There are some special considerations when buying a foreclosure that might not be a consideration when purchasing a normal house. The first of these considerations is to make sure that the water and power are turned on. Usually these houses are vacant and the bank has had them locked up and winterized. While this protects the house from a pipe rupture going unchecked or an AC running 24-7 it does not make a thorough home inspection possible. The agent or representative from the bank is going to have to do this as home inspectors can’t do this because their insurance will not cover this.

Since the electricity has been off for a long time no air has been ventilating. This is a problem because with no air circulating moisture has a hard time escaping. When moisture gets trapped in a house it will cause mold and mildew. This mold and mildew gets worse over time. You really need to air circulating again. If any mold area is more than ten square feet it needs to be remediated professionally according to the EPA. If it is less the ten square feet you can clean it yourself with a water and bleach solution.

Since the water has been off for some time a lot of the gaskets and washers actually dry out. When you turn the water back on it leaks where these gaskets were. In my experience as a home inspector here in Charlotte NC I have found more plumbing leaks in houses that have had the water turned off and then turned back on than any other type of house. When I inspect a foreclosure I fully expect to find some plumbing leaks. Here is a little test anyone can do to see if they have leaks in their pipes. Make sure everything is off and go out to your meter. If it is moving at all you have a supply line leak somewhere.

When we perform regular home inspection for a normal non-foreclosure house most of the items that are found are usually fixed prior to closing. The items are fixed before the buyer moves in at the sellers expense. Foreclosure houses are sold “as-is” and then the buyer has to fix the issues one his/her own. Here is the problem. Sometimes these problems cost more than you or the contractor estimated and you have to eat the extra costs. You also can’t blame the home inspector as long as he pointed it out in the first place. The other thing to watch for is unscrupulous contractors who give you a low price to get the job and then once they have your house opened up they tell you it is going to be more money. When hiring a contractor make sure you get plenty of references and tell them to give you worst case scenarios for expenses.

I hope these tips have helped you with the home inspection process of buying a foreclosure. If you want more information or have any questions please go to Home Inspection Carolina or Ask the Charlotte Inspector.

Staging a home once meant adding accessories, props and even furniture to a home for sale, to create a feeling of warmth and appeal, and make it easier to sell. Today, staging a home still connotes rearranging possessions and furniture, but in more and more cases, the furniture and accessories are digital rather than real, a very cost effective alternative.

What is virtual home staging and how is it done? This new addition to the more traditional sales techniques used to market a home, focuses on taking a photo of the home as is and then dressing it up. The “after” photos of the home’s interior are created using virtual furniture, wall colors, pictures, window coverings and other décor to help potential buyers visualize a home’s possibilities.

With real home staging, furnishings and draperies need to be purchased, transported and then arranged in the home, in hope that the stager has accurately gauged current decorating trends and design techniques to catch a buyer’s eye. Unfortunately, the homeowner or the stager’s taste may or may not appeal to all buyers.

Today, virtual home stagers can embellish empty-room photographs taken and submitted by agents and owners with images of sofas, dining tables, area rugs, draperies and artwork. If one set of furnishings doesn’t quite capture the look, there’s no need to return the drapes. It’s easy as clicking a computer mouse to change the entire look.

However, there are some things most virtual staging companies won’t do for a homeowner. According to most virtual staging websites, statements of ethics reiterate that the companies will not add non-existent landscaping, wet bars or appliances, or erase power-lines or other detractions from photos. These companies also require customers to tell buyers and agents that the rooms are virtually staged, so a buyer’s expectations are realistic.

Virtual staging is easy enough on the seller’s end. Most websites simply require photos of the vacant listing and offer results usually within three to five business days. Sellers and agents can then add the photos to brochures, MLS pages, and websites.

It is recommended that the rooms immediately visible upon entering the house are staged. Other priorities are the kitchen, master bedroom, and master bathroom. For the best staging results, high quality pictures taken in a well-lit room are most desirable. For more information or to view photo galleries, you can visit VirtualStagingSolutions.com or VirtuallyStagingProperties.com.

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Americans spend millions of dollars on the water they drink, and not just for bottles of Evian. We spend countless dollars each year in search of just the right home water treatment system. In fact, according to an association that monitors water quality, one out of every ten Americans now uses a home water treatment unit, so it’s a good idea for real estate professionals to know a little bit about the various units. These units can range from simple pitchers to costing less than twenty dollars to sophisticated whole-house water filtration systems costing several thousand dollars.

There are a variety of reasons homeowners purchase a home water treatment system. Some people use this feature to improve the taste of their tap water. Others are looking to treat their water because of health concerns. Drinking water can reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants, picked up as the water journeys from its original destination into water purifying stations and eventually through plumbing systems and out the tap. As long as contaminants remain at levels no higher than EPA standards, our water is considered safe to drink.

