Chicago Metro Area Real Estate » Home Inspection

Toilet kills $1.2M home sale

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:14:54 +0000

Courtesy of PrankPlace.com

Friends of mine called me to share their latest adventure trying to buy a house in the Washington, DC area. At the inspection of a house they had agreed to pay nearly $1.2M for they discovered that the toilet in the basement wasn’t connected to the plumbing in the house! The toilet turned out to be a chemical toilet that repeatedly flushes until the waste is “no more”. According to my friends, the odor is less than pleasant. Their offer has now been withdrawn due to unacceptable inspection results. Similar Posts:

Numerous Chicago homes built with split-face concrete block have problems

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:30:25 +0000

I just listened to a story on WBEZ 91.5 (Chicago Public Radio) about numerous Chicago homeowners facing huge repair bills for their homes constructed with decorative split-face concrete block that wasn’t installed correctly.

Even through City of Chicago inspectors had approved the construction, the homeowners are on the hook for repairs since they now own the buildings, not the developers. Many of the homes with incorrectly installed split-face concrete block are leaking. Mold is developing in some of the homes.

To listen to the story or read the text, visit “Moldy Metropolis: Homeowners Struggle with Leaky Concrete“.
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How do You Test an Invisible Fence Without a Dog?

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:07:40 +0000

How do you test an invisible fence, if you don’t have a dog with you? That’s the question some buyers and I pondered at a recent home inspection.

One of the buyers, Deeya Pavelle, was willing to model the electronic dog collar (shown left), but I couldn’t persuade Deeya to take a walk in the back yard where the invisible fence was installed. Home inspector, Kevin Fulara, wasn’t willing to wear the collar. I suggested offering extra credit to Kevin’s student inspector from McHenry County College who was shadowing Kevin, but he didn’t volunteer either.

Deeya and her partner, Dayle, will have another opportunity to test the invisible fence at their final walkthrough, if they choose to bring their dog, Bandit, with them. My guess is Bandit will have a mixed reaction to his new back yard, but he’ll adjust in no time. The view is much better!Similar Posts:

Consider Testing for Radon When Buying a Home

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:37:22 +0000

This week one of my buyers had the house she is buying in Lake Zurich tested for radon levels. As I previously wrote in, “Radon Testing Guidelines & Disclosure for Illinois Home Buyers“, last year the State of Illinois started encouraging home buyers to have homes they were considering for purchase tested for radon levels.

My buyer used Radon Detection Specialists here in the Chicago area. They currently charge $195 to test a home for radon. Shown left is one of their testing devices.

If you test for radon during your inspection contingency period and the home shows higher than recommended levels of radon, you can ask the seller to remediate the problem as my buyer did after the test results showed elevated levels of radon. If you wait until after you buy the home to test for radon and the testing shows higher than recommended levels of radon, you’ll have to pay for the remediation which costs around $1,200.Similar Posts:

3 Hidden Costs of Buying Foreclosures

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:46:18 +0000

I had an interesting question yesterday from a new buyer about the costs of buying a foreclosure. She asked who was responsible for compensating the Realtors when it’s a bank selling the property. Compensation works the same way regardless of who the seller is. If the foreclosure is listed with a broker, the bank pays the listing broker when the sale closes. The listing broker pays part of their commission to the brokerage representing the buyer (the co-op commission).

However, there are often additional costs when buying a foreclosure that aren’t obvious. Banks typically refuse to pay for a plat of survey when selling a house. A plat of survey showing the lot boundaries and where improvements are located is required when a house is sold in Illinois and typically paid for by the seller. Costs vary, but I would budget $450.

Banks often insist on prorating property taxes at 100% instead of the 105% which is typical in the Chicago area. Since property taxes typically go up each year, buyers end up paying more for their part of the taxes for the year they buy in.

Foreclosure inspections can also end up costing more. When I represented a woman who bought a foreclosure last year, the bank refused to pay to have the house dewinterized (unwinterized?) so the plumbing could be tested. She had to pay which cost her around $100. I wrote an offer on a foreclosure a couple of weeks ago and suggested to my buyers that they include a requirement for the bank to have house dewinterized prior to inspection. They did and the bank was agreeable, so not all banks behave the same way.Similar Posts:

Why New Homes For Sale Should Have Inspections

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:02:22 +0000

Today my buyers of a new duplex condo in Lakeview had their home inspection. Even though they are buying a new home with a 1 year warranty, they wisely chose to have a home inspection before continuing with the purchase.

