Water Intrusion – Not Just a Caulking Issue

July 25th, 2007

I recently did an inspection where water intrusion & moisture was an issue.  The sellers had done limited exterior maintenance in the 20 years they had been there so consequently there we a few areas of concern.  Additionally, of the things they did do, some were done wrong.  Here’s some general suggestions:

  • Windows are an area to be watched carefully.  It doesn’t matter what type of windows you have, you should be inspecting the caulking around the windows, the drip cap, the weep holes, and any seams in the window.  Caulk is your friend… don’t forget him!
  • Flashing around roof lines, bay windows, chimneys, etc will eventually need to be replaced… if you are replacing the roof you should look at the flashing as well.
  • Trees should be trimmed away from the house.  If a tree is rubbing up against a wall or roof, it can damage the home.  Also, without a “gap” between the house and trees, it is difficult for air to circulate around the home and keep it dry.
  • When repairing/remodeling/rebuilding decks, make sure that you have the flashing installed correctly.  Incorrectly installed flashing may actually encourage more water penetration.
  • Look at the bottom of exposed studs & sheetrock for water damage.  If there’s been water on the floor, it is usually quite easy to find signs of it on the walls.
  • Gutters are good.  Getting water further away from a home is always a good idea, so I always recommend gutters.  6′ downspouts are great.
  • Poorly maintained gutters are bad.  If gutters are left without maintenance, they will clog with leaves and start coming apart.  The only thing worse than no gutters are gutters that dump an entire roof’s rainfall on little spot against your foundation.
  • “Settling cracks” can be a sign of more problems.  If the house has cracks running between, or worse yet through, bricks or concrete blocks, it could be a sign of excessive settling.  Many times this is an issue with gutters.
  • Humidifiers should be used SPARINGLY.  I saw a house that had significant moisture staining on every single window in the house.  It was so bad in fact that some parts of some windows were replaced due to rot.  These were 20-year-old double-paned wood casement windows… which are very energy efficient… and should not have seen even 1/2 that damage.  If water is condensing on your windows, it is also condensing on your drywall, studs, sheathing, etc.  It’s a great way to ruin your windows and encourage mold growth in the wall cavity.  If you do use a humidifier, keep it set low and lower it even further when the weather gets extremely cold.  Also, keep your blinds partially open to allow air circulation.

Posted in Personal Experiences | Comments (1)






Well, I was a Buyer!

July 18th, 2007

Through the process of inspections I discovered that my soon-to-be home had some major issues that were either unknown to the sellers, misunderstood by the sellers, or were intentionally hidden.  I don’t know what the real story is and it doesn’t matter since I didn’t have the money to fix what I found and wasn’t sure that I could be certain to fix all the problems there.

Morals of the story:

  • Always get inspections!  I’ve seen how many houses and still missed something big!
  • If you’ve got something wrong (or had something wrong) in your house, disclose it!

Posted in Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Opinion | Comments (0)






I'm a Buyer Too, You Know

July 13th, 2007

After having made an unsuccessful bid to purchase a house via short sale back many months ago, an agent in my office suggested I take a look at a house which I hadn’t considered.

The homes I had been looking at were primarily ramblers (or ranch, or one story, depending on your area).  Actually, I had a pretty detailed set of criteria:

  • One story
  • 3/4 master bath or better (full highly preferred)
  • Big master bedroom (15 x 12 minimum)
  • 1980′s and newer
  • 1500+ sq ft on the main floor (bigger room sizes)
  • 4+ bedrooms (for roommates, office, guest bedroom)
  • Walkout basement
  • Big 2 car garage
  • .4 acre lot or bigger
  • Privacy off back yard
  • Inside the 94/694/100/394/494 NW quadrant
  • Under $375k

Needless to say I didn’t find much for sale!

What I’ve always hated about a traditional two story home (I call it a center stair two story) is the formal living room.  See, I don’t have a piano, don’t read books (Google is my library), and don’t know why you would sit in a room without a TV/DVD/stereo/computer/etc. so I see it as space that I have to fill with nice looking crap that won’t get used!  I LOVE modified two story homes and those with stairs on one side of the house or the other because it eliminates that room but keeps all the other goodies that a two story offers:

  • Separation of bedrooms from living areas
  • Big master suites
  • Most/all bedrooms on one level
  • Bigger room sizes, since foundation size isn’t the issue
  • Dramatic curb appeal (when done right!)

Due to the area I was looking, there aren’t really any two story homes with the floorplan I liked, so consequently I was looking at ramblers.  You have to get pretty big on the foundation size for ramblers before you get those bigger rooms and layout.  So, I made an offer on one in a short sale and several months later found out that we were $40,000 off in price and they didn’t want to budge.  So, bye-bye offer!

I went around and looked at some other ramblers, but none of them really caught my eye.  I was very disappointed and had decided that things were not going to work out right now when one of my coworkers suggested a property she had seen.  She said: “Aaron, I know it is priced higher than you wanted to go and it’s a two story, but it is a really nice house and you should take a look at it.”

I got the address, pulled it up online and decided to take a look.  Long story short, she was right… it was a great house!  Went back with another coworker who thought it was solid too, had him write an offer (more on that in a future post) and some back-and-forth with the seller and now I’ve got a new home!

I’m still doing inspections and whatnot so I don’t want to get into details but needless to say I have a lot of things I’d like to tell you.  Stay tuned for updates!

Posted in General, Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Opinion, Personal Experiences | Comments (0)






Short Sale or Bank Owned: Which is Better to Buy?

July 3rd, 2007

If you’re looking to buy a home right now from a distressed seller, be careful what you offer on!

75 days.  That is how long a buyer and I have been waiting for a response from the banks on an offer we submitted for a property in the process of foreclosure, but still owned by the seller.  To get this offer to work, both banks have to agree to a “short pay” or “short sale” since the seller has no cash and our offer is less than what is owed to the banks after selling expenses.  In this case it is two banks (1st mortgage and 2nd mortgage) that we need to agree to the short sale.  By the way- we’re still waiting today…

30 days.  That is how long this same buyer and I waited for a response from another bank on a short sale situation on a different property before we found out they rejected the offer.  I’ve had this happen several times this year with different houses & clients.

1-2 weeks max.  That is how long I’ve waited for an acceptance or rejection on offers I’ve submitted on bank owned properties.  While this is still a frustratingly long time for a buyer, it is at least dramatically less than my experience with short sales.

If you’re willing to wait a(for) month(s) for an answer, short sale properties may be an interesting option.  If you want to move into a house yet this year, maybe stick with bank owned properties or an owner occupied residence.  I’m only half kidding about moving this year… :-)

 

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Posted in Foreclosures & Short Sales, Info for Buyers, Opinion | Comments (3)







Edina Realty
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Edina Realty Aaron Dickinson
Licensed in MN


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Short Sale or Bank Owned: Which is Better to Buy?