Some contaminant levels remain constant throughout the year, while others vary according to the season, weather or from house to house. For example, lead typically makes its way into the water supply when it leaches from lead pipes and solder that are in some homes. If water comes from a household well, the EPA recommends annual water testing for nitrates and bacteria.

Different treatment systems will vary greatly in price, performance and look. A water treatment device can be rather free-standing home water treatment device. Most water pitchers use granular-activated carbon and resins to bond with and trap contaminants. These filters are effective at improving the taste of water, and many will also reduce lead and other contaminants.

Filters attached to a faucet or installed under the sink:
These filters use the same technologies as pour-through pitchers. Some filters use fabrics, fiber, or ceramic screening to physically remove contaminants. The most common types use a molded block of activated carbon. These filters are effective at improving at improving the taste of tap water, and some will also reduce lead, protozoan cysts and many other contaminants.

Distillers: Distillers heat water to the boiling point, and then collect the water vapor as it condenses, killing disease causing microbes and leaving most chemical contaminants behind. Distilled water tastes flat to some people because the water’s natural minerals and oxygen often have been removed.

Reverse Osmosis Units: Reverse osmosis units force water through a semi-permeable membrane under pressure, leaving contaminants behind. Reverse osmosis units use a significant amount of water. They recover only a small percentage of the water entering the system and the remainder is discharged as waste water, but they are effective in eliminating disease-causing organisms as well as most chemical contaminants.

Aerators: Aerators force water to travel over air jets. Contaminants easily turn into gases, such as gasoline components and radon, are removed. Other contaminants are not. The water may additionally filtered after it passes through its system to remove additional contaminants.

Water Softeners: Water softeners use sodium chloride or potassium chloride to reduce the amount of hardness (calcium, magnesium) in water. The hardness ions in the water are replaced with sodium or potassium ions. Ion exchange water softeners simultaneously remove radium and barium while removing water hardness.

Whole House Filters: The whole house water system looks similar to a typical hot water heater and can supply filtered water throughout the entire home. Different companies use various techniques to filter the water. Most whole house systems also soften or condition the water, many doing so without the use of salt, chemicals or magnets. These systems generally use carbon for filtration, but each company has their own, unique process to soften water, some using ions and minerals to accomplish the job.

For more information please visit our website: http://www.homeinspectioncarolina.com/

Because a garage door can occupy almost 30 percent of a home’s front exterior, more homeowners are paying attention to that large, square attached or next to their home.

Many garages are getting an update, for both design and energy-efficiency purposes. And homeowners are finding that once a garage is more energy-efficient, there are unexpected ways they can better utilize some of that extra space.

In terms of design, the carriage-door has made a comeback, with versions now available in less-expensive, low-maintenance materials such as steel. These doors feature wood-grain composite overlays or embossed patterns to heighten the carriage-house look. Steel doors are a popular choice because they are much easier to maintain than wood, and resist fading and rot due to the elements.

Classic raised panel steel or wood doors are also popular, with updating provided by decorative windows. For the most contemporary of home-styles, aluminum and even glass doors are available.

Energy-efficiency is an important consideration for homeowners, and energy tax credits may be available if you install a better-insulated garage door. (Tax credits reduce tax dollar-for-dollar). To be eligible for the tax credit, the purchased garage door must meet the following criteria:

The door must be an insulated residential garage door, installed on an insulated garage.

The door must have a U-factor (how well a material prevents heat-loss) equal to or less than 0.30, even if the door contains glazing.

If the door contains windows (glazing), the door must offer a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (measures how well a product blocks heat from the sun and is abbreviated SHGC) equal to or less than 0.30.

The door perimeter must have a means to control air infiltration.

The door must be expected to remain in service for at least five years and be a part of the taxpayer’s principal U.S. residence.

The homeowner’s tax credit is based on the total material cost of the purchase. The maximum credit is $1500

When looking to upgrade a garage door, one of the primary factors is R-value (ability to prevent heat loss). The higher the R-value, the higher the insulation, resulting in the most energy savings. A garage door insulated with polyurethane foam is considered one of the best choices, because it bonds to the door’s metal skin. The bonding insures the metal skin won’t separate from the insulation, resulting in air leakage.

Upon installation of a better garage door, some homeowners see the space contained within their garage in a different light. Some families choose to equip a garage with extra electrical outlets and phone jacks. In addition to traditional uses of a garage – storing cars and sports equipment – some garages are sporting a hobby area, a fitness room, a home office, laundry room, extra kitchen storage or walk-in closet. Other homeowners are thinking ahead and adding entry-ways that are wheel-chair accessible.

For more information go to our website: http://www.homeinspectioncarolina.com/

You may have heard recent news stories about investment in an electrical Smart Grid, but wondered, “What’s so smart about it?” Loosely defined, “Smart Grid” is a term used to describe investments and upgrades to the nation’s electrical grid, making it function more efficiently and in a more environmentally-sensitive manner.

