Welcome home! Yes, the welcome mat is definitely at the top of every new homeowner’s wish list, and maybe a plunger and a keychain, but wait! Have you considered you might need to maintain that home? A little DIY is always in the cards when you own your own home – not to mention, hanging some pictures, setting some curtains rods, tightening up that shower head and doing a little...
PRE-LISTING INSPECTIONS Many real estate brokers are recommending pre-listing inspections to their clients, here are some of the reasons: Your home may sell faster. Your home may sell for more money. No more buyers walking away because of a problem with the house. No more 11th-hour re-negotiations based on an inspector's findings. No more helpless feelings that an inspector has raised an issue that is not a big problem. No more buyers getting cold feet when they find out the home...
Every house has a signature smell, a certain “Eau de Family Home”. Some are stronger than others; is a strong smell an indication of poor indoor air quality? There’s the smelly socks in the living room, the hair spray and aftershave in the bathroom, cooking smells from the kitchen, the moth balls in the closet, the wet dog in the hallway and that musky smell of sheets and clothes waiting to...
by Paul Yaedon I went to visit my mother last week. We sipped tea and talked about the latest news and events. My mom likes to express her opinions by using proverbs. Her inventory is quite astounding. If people are not barking up the wrong tree or making mountains out of molehills, they are putting carts before horses or all their eggs in one basket. If my mother were a home inspector,...
Serious structural problems in houses are not very common, but when they occur they are never cheap to fix. Some can't be fixed at all. This report won't turn you into an seasoned home inspector, but it will give you some of the common indicators. Uneven Floors Uneven floors are typical, particularly in older homes. Here is a trick to help distinguish between a typical home with character and a structural problem.If...
A few weeks ago a friend called me to say he had some pictures I should take a look at. He told me that a relative of his living in Vaudreuil, (west of Montreal) was hosting a few friends on his back deck one evening when a cigarette was apparently stubbed out in a planter around 9pm, (there were no ashtrays as the hosts did not smoke). The planter contained peat...
