[observer53]

Originally Posted by von949

I was wondering everyone was talking about. The mod could have at least left a note.

Anyway, good deals are out there but not like two years ago. Two years ago, the homes you probably posted were most likely going for $60K-$80K.



Motorola DynaTAC 8000x

There was a note, in the "edited by" info at the bottom of the post, stating that links to RE listings are not allowed. I didn't do a separate post at first. Now, that's done.

[binionrat]

The condition of the inside of the house not being as the pics show. When people dump their places they take things that can be resold and that includes electrical, plumbing, plants/trees, and a variety of other things. They smash things ripping, tearing, and digging stuff out. Before we bought our (15 yrs old) condo I decided to do a web search as I thought the deal was too good to be true and lo and behold was an auction picture of our condo being auctioned off (about 2 years before our offer) and our downstairs bathroom was totally devastated from water that poured from a plugged bathtub up above. The wet drywall had collapsed and what a mess. We purchased it from the people that bought it from the auction and we were able to follow up on the actual damage and "fix" but had we not searched so thoroughly we would of been unaware and not able to have the inspection actually prove all was fine by the time we bought it. We still bought it for 1/3 of the price that it was sold for 5 years ago and it was in excellent shape when we signed the papers a year ago but in many cases, besides the above posts, do your history and use YOUR eyes to see the property.

[ddrhazy]

You can get a home inspector to look at the house but it's usually a waste of money as they do the type of inspection anyone can do who has knowledge of the amenities of the house.

Plumbing - Make sure there's no leaks from the faucets, underneath the sink, the connections to the washer, dishwasher and water heater. You wanna look for corrosion. Vegas has hard water and it causes a shorter lifespan for many plumbing. If you have a water softener, also check that to see if it's operational. Flush all the toilets, run all the faucets and look for anywhere that might potentially have a leak.

Electrical - Bring a night light and plug it into every electrical outlet. See if the GFCIs are all working properly(you may find out later that a GFCI is going bad but they are not the most problematic part of an electrical system). Make sure all the light switches work. Make sure the circuit breaker outside doesn't seem tampered with.

Cabinets - Open them all up. See if they're clean inside. See if none are loose. See if there are any missing shelves or drawers.

Counter tops - See if they're scratched up or have some sort of residue that will not come off with degreaser. If counter tops are too damaged you might have to invest in a new one.

Appliances - All appliances should be ran through a full uninterrupted cycle to check for leaks. Check the unit's build date, that will give you an idea of the installation date. If appliances are very dated past 10 years, figure into your cost for a new one. Fridges and stoves you might be able to get a few more years of life out of them if they are old as if those fail, they will not flood your house but anything using water extensively you might want to consider just tossing the old appliance out and getting a new one.

Irrigation and landscaping - Run the irrigation system, see if any leaks are apparent. Sometimes a leak doesn't become noticeable until the leak digs a hole. Sometimes drip heads become buried but they are working fine so just listen for a sound. Consider rock landscaping if the front and back yards are just dirt. Weed blocker fabric is a good investment and will make weed problems a bit easier.

Foundation - Check to see there are no droops or corrosion where the house meets the ground.

Paint and exterior stucco - See if anything flakes off. Signs of warping may mean a new paint & stucco job is in order.

Paint and carpet - Easy to see if you need to change or not.

A/C - See if hot & cold air blows

Note - You will rarely find a house that has all these working properly unless you are buying new from a builder. Write up what is broken and do your research for materials and labor to get an idea of what your total costs will be. Goodluck to future buyers.

[lvoc]

Disagree strongly. I have looked at enough houses and have an engineering background that I could probably do a reasonable job...but I still would not.

What I would do is whisper to the inspector about things that I think might be interesting. That way the end up in the Inspectors write up. I then have a credible source to enable getting specific experts in to evaluate the situation.

There are exceptions...experienced flippers and landlords for instance particularly at the low end.

But otherwise get an inspection...most of the time you could have done it yourself - but every tenth time or so the inspector is worth his weight in gold. I particularly like thermal imaging on older homes.

[ddrhazy]

I've bought and sold so many houses that perhaps a person doing it for the first time doesn't know what to look for. As for the home inspector using a thermal imager. Yeah, I doubt 99% of them do that, even for an ancient home. A home inspector is only going to find superficial problems, usually the big problems don't get discovered till you've moved in after a year or two.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by ddrhazy

I've bought and sold so many houses that perhaps a person doing it for the first time doesn't know what to look for. As for the home inspector using a thermal imager. Yeah, I doubt 99% of them do that, even for an ancient home. A home inspector is only going to find superficial problems, usually the big problems don't get discovered till you've moved in after a year or two.

Thermal images are now common. Probably half. We have used thermal image inspectors for the last three years.

Let us face it. A guy who has done a thousand inspections has seen more weird things than you and I and three other people put together.

And even if you are smart enough and skilled enough to do your own you do not have the right credentials to kick off a real effort. So you end up having to kill deals because the seller won't take you seriously.

How abouty a few examples...

Tell me what you know about electro-galvanic-corrosion?

How about weep screeds and the problems with same?

And no googling...