December 2, 2024 • 20 mins
What if navigating the complexities of real estate transactions could be as straightforward as brewing your morning coffee? This episode promises to equip you with the essential skills to manage expectations effectively, whether you’re a buyer or a seller dealing with home inspections. Through engaging anecdotes, we illuminate how unrealistic expectations—like a buyer yearning for the perfect, defect-free home—can throw a wrench in the deal. We also emphasize the importance of buyers thoroughly understanding the home inspection process to sidestep unnecessary letdowns. On the flip side, we stress the pivotal role of seller cooperation during inspections, addressing the bumps that occur when sellers dig their heels in or are unavailable. By the end of this conversation, you'll appreciate how clear communication and setting realistic expectations can smooth out the often bumpy road of real estate transactions.
Moving beyond buyer expectations, we shine a light on preparing sellers for home inspections, particularly in today's market conditions where utility shut-offs and financial hiccups are increasingly common. Personal stories highlight the importance of transparency and readiness, helping sellers avoid rushed inspections that might otherwise raise red flags for potential buyers. We share practical tips, from accommodating longer tests like mold and radon checks to offering resources that guide sellers and agents through the pre-inspection process. Wrapping up, we take a moment to celebrate our recent accolades, such as the Best of Midwest and Consumer Choice Award, and invite our listeners to stay engaged through our social media platforms and podcast subscriptions for more enlightening discussions.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Two-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
Continuing Education for Ohio Agents Scheduled classes
Continuing Education for Ohio Agents Course listings
Facebook Page Facebook
For home buyers: What to expect from a home inspection. YT video for home buyers
Home Buyer and Seller Resources | Habitation Investigation
Heartland Commercial Property Inspections
If you would like to be a guest on the podcast contact us and let us know. You can visit Home (jimtroth.com) and go to the podcast page or message Habitation Investigation.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast,
where we discuss topics,upcoming events, news and
predictions with real estateprofessionals and entrepreneurs.
Listen and learn what makestheir companies and themselves
stand out and gain advantagesover the competition and gain
market share.
Subscribe for the latest newsand discussion on what it takes
(00:23):
to stand out from the crowd.
Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Standing Out Loud
podcast.
I'm here with Laura, the officegoddess, and she has on her lap
Hex the cat, a very cute,chubby black cat with the ear
severely docked because she'sbeen spayed twice.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Was she spayed twice.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yes, they tried to do her a second time and they got
in and go oh, female cats.
They docked, they nipped theear as a sign indication that
the cat's been fixed.
That's why her ears dock quitea bit more, because they did not
notice it before.
It was very small and they gono.
So, anyway, they're here, whichis cool.
(01:15):
So, anyway, we talk aboutexpectations.
How the bears need to haveproper expectations, everybody
needs to have properexpectations of what's going on
for them.
Sellers, though, lately seem tobe a little bit more clueless
(01:36):
or harder to get scheduled.
Maybe less cooperative is thebetter word.
That's what we're going to talkabout, but first let's listen
to this habitation investigationis the way to go for a home
inspection in ohio.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Trusted, licensed home inspectors for your needs.
From radon to mold towarranties for a great home
inspection, you really can't gowrong.
Visit HomeInspectionsInOhiocom.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, expectations.
We've talked many times how, ifyour buyer of a house does not
have proper expectations for thehome inspection or the
condition of the house, thatmight ruin the deal, not because
of the inspection report, it'sbecause their expectations did
(02:32):
not match the actual reality ofthe house.
Right, and my best example thatI like giving is I had an agent
tell the buyer in front of methat I would not find anything
wrong with this house becausethis house is perfect.
And that's such a bold-facederror to say that, because no
house is perfect no, not evennew builds, and I remember the
(02:55):
house.
I've been anything major.
But if this buyer was only oneperfect house and expected
perfect, the agent blew that outof the water.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Well, and remember the one agent that told me that
she got the report for theinspection and when she was
talking to her client to set upthe meeting to go over the
report, to make their request toremedy that's how long ago this
was that the client said well,I don't want the house, there
shouldn't have been a report.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, so that client had no clue.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
That client had no clue that there's going to be a
report that they're you know.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
They may not be, you know big things, but there's
always going to be some type ofa report and yes, so we have
that video that every agentwho's working with buyers should
send to their buyers, and thevideo is on uh, what to expect
from home inspection.
