Thursday, December 10, 2015

What is a home inspection and Why Should You Always Have One When Buying a Home?

What is a home inspection and why should you always have one when buying a home? A home inspection is performed by a qualified inspector hired by buyers to inspect a home prior to purchase and provide a detailed report regarding all components.

Buying a home for the first time or the 10th time has one common factor: It may be one of the most important transactions that you make in your lifetime. So what is a home inspection? It is a thorough evaluation of the home by a certified home inspector. This encompasses a non-invasive evaluation of the major components, but not limited to the major components of a home, such as the structure, roof, plumbing, electrical, appliances, heating and air conditioning systems, the exterior, and the basement. It may also include out buildings, the garage, and inspections for termite/wood destroying insects and radon.
A certified home inspector would be hired to inspect the home and components to find if there are any material defects, items that need repair, services needed (heater evaluation, chimney inspection, etc.), and an evaluation of many of the components of the home and their life expectancy. The safety aspect of the components is also evaluated and recommendations are made by the home inspector. What a home inspection is not is an insurance policy or guarantee for the home. It is not intended to predict the future life expectancy of the home’s components, nor is it a report for cosmetic repair.
The home inspector visually inspects the home, writes a report and a defect summary accompanied by pictures of the defect. This is true for a home inspection and a termite report. In respect to radon inspections, a testing device is typically left at the home in a closed environment for a period of 48 hours. The results are evaluated against the standard that the EPA has set — an action level of 4 pCi/L. Anything at this level or above should be remediated. Inspections may also include water, if there is a well or septic. Usually these two inspections are performed by separate inspectors. A pool/hot tub inspection may also be requested by the buyers.
The buyer’s agent or attorney will review the inspector’s report(s) with the buyers and a request to repair items that are deemed defective are then negotiated within specified timeframes negotiated within the agreement of sale. The buyer may accept the property as is, request repairs, or in some cases, ask for a credit. The buyer may also elect to terminate the agreement based on the report. Credits are handled in methods that comply with the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), which protects consumers from abusive practices and higher settlement charges.
Every buyer should have inspections on the property that they are purchasing, even if it is new construction. For example, if a buyer is involved in a foreclosure, the property is usually “as is.” In this situation I would highly recommend the home be inspected to ensure that the buyer is protected from purchasing an extremely defective home or on the other hand, give them peace of mind that they are fully aware of repairs or remediation that may be necessary after the purchase. In the example of new construction, I would recommend at a minimum that the home be inspected just prior to drywall installation to evaluate the structure, electrical, plumbing, and ventilation prior to drywall. The objective here would be to determine if defects are present or perhaps installation of such items was improperly installed. In any instance, always consider having a home inspection prior to making a purchase!

I am the GUY that will make a difference! 

I specialize in selling homes in the in the Okanagan Valley including Westbank, West Kelowna, Peachland with a focus on Rose Valley, Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and Shannon Lake.

Karen Guy, REALTOR®
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty
C 250.878.3605
O 250.768.8001
http://www.connectwithkaren.com/

Friday, December 4, 2015

How Home Sellers Have Changed over the Past Decade Results of the Coldwell Banker Seller Survey


Today's home seller is notably different than the seller of 10 years ago. The recession not only changed the housing market, but it also changed the way home sellers approach the sale of their home. The Coldwell Banker Seller Survey looks at approximately 1,500 home sellers and analyzes trends from before and through the recession, as well as the initial recovery years and today:
  • 2014-2015 - Recent Years (Sellers Today)
  • 2010-2013 - Initial Recovery Years
  • 2008-2009 - Recession
  • 2006-2007 - Pre-Recession
  • 2005 and Earlier
How Selling a Home Has Changed Over the Years
Since 2014, more than one in four home sellers sold their home in less than two weeks after
putting it on the market.

Compared to the initial recovery years, more of today's sellers are receiving multiple offers.

The percentage of home sellers receiving offers above their asking price dipped during the
recession, but has now bounced back to pre-recession levels.

During the recession and initial recovery years, significantly more sellers took the first offer
on their home than are doing so today.

Today's sellers are nearly twice as likely to choose an offer based on emotion rather than
money alone, compared to pre-recession years.

Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States between April 27-29 & April 28-30, 2015 among 4,023 adults (aged 18 and over) among whom 1,545 are selling/ever sold a home by Harris Poll on behalf of the Coldwell Banker brand via its Quick Query omnibus product. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, the words "margin of error" are avoided as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.
Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The data has been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in our panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

I am the GUY that will make a difference! 

I specialize in selling homes in the in the Okanagan Valley including Westbank, West Kelowna, Peachland with a focus on Rose Valley, Lakeview Heights, West Kelowna Estates and Shannon Lake.

Karen Guy, REALTOR®
Coldwell Banker Horizon Realty
C 250.878.3605
O 250.768.8001
http://www.connectwithkaren.com/

Kelowna Real Estate Agent West Kelowna Karen Guy Realtor