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How To Become A Home Inspector
February 21, 2012 | 
Author Should you buy a new or used home?
Some older homes are still in great shape and some newer homes are a disaster waiting to happen. Well home ownership brings many challenges and hardships. Are you willing to become a prisoner of your home?
Can you afford to repair and remodel an older home?
The truth is that remodeling is expensive.
Many older homes have been repaired or remodeled without a permit! Often by a home owner that has no idea how to build a home to modern codes.
So how do know if the home you want to buy can be remodeled without any ugly surprises? The truth is that you have to hire a talented and knowledgeable home inspector with experience remodeling homes.
Remodeling a home can be a very stressful experience. Remodeling a home involves the following risks and hardships.
Narrow your home buying choices to newer homes that will require less work.
Utility costs can be much higher in an older home.
Older homes were not built with the same modern materials and building techniques that modern homes employ.
As a remodeler, I have worked with clients that have remodeled older homes. I also purchased an older home in the Lake Minnetonka area to remodel it to my liking. So I have experienced what it is like to discover the hard truth about remodeling older homes. So before you buy an older home, you need to answer these questions.
Do your dreams for the home fall within city ordinance limitations?
Will the home require a historical permit?
What did the home inspection reveal? Cities can be difficult to work with when channeling water around a home.
Did the previous owners pull the necessary permits when the worked on the home? Did the inspection reveal that the home has been repaired or remodeled?
New homes can be poorly built too. The defects that a new home can have are numerous. This results in corners getting cut and the home not being built to last.
If home buyers want more space for less money, then home builders will use cheaper materials to lower the price.
Often time’s city building inspectors are poorly paid and over scheduled. So don’t assume that a home that has passed a city building inspection is free from defects.
Home Buying Tips – 7 Things Every Home Buyer Needs to Know
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Variables That Lead to Failure to Dwelling Inspection Enterprises
This article will look at the underwriting process and also discuss appraisals, home inspections, special underwriting snags you may run into and what to do if you get denied for a loan.
Stay in touch with your mortgage broker, lender and real estate agent – but don’t drive them crazy!
Appraisal involves your lender verifying the value of the property you want to purchase. In some cases the lender may also wish to have a surveyor examine and certify the property’s boundaries.
The title company will research the property title and certify it free of problems and then issue a title insurance policy. Just remember that title insurance does not cover future events, like life or auto insurance. Flooding is usually not covered by your homeowners hazard insurance policy, so if you are in an area likely to be flooded, experience hurricanes, etc., then you will be required to purchase flood insurance.
Some lenders and states actually require this to be done. A professional home inspector will probably charge from $200 to $400 or more for very large or complex homes.
After the appraisal has been done you and the lender will have a definitive idea of the property’s value and now you can start shopping for homeowners/hazard insurance. Cash value polices are cheaper.
Unforeseen problems: As the lender’s underwriters process your loan, things can come up. Lenders will also want assurance that the association’s management is competent, has an adequate maintenance budget, carries adequate insurance, etc. In any case the lender must provide you with written reasons within 30 days. If you think there was discrimination involved, call the toll-free numbers the lender must provide. Otherwise, keep shopping for a loan elsewhere.
Buying a Home – The Underwriting ; Appraisal Process Leading to Loan Approval
According to the reports of Small Business Administration, 65% of new home inspection businesses failed in their first year.
House Staging Career
According to the 2004 National Association of Realtors® (NAR) Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers fourteen percent of homes were sold by-owner. Homes that are over-priced have been studied by large national real estate brokerages and over-priced homes take longer to sell and sell at a lower price as a percentage of the original list price.
Below are some staging tips to prepare your home for market.
1) Research how to “stage” your home to maximize its appeal to homebuyers by creating a spacious and pleasant home environment for buyers. Once your home is priced right and ready for market you should retain a real estate attorney to help you review contracts, disclosure forms and to help you qualify potential buyers of your home.
·Real estate contract. A binding agreement between buyer and seller.
·Contract length. Closed prices for similar homes in age, condition, location and size.
·Price.
·Low-ball offers.
·Earnest money deposit. Seller’s attorney should hold earnest money deposits.
·Property inspection period. The date agreed by contract when the buyer can occupy the property.
·Personal property.
·Home sale contingency. The contract is contingent on the sales of the buyer’s property.
·Buyers show motivation when including a home sale contingency by having their current property already on market.
·Home closing contingency. The contract is contingent only on the successful closing of an existing real estate contract.
Marketing your home to prospective buyers should include these methods. Home stagers are also called property stagers, real estate stagers or home fluffers.; These design professionals are involved in preparing a property for sale or rental by improving the aesthetic appeal of the space.; Some stagers specialize in interiors only, while others offer full service interior and exterior enhancement strategies to their clients.; Home stagers help make buyers want to purchase or rent a property by making the space fit the buyer’s wish list perfectly.
A home staging career can offer many distinctive paths for making money, while simultaneously helping people to market their homes.; Many home stagers work for professional property staging companies, offering services to home sellers, landlords and management businesses.; Other home stagers choose to start their own companies and may work as owner/operators or employ others as their businesses grow.; Some stagers, such as myself, offer consulting services to individual clients or to the trade.; Still other stagers work for furniture stores, photographers, retailers or real estate businesses.; A few top notch stagers have been blessed with lucrative careers on television, while others have written successful books on the topic.