This way, when your buyers,when they get there or they're
(03:51):
not going to be surprised byanything on there they'll see
like, oh yeah, negative grading,pretty normal.
So all that, all these otherother reports I saw in that
class, and same thing gutters,downspouts, roof issues, a
little bit of moisture in thebasement crawl space, though, no
, that's very common, right, itshould not be a deal breaker.
It breaks a deal when itdoesn't match the expectations
(04:15):
and there's disappointment.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Or the financial limitations that a client may
have.
Yes, now the other side of thecoin is the sellers.
Is the sellers?
Because their house needs to beready for the inspection so
that it goes smoothly and therearen't any hiccups or people
don't have to come back, or youknow?
Whatever the case may be.
(04:37):
But we can go into that here alittle bit more.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yes, lately there's been a little bit of a hassle
getting inspections scheduledbecause these sellers do not.
They're not being cooperative,they're not giving options.
Like the one place, the one isdone by a certain time, fine,
we're going to start this muchtime and we already had a second
inspector on it.
Make it go quicker because thethe time frame of the one.
(05:03):
It was a bigger house, right,so we could justify putting two
on there.
Then somebody, maybe, as theagent, is like well, why don't
you put on a third inspector onthere to get it done?
But, mike, you obviously do notknow the finance, the financial
aspect of putting threeinspectors on there who all
could have their own inspectionright, and now we're on just one
(05:24):
house to get a quick seller whodoesn't have a normal
expectation who somehow thinksthat, whatever their schedule
supersedes the buyer, who has aright for that home inspection
in that time frameI remember doing, doing a well,
one of our guys were doing aninspection.
I was setting the radar monitorand the seller she was
(05:49):
convinced that she'd be she, sheshouldn't be allowed to leave a
window open for her test To thetest.
I'm like no, you can't.
She's like, well, I'll justleave it just a little bit.
Like you do that, and I wasgetting into it.
Like you do that, and I wasgetting here to her, like you do
that I'll have to come back andI'll have to charge you for
additional tests, leave it allclosed and then shut up about it
(06:09):
.
But like, listen, we have stateregulations that we have to
follow.
You're going to break it?
Break it.
Well, that's going to be yourproblem with it.
But the seller yesterday or daybefore, what?
This is not the only person.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
also, they wanted only two hours for an inspection
on a 5,000 square foot housebecause they had small beds and
they wanted to come like wellthen let us do it in the morning
.
Oh no, that wasn't good enough.
There was like I tried to bevery accommodating.
I said I've got two people onit to make it go faster.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
but they're ancillaries, they're you know
the client has the right toattend.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And I'm sure they're going to have questions.
This is over a million dollarinvestment for the client
they're going to have.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
they have that right to be there and to not be rushed
yeah, I know I've had buyerslike hey, like sellers were not
very accommodating, they didn'teven have the home inspection
and the buyers told me theythought they were hiding
something.
I want you to really look closein this area because I think
(07:22):
they're hiding something downhere, because they didn't want
you to do.
Or the sellers kept somethingclosed off and immediately
they're like oh, there's a moldissue in that attic because it's
all sealed up.
We've had all kinds of thoughtsfrom the buyers' minds.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
We had that one years ago where I called to get
approval for it and they're likeoh yeah, you can go, you can do
anything you want, just youcan't go into that room.
Okay, I'll let the client know.
Client's like no, cancel theinspection, unless I can get
into every room in that house,I'm not buying it.
(07:57):
Two weeks later we get intothat room when we do the full
inspection, because it took themtwo weeks.
The guy raised snakes andinstead of saying hey, I raised
snakes, I don't want you comingin and out of this room because
there's a potential for thetemperatures to plummet and kill
my snakes.
They just were very, you know,sneaky.
(08:20):
And what you can't get intothat room, it's locked, you you
know well, of course, somebody'sgonna think the worst of it
yeah, there was no information.
Like we, we literally did notknow that he raised snakes until
we did the inspection andwalked into that room.
