Flip-ah-dee-doo-dah!

The host of a new TV show about buying and flipping houses was interviewed on CNBC recently and twice mentioned that careful home buyers were having home inspections done for them nowadays. He said that, for a while, the real estate market was pretty frenzied, that you had to get your offer in quickly, and you had to avoid any contingency clauses that might make your offer less attractive. But, he said, that's not the case anymore. People are being more cautious, they're "opening the electric panel, they're looking for mold, they're doing home inspections". And, as a guy who flips houses for a living, he considers that to be good thing.

He talked about how he strives to get everything done correctly in a house he's flipping, that he won't just cover up a problem with a wall and then sell the house. But many flippers do just that. And that's why it's so important for you to have Complete Home Inspection look at your dream house BEFORE you buy. In your Kansas City home inspection, we can't see through walls. If someone has tried to hide a defect or problem, I can't start breaking through the drywall to see what's behind it. But, I can look for other signs that there might be a problem - things I've found in inspections include evidence of a previous fire in a house, evidence of termite damage, and signs of water entry into a house. Those are all things you're not looking for, and can't be expected to look for, when you're shopping for a house. That's why you hire me.

Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.

"Remodeled" doesn't mean "fixed" - once again

This is so commonplace that blog posts from 9/14/13 and 3/29/14 addressed it, too - the words, "remodeled" and "rehabbed" don't necessarily mean that things were done correctly. Last week, a house featured a "newly remodeled and updated kitchen". Sounds great, right?

While you're looking at the kitchen, you're picturing the workspace, the traffic flow in the room, and whether it's big enough for your needs. You might notice that the remodeling included beautiful new wooden cabinets throughout the kitchen. But what you might not notice is what jumped out at me during my inspection.

A wooden shelf spanned the area over the sink, connecting the cabinets on either side of the sink. Sadly, the lighting fixture over the sink was now above this solid shelf. Turn the light on and it shines down on top of the shelf. It no longer illuminates the sink area. In order to be able to see at the sink, someone would need to cut a hole in the new shelf. That's not the kind of detail you're looking to find when you're looking to buy a house. And that's why it's so important for you to get a Complete Home Inspection before you buy - even if the house is "new", "remodeled", or "rehabbed". Know the condition of the property before you buy. Don't take someone else's word for it.

Whole house inspections, condo inspections, radon testing, mold testing, and more, we do it all for you. Call or E-mail today to schedule your Complete Home Inspection, 913-268-0222, www.completehomeinspectionkc.com.