Home Inspection/Home-Closing (Dallas, Alton, Shepherd: mortgage, new home, construction)

[ytwar]

Hello Group,

I will be closing my Home in few days.I wanted some References for the Home Inspection Companies, whom i can use,in Dallas area.

What other points should i make sure of at the time of Closing.This is a new Construction.

Thanks

[babytomata]

We used US Inspect. A guy named Wayne Shepherd and he was good, friendly and the price was reasonable. wshepher@usinspect.com or 888 874-6773. Ours was new construction as well. Good luck!

Paula

[nsumner]

I would recommend that when you do the home inspection you should be present for it. Sometimes inspectors can tell you things that they can't write in the report.

Submit the report to the builder to address all items before you do the walk-thru. Do not close if any of the items haven't been addressed yet.

Congrats on your new home. Where did you land?

Naima

[loves2read]

GET AN INDEPENDENT VALUE ASSESSMENT FROM APPRAISER NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE BUILDER/BANK
MAKE SURE THE HOME WILL APPRAISE FOR THE SELLING PRICE/MORTGAGE AMOUNT
DO THAT WELL BEFORE YOU CLOSE SO THERE IS TIME TO RENEGOTIATE--
DID YOU USE A REALTOR??? A REALTON SHOULD SUGGEST YOU DO THAT TO PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT...
DO NOT TAKE THE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY'S WORD FOR IT
DO NOT TAKE THEIR MORTGAGE COMPANY'S WORD FOR IT...TO MANY NEW HOMES ARE NOT APPRAISING FOR THEIR SELLING PRICES BECAUSE OF REDUCED HOME VALUES...
IT MAY COST YOU 300 BUT COULD SAVE YOUR THOUSANDS....

make sure that not only do you get an engineer to do the inspection--might also have someone with some HVAC/energy retrofit training--
we had two companies come out to do free inspection about adding radiant barrier spray to undercoat the roof in 4 yr old house we bought ....
one of them pointed out that part of the insulation for the second floor of the house was not installed properly---
the batt fiberglass should have been securely fastened UNDER the flooring of the second floor
either with some sort of netting ot stapling--the ceiling of the first floor has its batts (because of gravity) but part of the second floor area has the insulation falled down--leaving a cavity that is by a window wall--he pointed out this part of the room will be colder because the floor is not insulated...

not any easy way to take care of that problem now--SHOULD HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED BY THE CITY CODE INSPECTORS--OR THE BUILDER/HOMEOWNERS DURING CONSTRUCTION but it was not--might have just fallen down after people started walking/using the second floor...who knows....

anyway---make sure that someone who is impartial does REAL inspection--not just walk through for things that are easy to spot with the eye--which is what most home inspectors do--they don't open up and inspect the HVAC--they don't really measure the insulation--
if you have blown insulation in the attic--the installers can add more air and fluff up what they blow to hit the required depth/height--like 4 or 6 or 8 inches--but when the air settles out--the insulation is less than it was supposed to be--less air means more insulation...
adequate taping/cavity filling is also important...does your house have tyvek barrier--did they install foam gaskets around the outlets--did they foam the pluming intrusions

make sure you have accurate blueprints of YOUR house--with notations about the wiring/plumbing/other construction aspects---
the blueprints of our house show that the designer planned for heavier insulation that what was installted--maybe owners' decision to cut back--maybe they just did not pay attention to what the insulation company bid/ installed

definitely be present and if possible make a video of what the inspector does

need to see the weight/volumn of what is installed BEFORE it is installed...