That was how we found out.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
So communication and I know when we send email,
confirmation emails regardinghey, this special schedule, this
time one goes to the listeningagent and on it hey, send this
to your bot, your sellers I meanto your sellers in what area
we're going to get into and whatwe need, right?
(08:59):
Which means not anythingblocked, things unblocked, we
get access.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And please, for the love of God, make sure the
utilities are on.
I cannot tell you how manytimes, just in the past two
weeks, we have gone out to do aninspection and they're like oh
yeah, are on, no, they're notwhich reminds me we have not had
that for a while and it'shappening again it's happening
again, which makes me wonder arepeople like getting financially
(09:27):
strapped so they're cutting offutilities to save a few bucks?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
so because they're struggling a little bit, I don
don't know.
We have not had that problemlike last year or so.
We have not had that, and it'sjust popped up and now we're
also in like three in the pastweek, yeah, or like gas sticks
off or maybe both.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah, Water was off and the one place like I think
there were tenants there weren'tthere and they had the gas off
that I don't, oh baby I, I'm solike I've done that before.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I've been at before like a ameri-4 place I was
checking out and one of theunits people live there no gas,
they just didn't you, they justwant to heat their water up.
It was summertime, they didn.
They didn't need hot water.
I mean they didn't need heat,Right.
So they shut the gas offbecause they didn't need hot
water.
It wasn't a big important thingto them.
(10:21):
Like, all right, I get it.
I was a college student.
I tried to save my plastic onthe windows all the time to get
the wind out.
But yeah, the sellers needfirst, they need to be
cooperative and know there'sgoing to be an inspection that's
going to take about two and ahalf to three hours.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
For an average size house.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
If you have a bigger house and if the buyers want,
say, radon termite, maybe theywant gas line sh or they want
mold testing, mold testingthat's going to add a little bit
of extra time.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Mold testing in and of itself adds almost an hour by
the time you, because, asyou're doing the inspection,
you're looking for potentialareas.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Here's how I'm doing.
When I'm doing the inspection,I'm looking for mold, wet areas
that may be a good place to test.
So then, when I'm gettingtoward the end doing the test, I
know so I'm not looking.
And then I'm doing theinspection.
I'm doing the inspection andlooking.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, you're doing the inspection and looking at
the same time.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I'm doing this shit by 20.
You're not, I'm a patient.
You 20 years.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
You're not.
I'm efficient.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
You're.
You're a rarity, Not everybodydoes that that way.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I don't which I don't get.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I don't either, but a mole test can add time.
Radon adds time especiallydepending on how, depending on
how detailed that freaking mapis that you have, I hate that
one.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
If you're an agent, you don't't know.
When we do a radon test, wehave to draw a of the floor, of
the level which is typically theis the basement area.
We need to draw a sketch ofthat area and identify the
windows floor drain.
That is so the state knows thatwe did.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
we put the radar monitor Burners, sump pump pits.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
That is so.
The state knows that we did notput the radar monitor in an
inappropriate location Put itright next to the window Right
next to the sump pump rightabove the floor drain.
So those things they take extratime right on 30 minutes.
(12:36):
Mold tests say 30 minutes.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
I don't make that much extra time you're doing
that as you do the inspection ifit's a house that has a lot of
moisture issues.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I couldn't get everywhere, so I crawl space up
in that floor level above that.
I'm going to be taking an extra10 minutes looking just extra
areas because it was hard to see.
It's a finished basement.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
We test, like every so many feet around the base of
it.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Or moisture, or moisture issues.
Yeah, so the house is on allsorts of things, but anyway, the
bottom line is the seller'sgonna go all right.
This is gonna take like justsay, three hours and just plan
on having to be out of the houseand I'd be working home we
don't care we don't care, we canwork around around you.
If you're in that one room,that's cool.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
We'll do everything else, uh if you have small kids
and they have a schedule, youcan either let us do the
majority of the inspection andthen just come back and put your
kids in the bedroom.
Let us know which bedroom youwant us to look at first, so
that's not a problem on thisepisode we have a document on
sellers how to get their houseready.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yes, so in the show notes on this one a link to that
document.
