POS House

[Phillip]

Photos says it all.

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[Garet]

Thanks for the reality check. Life around here is looking much better after viewing that!

[Marc]

The thing about these houses that are bad off is that you have to work harder for your money since there's more to write up. That changes when they pass certain thresholds like the one in this post. Just give a general description and recommend a gutting or even better, demolition. Those are the quick bucks!

Marc

[Ben H]

The thing about these houses that are bad off is that you have to work harder for your money since there's more to write up. That changes when they pass certain thresholds like the one in this post. Just give a general description and recommend a gutting or even better, demolition. Those are the quick bucks!

Marc

Thats a good point Marc, what do you guys do when you get to a home in this kind of condition?

Up the charge? Deny the inspection? Or create a one line report with the word hand grenade in it?[]

[Tim Maxwell]

I've walked away from 3 in 13 years. I've had several others in the past 3 years that I ended up with very long reports with tons of picture in, and in the end would tell the buyer that they would be best off just hiring a general contractor since there are so many things wrong in so many areas and systems. Thank goodness I don't get many really bad ones. I have a friend/inspector that seems to get them all.

[Stephen D. Gazo]

I hope that when you looked in the house you reached for your respirator, the airborne (huah) particulate in that place must be crazy, it will clog a clean lung in seconds.

Gotta match

[Neal Lewis]

Thats a good point Marc, what do you guys do when you get to a home in this kind of condition?

I do exactly as Marc says. Be as general as possible. Use pics and descriptions as examples of what's going on, and try not to be too specific.

[Tom Raymond]

It's not that bad. You should be able to fix everything there with a four hour dozer rental.

I was particularly amuzed by pic #5, a shiny dish on a felt paper roof cover. Priorities.

Tom

[hausdok]

I think that one would be pretty simple to write up and explain to the client.

You essentially tell them that what they are purchasing is the frame of a house that's had the wiring and the plumbing roughed in and will need significant repair. They'll need to strip out 100% of the drywall and the insulation, strip the decks off the roof and floors, strip off the siding, replace the rotting components in the frame, treat 100 of the framing with a penetrating fungicide and then proceed as if they were in the early stages of construction of a new home and hope they don't run out of time or money like the last guy did before they get it done.

I can't imagine a bank being willing to finance an attempt at fixing that mess.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Bob White]

Hard to believe someone paid to have this structure inspected ...

[Les]

"I can't imagine a bank being willing to finance an attempt at fixing that mess.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike"

HUD 203K.

American Dream of Home Ownership.

You should always give your client what they want. Lovely site, extensive insulation on all surfaces of house, a biological wonderland, unique ventilation, pre-stained wood trims and components. Floors ready for fertilizer and grass seed, etc..........

[randynavarro]

Yes, I've crested the hump on dilapidated structures like this. . . .

I just throw the book at it. No contemplating and researching codes and standards.

Simply: "Everything needs to be fixed. Fix them"

[Terence McCann]

I've walked into a few (perhaps 2 or 3) homes like that. I flat out refuse to inspect the home and tell the buyer the reasons why. Not worth my time or their money.

[hausdok]

"I can't imagine a bank being willing to finance an attempt at fixing that mess.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike"

HUD 203K.

American Dream of Home Ownership.

You should always give your client what they want. Lovely site, extensive insulation on all surfaces of house, a biological wonderland, unique ventilation, pre-stained wood trims and components. Floors ready for fertilizer and grass seed, etc..........

Hi Les,

Yeah, I thought of a 203K but a 203K only allows 180 days to get the entire job done. Anyone that's looking at that mess who's hired a home inspector to tell 'em that they can't get there from here, instead of knowing that they need to take it down to the skeleton, probably won't have the skills or knowledge necessary to take it on and get it done on time.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Marc]

I never refuse an inspection on a house based on the amount of work and writing that will be required to do it. If the client has hired me, I flat out do it. They get served. No bumped fees based on condition. No discounts. Some houses make me work harder but some are quick money. The most I will do is adjust my fee schedule, which I do every couple of years.

Marc

[Phillip]

The buyer is an investor that if they get it, is going to do a flip.

The power was off so was the water and gas. I was only there an hour, Taking photos

I wrote along the lines as Mike talked about. Tear out everything replace on the rot and treat.

Yes i did wear my respirator, the dish is mounted on the fascia trim.

I had to sign paperwork that say I would hold the bank and agent harmless before I could go into the place.

[Terence McCann]

The buyer is an investor that if they get it, is going to do a flip.

The power was off so was the water and gas. I was only there an hour, Taking photos

I wrote along the lines as Mike talked about. Tear out everything replace on the rot and treat.

Yes i did wear my respirator, the dish is mounted on the fascia trim.

I had to sign paperwork that say I would hold the bank and agent harmless before I could go into the place.

You're a better man than I Phillip.

[Erby]

American Dream of Home Ownership.

Lovely site, extensive insulation on all surfaces of house, a biological wonderland, unique ventilation, pre-stained wood trims and components. Floors ready for fertilizer and grass seed, etc..........

Why Les, you should get a job writing property descriptions for listing agents. You do it so well. If only the sarcasm didn't drip so heavikly.

-

[Richard Saunders]

Jobs like that, it's pretty self evident what needs to be done. Unfortunately, with whatever standards you are under, reporting is not as easy as others would lead you to believe. There is extreme CYA in homes like this, these people may be looking for someone else to foot the bill for "repairs".

[Mark P]

I arrived at a house worse then that one once, looked around for 5 minutes and then called the buyer and asked him what he wanted me to tell him that he did not already know? I said that if I were to do my standard inspection and report I would have to charge him a lot more then I had orginaly quoted and I flat out refused to go into the crawlspace. I did not do the inspection and did not charge him for my time. It turned out he only paid $5k for th house.

[Phillip]

Jobs like that, it's pretty self evident what needs to be done. Unfortunately, with whatever standards you are under, reporting is not as easy as others would lead you to believe. There is extreme CYA in homes like this, these people may be looking for someone else to foot the bill for "repairs".

It took me two hours to write the report.

The state of Alabama uses the 2000 ASHI standards.

[Bill Kibbel]

I've been hired to inspect many buildings that were completely uninhabitable and some that were unsafe to even stand near. I don't walk away - some folks really want to know if a building is salvageable and what steps to take to stabilize and eventually restore it.

One of my favorites:

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[kurt]

How old was that beauty?

[Mark P]

Yes that house is beautiful in its own way, but I could never inspect it. I would have no idea what to say.

[Terence McCann]

I've been hired to inspect many buildings that were completely uninhabitable and some that were unsafe to even stand near. I don't walk away - some folks really want to know if a building is salvageable and what steps to take to stabilize and eventually restore it.

With your reputation Bill I would imagine that folks hire you to inspect an old structure that the folks want to rehab (like a This Old House gig) and/or may have some historical significance - that's one thing.

To go into a bad neighborhood so that you can inspect a burned out 800 sf crack house, or one like Phillips, just waiting for your special touch classic, is quite another.

Here's a stick of dynamite and a match. That'll be 1020.00 - 20.00 for the stick of dynamite and 1000.00 for knowing where to get it. []