We all understand the effect the electrical grid has on our household finances, because we come face-to-face with our electric bill each month. But the nation’s electrical grid is much more than a ho-hum utility.

The century-old power grid is the largest interconnected machine on Earth – so complex and an integral part of daily life that it has been labeled by some as a separate ecosystem, containing over 300,000 miles of transmission lines.

It comes as no surprise that, driven by power usage created by bigger homes and more electronic devices, the demand for electricity has exceeded transmission growth by 25 percent every year since 1982. Summer peak demand is expected to increase by almost 20 percent during the next 10 years. Yet spending on research, development and renewal is among the lowest of all industries, leaving the grid struggling to keep up.

The grid is also a major player when it comes to pollution. While transportation of all kinds creates 20 percent of the carbon dioxide we produce, the generation of electricity emits 40 percent, greatly impacting the discussion around global climate change. Grid transformation is seen as one of the key ways to address some of the effects of carbon emissions.

And while our electricity system is amazingly reliable- 99.97 percent by industry estimates, power outages and interruptions cost Americans $150 billion each year, or about $500 per man, woman and child.

What causes interruptions in electrical service? While storms and other natural occurrences lead to some unavoidable outages, blackouts and brownouts are occurring due to infrastructure concerns—such as lack of automation , slow response time of mechanical situations and lack of “situational awareness” on the part of grid operators. In fact, if the grid was able to improve efficiency by just 5 percent, the energy savings would equate to permanently eliminating the fuel and greenhouse gas emissions from 53 million cars.

How can these improvements be accomplished? One means many states are considering is the implementation of “smart grid” techniques labeled real-time pricing. Typically, prices paid for energy consumed during peak periods are established and known to consumers as a day ahead (“day-ahead pricing”) or an hour ahead (“hour-ahead pricing”). Taking advantage of real-time pricing, consumers can then vary their demand in response to actual electric costs, managing their energy costs by shifting usage to a lower-cost period or reducing consumption overall.

By communicating with consumers in this way, a smarter grid can reduce some of the need for new infrastructure because load is reduced during peak times. It is hoped that tapping the power of millions of consumers to shed grid-load will slow the need for new infrastructure and provide utilities with time to build in more cost-efficiencies into their plans. Reduction of demand during peak times also helps lower electricity bills, typically by a rate of at least 10 percent or more.

One locale taking steps to institute smart grid technology is Miami, Florida. In a program called Energy Smart Miami, plans call for deployment of more than 1,000,000 advance wireless “Smart Meters” to area homes and most businesses in Miami-Dade County. These meters will give Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) customers more information and control over their electricity usage while also providing FPL with information that will enhance system efficiency and reliability.

For more home inspection information, please visit our site: http://www.homeinspectioncarolina.com/

The phrase structured wiring system is entering our lexicon as a way to describe wiring that will efficiently distribute a variety of data signals throughout the home. That sounds complicated but it refers to signals including cable television and phone, as well as Ethernet computer networks. This wiring system differs from previous schematics because of the amount of data it will be required to transmit, as well as the monitoring and control functions it will provide.

When some experts describe the technology, they talk about a wiring system that can serve current data needs, as well as expand to serve a family’s needs three to five years down the road or more.

How does it work? In actuality, structured wiring operates on a design similar to that of a home’s electrical system. Just as electricity flows into the home and is distributed via a circuit breaker box, external data lines come into the home and are connected to a central control box. The circuit breaker box and the data control box are even roughly the same size. They are often housed in a similar location as well, such as a utility closet.

From the data control box, bundles of wires are run through the walls of the house to different rooms. One advantage of this system includes the capability of playing a DVD in one location in the home, but being able to watch it on an unused channel from any room monitor in the house.

When it comes to a home computer network, this data configuration can easily accommodate all users in a household. The control box correctly routes data to individual computers, allowing multiple users to share a single broadband connection with no interference.

Other functions that might be integrated into a structured wiring system include residential security and home automation systems that can be controlled remotely.

Some systems make it possible for homeowners to turn on heating or cooling systems remotely, or pre-heat the oven, all with a push of a button on their cellular device. One green option that may be very attractive to homeowners is the ability to control window shades remotely. When the sun begins to heat up the house, the shades covering the windows on the east side of the home can be programmed to go down to protect the inside environment from the morning sun. Late in the day, those shades can be drawn up to let in natural light and the shades on the other side of the home can be lowered.

Monitoring systems are being produced that can be sensitive to the energy consumption for particular electrical outlets, and utilities such as water and gas, allowing homeowners to make changes in their usage to save energy and dollars.

Some builders are incorporating structured wiring in new home construction. For existing homeowners, the time to give real consideration to structured wiring is when undertaking a major home renovation, when walls are open and wiring and cabling is easier to install. Even if a homeowner’s current needs don’t include a home computer network, a structured wiring system may be a real selling point when the Home is placed on the market in the future.

For more home inspection information, please visit our site: http://www.homeinspectioncarolina.com/