Yes, if you are a listing agent.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Download that Send it .
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Send that information .
It's in the email we send you,send it to them, or copy this
one and copy the link and thensend it to them If you're a home
buyer's agent.
We have one of those get thatlink and send it to the agent to
get it to those buyers.
It's in everybody's bestinterest.
Well, yeah, some of the sellerseverybody's best interest to
(14:22):
have everything like open and wehave a good time frame because
that place recently, if I wasthat buyer and that seller I'm
not I was trying to force us tohurry up and not get enough time
to do it.
I'm going to be like you knowwhat, what?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
are they hiding?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I don't need your house, I don't need this hassle.
I'm right to get in there andyou're making it difficult.
You're hiding something.
I'm out.
Yeah, because trust me, there'sother houses around that I can
buy.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Especially at this price point, because they're not
moving fast, they're sitting onthe market longer.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Expensive houses are not moving quick.
So don't think that justbecause you're a seller
everybody's going to be jumpingfor your house and jumping
through yours.
This is not two years ago, no,no, that's all gone.
Got on this.
Just make sure you have ampletime.
The sellers need prep just asmuch as the buyers, but you have
(15:17):
resources and I'll providethese resources for you.
Lauren has created these things.
I will have a link to theseresources that you need to get
to the seller, either yourself,by the other agent, and then, of
course, a link for homebuyers,for them to be prepared and know
(15:38):
what to expect from a homeinspection.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
So key points make sure utilities are on all of the
utilities.
Make sure that they are awarethat we will need a minimum of
three hours, that they are awarethat we will need a minimum of
three hours.
Anything over 3,000 square feet, a good guesstimate is to add
an additional hour for each1,000 square feet.
It is not accurate, but it's agood guesstimate for them.
(16:02):
Just to give their sellers anidea of a timeframe, Not saying-
.
A lot of variables, a lot ofvariables, but it's a good
guesstimate.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yeah, but no matter what you tell the seller how
much time to be ready for, justtell them to be in three hours
if it's faster that cool if it'slonger than that.
It was the inspection company.
We're gonna need an extra hourbecause they added these three
additional services.
Just go.
Oh okay, I guess I got.
I'm gonna go do something elsefor a little bit.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Right, that's it.
What was it?
Relatives the?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
house I was at the other day.
It was all the way inMiddletown.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Yeah, near Dayton area.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Two hours 10 minutes, I was done.
Bacon house Buyer did not comethere.
Nobody was asking questions.
This place has really weirdstuff going on.
It had some issues and I waslike that is just weird.
One thing, I think the houseused to have a flat roof to it
(17:03):
and they put a gable roof overthe top of it and no access to
it.
Oh, interesting, except onelittle hole that may have been.
I don't know what it's for, butI could peek out and just see a
few rafters.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Oh, that's odd.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Maybe an inch clearance between the ceiling to
the top of the old flat roof.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
There's no way.
No, you couldn't see anything.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
But then it has really weird stuff in the garage
and other places as well.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
But anyway, and we just sold our house.
Yeah, like we didn't make anyrequirements or any time frames,
like we just said here.
You know, gave it to ourlisting agent and told her to
schedule whatever she needed toand called it a day, like we
didn't freak out about stuff ortry to micromanage things.
(17:50):
Called it a day like we didn'tfreak out about stuff or try to
micromanage things.
So, you know, just be patient.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
it's like all right if you're dating.
They're like high maintenance,everything's just a hassle.
Are we gonna put up with that?
No, you're not, you shouldn't.
No, you're dating the house andyou want to do one final check
before you close the deal on it.
Uh-uh, nope, too many red flags.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
A seller.
Being difficult is a red flag.
I think that's it for this one.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Yep Sounds like a plan.
Thank you, Bye everyone.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Make sure you recommend Habitation
Investigation.
We do excellent work.
We're trying not to scareanybody.
Some houses are just plainscary Not as scary as being sued
because you talked to somebodyout getting a homeless vaccine
Right or you recommended acrappy homeless vaccine company.
I do know people agents havebeen sued Because of that.
