to be as careful as we can.

Attorneys for the inspector and Pillar to Post have filed responses. I've attached both PDFs to this message. Legal response on behalf of Pillar to Post: Download Attachment: PtoP_Response.pdf 359.35 KB Legal response on behalf of the Inspector: Download Attachment: Inspector_Response.pdf 349.9 KB Responses are pretty good and of course do their best to debunk the original claims.

Nice, subtle changes for the TIJ display. Unless it is more my browser rendering things differently.

Man oh Man ... I'm going to make sure I'm on the observant side so I don't get attacked by "aggressive water" .... []

Why? It's stucco !! A friend of mine in the Houston market who is a specialist for stucco and similar cladding (15 plus years) ... says he has never seen ONE installation that is correct. No matter if it is a 'spensive house or a less than 'spensive house. However ... one would hope/think that someone would get it right sometime or somewhere.

This is an update to an earlier post of mine about the proposed SOP, Rules and Report Template for the Texas TREC licensed inspectors. The attached documents are the final DRAFT documents that have been posted at the TREC website for review. These documents and proposal for change will be taken up by the appropriate committees later this summer/fall and acted upon. I'm sure ... more to come. All in all the changes in the proposed SOP, Rules and Template are "foward" steps to help simplify one of the most detailed/controlling SOPs that inspectors anywhere have to deal with. I realize that most of the participants of TIJ don't deal with or really care about the dealings we in Texas have, but it may be of interest to some and I know that there are some other Texas-licensed HI's who participate in this forum. Proposed SOP: Download Attachment: Draft_SoP's_535.227-233.pdf 194.49 KB Proposed Report Form Rules: Download Attachment: Draft_535.222,_.223.pdf 218.94 KB Proposed Report Template: Download Attachment: Draft_REI7-3.pdf 112.93 KB

Not that I was looking for it, but caught a quick piece of Holmes on Fox & Friends this morning. He was brandishing an IR camera and stated that ALL inspectors should have them and if they don't (effectively) they are not a worthwhile inspector (my turn of words in that comment). He also noted the IR camera was about $20K. Then Gretchen asked if a homeowner could rent one and do their own IR work. [:-bigeyes Holmes did play that down a bit mentioning some understanding of the readings was necessary ... IE: Level 1. He commented that he has $500K of tools and that all builders/inspectors should be similarly equipped. It was a very quick/short piece, but likely enough to plant more seeds to foster questions from potential clients. I've done some quick searching, but have not been able to find the video for the piece yet and it may be available later today. Found the link for the video: Holmes on Fox & Friends