beware home buyers in Springfield and surrounding areas (Germantown: real estate, rentals)

[mrdos66]

This is a public service announcement from several concerned home buyers from Springfield area. If you are considering purchasing a home from the company called Real Estate Solutions, Unlimited from Springfield and/or Germantown Ohio, beware

First of all contact your local building and zoning department such as Springfield City to check on building permits and/or inspections for the property you are looking into. Usually the current owner of the property you are looking at is a Joshua Gilmore, Trustee. From our understanding this company and individual do not usually get permits and inspections when "flipping" houses. They have one listed on the site Real Estate Solutions Unlimited that is in Springfield stating it is remodeled, but there is no permits for it. And it is our understanding that several home buyers that dealt with this company explain the work was shoddy and problems arose. We doubt that they even use licensed or bonded individuals for the construction.

[Stephan_K]

There is a couple ways to look at this. One is that most house "flip" jobs do not get into "remodel" work that requires permits depending on the local building regulations and work being done. So after contacting the building dept and hearing that no permits were pulled means diddly squat unless you live in an area that requires permits to simply look at your house with both eyes at the same time like ours.

But if any foundation/additions, electrical, plumbing or mechanical work was done, then a permit should be a must no matter where you are located. There would definitely be something to be concerned about if purchasing a house that had any of these types of work done and no inspections or permits pulled on it. Can you say red flag !

What I have noticed over the last few years is that as industry has been leaving the area, those getting laid off have turned into "professional" construction workers. These so called pros are getting away with all sorts of things in the residential construction world. This has hurt the residential construction industry pretty bad around here too. Everyones a roofer or a carpenter. Doing work for a fraction of the actual cost of a reputable business because they do not have any of the overhead that a reputable outfit has. And as depressed as this area is becoming, it is nothing but fuel for these type of activity here.

When buying a house that is being flipped so to speak, get a disclosure as to what work was done to it and who did it. Then do your home work. If they do not disclose it then you have 'something" to go back on down the road should something go wrong. If you have a limited education in the building field, don't be afraid to spend a few bucks on a home inspection service. You won't be sorry. Well worth the few hundred bucks when making an investment of this sort.

[tallinvestor]

I have a friend that has a booming electrical and plumbing business but is mostly since there are so many other poor workers. When he was younger and an apprentice, he used to tell me that he thought he was an apprentice but when he saw the work a lot of Master plumbers and electritions did, he realized he had a PhD. His Grandfather taught him from 13 on all he knew about plumbing and electrical work as he had had his own business himself. A really good plumber and electrician is like a diamond in the rough. Any time you buy a home, be sure to do due diligence and have a home inspector check everything out. I buy many properties for rentals and I know that lots of older houses are likely to have some sort of problem with them.

[mrdos66]

Originally Posted by Stephan_K

There is a couple ways to look at this. One is that most house "flip" jobs do not get into "remodel" work that requires permits depending on the local building regulations and work being done. So after contacting the building dept and hearing that no permits were pulled means diddly squat unless you live in an area that requires permits to simply look at your house with both eyes at the same time like ours.

But if any foundation/additions, electrical, plumbing or mechanical work was done, then a permit should be a must no matter where you are located. There would definitely be something to be concerned about if purchasing a house that had any of these types of work done and no inspections or permits pulled on it. Can you say red flag !

What I have noticed over the last few years is that as industry has been leaving the area, those getting laid off have turned into "professional" construction workers. These so called pros are getting away with all sorts of things in the residential construction world. This has hurt the residential construction industry pretty bad around here too. Everyones a roofer or a carpenter. Doing work for a fraction of the actual cost of a reputable business because they do not have any of the overhead that a reputable outfit has. And as depressed as this area is becoming, it is nothing but fuel for these type of activity here.

When buying a house that is being flipped so to speak, get a disclosure as to what work was done to it and who did it. Then do your home work. If they do not disclose it then you have 'something" to go back on down the road should something go wrong. If you have a limited education in the building field, don't be afraid to spend a few bucks on a home inspection service. You won't be sorry. Well worth the few hundred bucks when making an investment of this sort.

The electrical service was all supposed to be updated yet the breaker panel had incorrect size breakers, several of which could have caused a fire. There is also a bedroom constructed on top of an old wooden deck, then the visible appearance of a deck was hidden behind wood sheathing and latticework. This area always gets alot of pooling of water around posts holding this thing up. We have had ice crystals on our clothing several times in this bedroom's closet because it got so cold in there. I had to have another insulation company come and blow in insulation AGAIN, since when Real Estate Solutions sent some one out the first time, the bedroom and family room did not have the correct depth of insulation needed. My contractor said there was about 2 inches up there, he had to blow in another 6 inches to properly insulate those areas.

BTW, we had an open carport in which this company turned it into a family room, but did not have permits/inspections in order to do so.

I am not wanting for this trustee and Real Estate Solutions to go under, just that they do their work to current building codes where required and the required inspections by the cities that they are in. They need to be concerned about the safety of the consumer, A.K.A. the home buyer, when it comes to the house.