They recommended a poorhomeless vaccine company 100%.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
We do know agents have been sued for recommending
a poor home inspection companyand the buyers got strapped with
$20,000 to $50,000 worth ofrepair work.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Yeah, yeah, sometimes more than that.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
The person who loses, that is the agent.
Really the big run there, yeah,so anyway, recommend habitation
investigation.
We actually won Best of Midwesttwo years and we recently won.
Consumer Choice Award forhomeless functions in Columbus
area.
So awesome news there.
So, anyway, we're grateful foryour reputation.
Take care and bye-bye, bye all.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
You've been listening to the Standing Out in Ohio
podcast.
Be sure to subscribe on Spotifyor Google Podcasts to get new,
fresh episodes.
For more, please follow us onInstagram, twitter and Facebook,
or visit the website of thebest Ohio home inspection
company athomeinspectionsinohiocom or
jimtroffcom.
(19:46):
That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H andclick on podcast.
Until next time, learn and godo stuff.
Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast,
where we discuss topics,upcoming events, news and
predictions with real estateprofessionals and entrepreneurs.
Listen and learn what makestheir companies and themselves
stand out and gain advantagesover the competition and gain
market share.
Subscribe for the latest newsand discussion on what it takes
(00:23):
to stand out from the crowd.
Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Standing Out Loud
podcast.
I'm here with Laura, the officegoddess, and she has on her lap
Hex the cat, a very cute,chubby black cat with the ear
severely docked because she'sbeen spayed twice.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Was she spayed twice.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yes, they tried to do her a second time and they got
in and go oh, female cats.
They docked, they nipped theear as a sign indication that
the cat's been fixed.
That's why her ears dock quitea bit more, because they did not
notice it before.
It was very small and they gono.
So, anyway, they're here, whichis cool.
(01:15):
So, anyway, we talk aboutexpectations.
How the bears need to haveproper expectations, everybody
needs to have properexpectations of what's going on
for them.
Sellers, though, lately seem tobe a little bit more clueless
(01:36):
or harder to get scheduled.
Maybe less cooperative is thebetter word.
That's what we're going to talkabout, but first let's listen
to this habitation investigationis the way to go for a home
inspection in ohio.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Trusted, licensed home inspectors for your needs.
From radon to mold towarranties for a great home
inspection, you really can't gowrong.
Visit HomeInspectionsInOhiocom.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Okay, expectations.
We've talked many times how, ifyour buyer of a house does not
have proper expectations for thehome inspection or the
condition of the house, thatmight ruin the deal, not because
of the inspection report, it'sbecause their expectations did
(02:32):
not match the actual reality ofthe house.
Right, and my best example thatI like giving is I had an agent
tell the buyer in front of methat I would not find anything
wrong with this house becausethis house is perfect.
And that's such a bold-facederror to say that, because no
house is perfect no, not evennew builds, and I remember the
(02:55):
house.
I've been anything major.
But if this buyer was only oneperfect house and expected
perfect, the agent blew that outof the water.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Well, and remember the one agent that told me that
she got the report for theinspection and when she was
talking to her client to set upthe meeting to go over the
report, to make their request toremedy that's how long ago this
was that the client said well,I don't want the house, there
shouldn't have been a report.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, so that client had no clue.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
That client had no clue that there's going to be a
report that they're you know.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
They may not be, you know big things, but there's
always going to be some type ofa report and yes, so we have
that video that every agentwho's working with buyers should
send to their buyers, and thevideo is on uh, what to expect
from home inspection.
This way, when your buyers,when they get there or they're
(03:51):
not going to be surprised byanything on there they'll see
like, oh yeah, negative grading,pretty normal.
So all that, all these otherother reports I saw in that
class, and same thing gutters,downspouts, roof issues, a
little bit of moisture in thebasement crawl space, though, no
, that's very common, right, itshould not be a deal breaker.
It breaks a deal when itdoesn't match the expectations
(04:15):
and there's disappointment.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
Or the financial limitations that a client may
have.
Yes, now the other side of thecoin is the sellers.
Is the sellers?
Because their house needs to beready for the inspection so
that it goes smoothly and therearen't any hiccups or people
don't have to come back, or youknow?
Whatever the case may be.
(04:37):
But we can go into that here alittle bit more.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yes, lately there's been a little bit of a hassle
getting inspections scheduledbecause these sellers do not.
They're not being cooperative,they're not giving options.
Like the one place, the one isdone by a certain time, fine,
we're going to start this muchtime and we already had a second
inspector on it.
Make it go quicker because thethe time frame of the one.
(05:03):
It was a bigger house, right,so we could justify putting two
on there.
Then somebody, maybe, as theagent, is like well, why don't
you put on a third inspector onthere to get it done?
But, mike, you obviously do notknow the finance, the financial
aspect of putting threeinspectors on there who all
could have their own inspectionright, and now we're on just one
(05:24):
house to get a quick seller whodoesn't have a normal
expectation who somehow thinksthat, whatever their schedule
supersedes the buyer, who has aright for that home inspection
in that time frameI remember doing, doing a well,
one of our guys were doing aninspection.
I was setting the radar monitorand the seller she was
(05:49):
convinced that she'd be she, sheshouldn't be allowed to leave a
window open for her test To thetest.
I'm like no, you can't.
She's like, well, I'll justleave it just a little bit.
Like you do that, and I wasgetting into it.
Like you do that, and I wasgetting here to her, like you do
that I'll have to come back andI'll have to charge you for
additional tests, leave it allclosed and then shut up about it
(06:09):
.
But like, listen, we have stateregulations that we have to
follow.
You're going to break it?
Break it.
Well, that's going to be yourproblem with it.
But the seller yesterday or daybefore, what?
This is not the only person.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
also, they wanted only two hours for an inspection
on a 5,000 square foot housebecause they had small beds and
they wanted to come like wellthen let us do it in the morning
.
Oh no, that wasn't good enough.
There was like I tried to bevery accommodating.
I said I've got two people onit to make it go faster.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
but they're ancillaries, they're you know
the client has the right toattend.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
And I'm sure they're going to have questions.
This is over a million dollarinvestment for the client
they're going to have.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
they have that right to be there and to not be rushed
yeah, I know I've had buyerslike hey, like sellers were not
very accommodating, they didn'teven have the home inspection
and the buyers told me theythought they were hiding
something.
I want you to really look closein this area because I think
(07:22):
they're hiding something downhere, because they didn't want
you to do.
Or the sellers kept somethingclosed off and immediately
they're like oh, there's a moldissue in that attic because it's
all sealed up.
We've had all kinds of thoughtsfrom the buyers' minds.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
We had that one years ago where I called to get
approval for it and they're likeoh yeah, you can go, you can do
anything you want, just youcan't go into that room.
Okay, I'll let the client know.
Client's like no, cancel theinspection, unless I can get
into every room in that house,I'm not buying it.
(07:57):
Two weeks later we get intothat room when we do the full
inspection, because it took themtwo weeks.
The guy raised snakes andinstead of saying hey, I raised
snakes, I don't want you comingin and out of this room because
there's a potential for thetemperatures to plummet and kill
my snakes.
They just were very, you know,sneaky.
(08:20):
And what you can't get intothat room, it's locked, you you
know well, of course, somebody'sgonna think the worst of it
yeah, there was no information.
Like we, we literally did notknow that he raised snakes until
we did the inspection andwalked into that room.
That was how we found out.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
So communication and I know when we send email,
confirmation emails regardinghey, this special schedule, this
time one goes to the listeningagent and on it hey, send this
to your bot, your sellers I meanto your sellers in what area
we're going to get into and whatwe need, right?
(08:59):
Which means not anythingblocked, things unblocked, we
get access.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And please, for the love of God, make sure the
utilities are on.
I cannot tell you how manytimes, just in the past two
weeks, we have gone out to do aninspection and they're like oh
yeah, are on, no, they're notwhich reminds me we have not had
that for a while and it'shappening again it's happening
again, which makes me wonder arepeople like getting financially
(09:27):
strapped so they're cutting offutilities to save a few bucks?
Speaker 2 (09:31):
so because they're struggling a little bit, I don
don't know.
We have not had that problemlike last year or so.