1. By getting a home inspection during an inspection review period, buyers have the option to back out of a purchase, if the issues are unacceptable and cannot be resolved by the builder.

2. Issues identified before closing on the purchase of a new home also tend to get resolved sooner. Builders are more motivated to get issues resolved prior to closing a sale. After a sale, issues are added to the list of other owner issues.

3. Attending a home inspection is also a great way to learn about a home and how to best maintain it. Most home inspectors are more than happy to explain how everything works and how to best maintain the home.

Shown left, home inspector Kevin Fulara (right) explains how to turn on the radiant heat boiler to buyer Brad Krauss (left). In cooler months the boiler will be heating the water circulating below the flooring in the lower level of the condo. Kevin advised turning it on to a moderate temperature in October and adjusting the temperature as desired during colder months. He also advised against turning the radiant heat too high as it would dry out the wood flooring.
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New Home Inspection Test for Granite Countertops

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:19:41 +0000

This year I will be recommending that my buyers perform a new test during their home inspection. While I recently visited the new condo of some of my buyers in the South Loop, they shared with me that they discovered after they moved in that their granite countertops weren’t properly sealed. Their kitchen countertops were absorbing food stains. Granite is a porous material and the pores need to be kept sealed to prevent it from absorbing stains.

My buyers did some research and discovered The Water Drop Test for checking if granite is sealed. It’s easy and only takes a few minutes. I will be recommending it from now on to all of my buyers. My South Loop buyers also found granite care products at MBStone.com that they like very much. Thank you, Kathy & Lynn, for this helpful information!Similar Posts:

Why Home Inspections are Even More Critical for Foreclosed Homes

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:54:02 +0000

Normally when you buy a home in Illinois the sellers must provide disclosures about their knowledge of any defects or safety issues. However, such is not the case for foreclosed properties. Since the seller (the bank) didn’t reside in the home, they aren’t obligated to complete disclosure reports such as the Illinois Association of Realtors Residential Real Property Disclosure Report shown below.

Banks not only disclose nothing about the properties they own, the typically require buyers to sign addendums agreeing not to hold the banks responsible for any defects found after the sale closes.

Also consider that the previous owners who weren’t able to make their mortgage payments probably weren’t maintaining the home as it should have been since the money wasn’t available.

Thus, home inspections are especially critical for foreclosed homes. If you’d like a suggestion for a good home inspector in the Chicago area, email me!

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New Home Orientations are Challenging in the Dark!

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:11:50 +0000

Yesterday I attended a new home orientation at the Library Towers condo development in the South Loop. My buyers got their first opportunity to inspect their new condo and have a home inspector check it out as well.

Unfortunately, several lights in the condo didn’t work so it was harder to spot imperfections. I normally carry a flashlight when out with buyers, but I removed it from my bag when I went on vacation last week and forgot to pack it again. We ended up borrowing the home inspector’s flashlight when he wasn’t using it.

Next week we’ll do the final walkthrough just before the closing. Hopefully, all of the lights will be working by then. My flashlight is already back in my bag where it belongs!Similar Posts:

How a Plumbing Inspection Paid for Itself Many Times Over

Fran Bailey, Baird and Warner Realtor — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:53:37 +0000

A month ago I wrote about a buyer’s inability to have a house’s plumbing tested during the home inspection in “Inspecting a Winterized Home for Sale in Aurora“. The city of Aurora had turned off the water since the seller hadn’t paid the water bill.

After the seller’s agent paid the bill, the agent, an Aurora Water Department employee, a plumber and I met at the house. The water was turned on, but only briefly. A leak below the master bedroom bathroom appeared quickly in the den below. The 4 year old house’s winterization hadn’t completely protected the plumbing!

Since the house was being sold “as-is”, my buyer had the difficult decision of whether to go forward with the purchase. Until this leak was repaired there was no way of knowing how many other leaks may have resulted from the lack of proper winterization. Both the plumber and water department employee said there was a good chance of more leaks. The water department employee said he’d seen as many as 20 different leaks in homes where pipes had frozen during the winter. He said the houses end up looking like Swiss cheese with all the holes in the walls needed to repair the plumbing.

When I could talk privately with my buyer I suggested that if she still wanted the house, that she offer to go forward with the purchase for $10,500 less than the agreed sale price. She liked the idea and so did the seller who accepted the price reduction.

Fortunately, it turned out well for my buyer. Much to the amazement of the plumber, the leak turned out to be the only one! The cost of fixing the leak was less than $1,000.Similar Posts: