Submitted by Boggs Inspection Services
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In previous articles, I have written about the importance of a pre-listing inspection. This is a critical step before putting your house on the market, especially in circumstances where a family has inherited the home.
During a recent pre-listing inspection, I visited a home that was being listed by the daughter of a deceased owner. Her father had lived in the home, built in the 1970s, until he passed away.
The home had some of the normal issues that I expected to see for homes built in that time period. For example, the Zinco electrical panel had many safety issues. The owner had already planned to replace the roof and there were more issues around the home that would be typical for the age of the home, such as some settlement of the front porch and some undermining of the front steps.
When my co-inspector, Jeff Widmer and I entered the crawlspace, we were a little surprised by some of the issues we ran into. In the middle of the home, several support posts were just hanging with a gap of around five inches between the post and concrete pier. Several of these posts were decayed and there were additional areas of the foundation that were severely undermined on at least three sides of the home. In addition, at the front of the home where the front porch had settled, it was also undermined and the stem wall had severe cracks.
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Unfortunately, someone had convinced the previous owner to make some poor repairs, using a 4×4 post to hold up the area above the stem wall and part of the patio area. This is not nearly enough support for an area expected to hold that much mass and weight. Also the post was not on a pier but installed into the soil.
After completing the inspection, Jeff and I explained the issues to the client. She expressed her gratitude for her agent’s advice to have a pre-listing inspection completed. She told us that she’s now under no pressure to get the repairs completed and can discuss the inspection report with the other family members that live out of the area. She plans to speak with multiple contractors, receive bids on the project, and make a complete plan of action.
You can find Dwayne Boggs, Jeff Widmer and Boggs Inspection Services at www.boggsinspect.com or by calling 360.482.9602.