We have not had that, and it'sjust popped up and now we're
also in like three in the pastweek, yeah, or like gas sticks
off or maybe both.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Yeah, Water was off and the one place like I think
there were tenants there weren'tthere and they had the gas off
that I don't, oh baby I, I'm solike I've done that before.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I've been at before like a ameri-4 place I was
checking out and one of theunits people live there no gas,
they just didn't you, they justwant to heat their water up.
It was summertime, they didn.
They didn't need hot water.
I mean they didn't need heat,Right.
So they shut the gas offbecause they didn't need hot
water.
It wasn't a big important thingto them.
(10:21):
Like, all right, I get it.
I was a college student.
I tried to save my plastic onthe windows all the time to get
the wind out.
But yeah, the sellers needfirst, they need to be
cooperative and know there'sgoing to be an inspection that's
going to take about two and ahalf to three hours.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
For an average size house.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
If you have a bigger house and if the buyers want,
say, radon termite, maybe theywant gas line sh or they want
mold testing, mold testingthat's going to add a little bit
of extra time.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Mold testing in and of itself adds almost an hour by
the time you, because, asyou're doing the inspection,
you're looking for potentialareas.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Here's how I'm doing.
When I'm doing the inspection,I'm looking for mold, wet areas
that may be a good place to test.
So then, when I'm gettingtoward the end doing the test, I
know so I'm not looking.
And then I'm doing theinspection.
I'm doing the inspection andlooking.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Yeah, you're doing the inspection and looking at
the same time.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I'm doing this shit by 20.
You're not, I'm a patient.
You 20 years.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
You're not.
I'm efficient.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
You're.
You're a rarity, Not everybodydoes that that way.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I don't which I don't get.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
I don't either, but a mole test can add time.
Radon adds time especiallydepending on how, depending on
how detailed that freaking mapis that you have, I hate that
one.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
If you're an agent, you don't't know.
When we do a radon test, wehave to draw a of the floor, of
the level which is typically theis the basement area.
We need to draw a sketch ofthat area and identify the
windows floor drain.
That is so the state knows thatwe did.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
we put the radar monitor Burners, sump pump pits.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
That is so.
The state knows that we did notput the radar monitor in an
inappropriate location Put itright next to the window Right
next to the sump pump rightabove the floor drain.
So those things they take extratime right on 30 minutes.
(12:36):
Mold tests say 30 minutes.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
I don't make that much extra time you're doing
that as you do the inspection ifit's a house that has a lot of
moisture issues.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
I couldn't get everywhere, so I crawl space up
in that floor level above that.
I'm going to be taking an extra10 minutes looking just extra
areas because it was hard to see.
It's a finished basement.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
We test, like every so many feet around the base of
it.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Or moisture, or moisture issues.
Yeah, so the house is on allsorts of things, but anyway, the
bottom line is the seller'sgonna go all right.
This is gonna take like justsay, three hours and just plan
on having to be out of the houseand I'd be working home we
don't care we don't care, we canwork around around you.
If you're in that one room,that's cool.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
We'll do everything else, uh if you have small kids
and they have a schedule, youcan either let us do the
majority of the inspection andthen just come back and put your
kids in the bedroom.
Let us know which bedroom youwant us to look at first, so
that's not a problem on thisepisode we have a document on
sellers how to get their houseready.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yes, so in the show notes on this one a link to that
document.
Yes, if you are a listing agent.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Download that Send it .
Speaker 2 (13:59):
Send that information .
It's in the email we send you,send it to them, or copy this
one and copy the link and thensend it to them If you're a home
buyer's agent.
We have one of those get thatlink and send it to the agent to
get it to those buyers.
It's in everybody's bestinterest.
Well, yeah, some of the sellerseverybody's best interest to
(14:22):
have everything like open and wehave a good time frame because
that place recently, if I wasthat buyer and that seller I'm
not I was trying to force us tohurry up and not get enough time
to do it.
I'm going to be like you knowwhat, what?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
are they hiding?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I don't need your house, I don't need this hassle.
I'm right to get in there andyou're making it difficult.
You're hiding something.
I'm out.
Yeah, because trust me, there'sother houses around that I can
buy.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Especially at this price point, because they're not
moving fast, they're sitting onthe market longer.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Expensive houses are not moving quick.
So don't think that justbecause you're a seller
everybody's going to be jumpingfor your house and jumping
through yours.
This is not two years ago, no,no, that's all gone.
Got on this.
Just make sure you have ampletime.
The sellers need prep just asmuch as the buyers, but you have
(15:17):
resources and I'll providethese resources for you.
Lauren has created these things.
I will have a link to theseresources that you need to get
to the seller, either yourself,by the other agent, and then, of
course, a link for homebuyers,for them to be prepared and know
(15:38):
what to expect from a homeinspection.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
So key points make sure utilities are on all of the
utilities.
Make sure that they are awarethat we will need a minimum of
three hours, that they are awarethat we will need a minimum of
three hours.
Anything over 3,000 square feet, a good guesstimate is to add
an additional hour for each1,000 square feet.
It is not accurate, but it's agood guesstimate for them.
(16:02):
Just to give their sellers anidea of a timeframe, Not saying-
.
A lot of variables, a lot ofvariables, but it's a good
guesstimate.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
Yeah, but no matter what you tell the seller how
much time to be ready for, justtell them to be in three hours
if it's faster that cool if it'slonger than that.
It was the inspection company.
We're gonna need an extra hourbecause they added these three
additional services.
Just go.
Oh okay, I guess I got.
I'm gonna go do something elsefor a little bit.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Right, that's it.
What was it?
Relatives the?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
house I was at the other day.
It was all the way inMiddletown.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
Yeah, near Dayton area.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Two hours 10 minutes, I was done.
Bacon house Buyer did not comethere.
Nobody was asking questions.
This place has really weirdstuff going on.
It had some issues and I waslike that is just weird.
One thing, I think the houseused to have a flat roof to it
(17:03):
and they put a gable roof overthe top of it and no access to
it.
Oh, interesting, except onelittle hole that may have been.
I don't know what it's for, butI could peek out and just see a
few rafters.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Oh, that's odd.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Maybe an inch clearance between the ceiling to
the top of the old flat roof.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
There's no way.
No, you couldn't see anything.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
But then it has really weird stuff in the garage
and other places as well.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
But anyway, and we just sold our house.
Yeah, like we didn't make anyrequirements or any time frames,
like we just said here.
You know, gave it to ourlisting agent and told her to
schedule whatever she needed toand called it a day, like we
didn't freak out about stuff ortry to micromanage things.
(17:50):
Called it a day like we didn'tfreak out about stuff or try to
micromanage things.
So, you know, just be patient.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
it's like all right if you're dating.
They're like high maintenance,everything's just a hassle.
Are we gonna put up with that?
No, you're not, you shouldn't.
No, you're dating the house andyou want to do one final check
before you close the deal on it.
Uh-uh, nope, too many red flags.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
A seller.
Being difficult is a red flag.
I think that's it for this one.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Yep Sounds like a plan.
Thank you, Bye everyone.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Make sure you recommend Habitation
Investigation.
We do excellent work.
We're trying not to scareanybody.
Some houses are just plainscary Not as scary as being sued
because you talked to somebodyout getting a homeless vaccine
Right or you recommended acrappy homeless vaccine company.
I do know people agents havebeen sued Because of that.
They recommended a poorhomeless vaccine company 100%.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
We do know agents have been sued for recommending
a poor home inspection companyand the buyers got strapped with
$20,000 to $50,000 worth ofrepair work.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Yeah, yeah, sometimes more than that.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
The person who loses, that is the agent.
Really the big run there, yeah,so anyway, recommend habitation
investigation.
We actually won Best of Midwesttwo years and we recently won.
Consumer Choice Award forhomeless functions in Columbus
area.
So awesome news there.
So, anyway, we're grateful foryour reputation.
Take care and bye-bye, bye all.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
You've been listening to the Standing Out in Ohio
podcast.
Be sure to subscribe on Spotifyor Google Podcasts to get new,
fresh episodes.
For more, please follow us onInstagram, twitter and Facebook,
or visit the website of thebest Ohio home inspection
company athomeinspectionsinohiocom or
jimtroffcom.
(19:46):
That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H andclick on podcast.
Until next time, learn and godo stuff.
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