You find the home of your dreams. You put an
offer on said home and it's accepted. You're
on top of the world. You're calling your friends.
You're calling the moving company. You're ready
to move in. You can see yourself on the porch,
drinking some coffee, hearing the birds, going
inside to the comfy bedroom, flopping on the
couch in the living room. But wait, you're not
done yet because... There's still the inspection
and you need to get through the inspection to
get to that home of your dreams. And today on
Spotlight Vancouver, Washington, I'm going to
take you through a couple of red flags that you
might encounter on inspection that are going
to require a little more digging and possibly
a little bit more inspection. So let's get into
it again. I'm Doug Varinas, your host in Spotlight
Vancouver, licensed a realtor in Washington and
Oregon. If you're looking to buy, sell or invest
in Vancouver or actually nationwide, please feel
free to hit the link in the description to schedule
a brief and 100 % no pressure chat with me so
we can talk about how we can reach your real
estate goals. So as I mentioned, you got your
dream home in hand. The offer is accepted, but
you're not done. You have the inspection. What
is a home inspection? Well, it seems simple,
but really it's someone, a trained home inspector,
who's going to come by at your expense to kick
the tires on your potential new home. And they're
going to give you an overview on your home's
condition and some possible warning signs and
things to look into a little more. Now, a home
inspection these days is going to run you, you
know, around $700. And let me tell you, it is
well worth the price to... pick an inspector
who's going to do a thorough and competent job.
Of course, I work with this inspector and know
of several others who do a wonderful job. So
feel free to reach out if you need a home inspector.
I'd be happy to put you in touch. So as I mentioned,
this is going to be a tire kicking thing. And
so I think the trap a lot of people get into
is they have a home inspection, they get the
results back and things come up down the line
that. may have been sort of alluded to in the
inspection, but the poop really didn't hit the
fan for maybe a couple months down the line because
the inspection, as thorough and competent as
it could and should be, does not always tell
you the whole story. And the mistakes I've seen
people make is that they rely on that. They overly
rely on that one inspection. to give them all
the information they need as to the condition
of their home, and then they move forward. But
what happens is they lose bargaining leverage
because they're not uncovering all the things
that could possibly be going on with this home
because a lot of times you need further inspection.
And so always get an inspection, always get a
sewer scope. And I'm going to take you through
some red flags that are going to come up during
inspection that when you see these red flags,
you need. further inspection. And yes, that is
going to cost you some more money, typically
$250, $350 -ish. Sometimes it can be free if
it's part of a quote, but this is going to be
an investment. So remember, as a home buyer,
you are an owner and an investor. And so your
mindset has to shift from, oh, I have to spend
$250 on this. I'm not going to do that. I'm going
to save me some bucks, to I'm investing in this
further inspection to find out what condition
my home is. to save me possibly thousands down
the line. And that's really what it's all about
is getting all the information you need to make
an educated decision and to provide that leverage
when bargaining because the inspection isn't
just window dressing for you to find out what's
going on. You're going to come back to the seller
and ask for some of these repairs depending on
what they are. So you really need to dig. deep.
And the inspector, the home inspector is not
a specialist in a lot of these areas. So let's
get into these red flags. And first on my list,
and this isn't for every home, but this is going
to be radiant ceiling heat. Never heard of this
before? Well, neither did I until I did. It's
typically seen in, like, 70s, maybe early 80s
homes. And it's actually heat coils, like a mat,
that's installed into your ceiling. And it heats
up. And it actually does a surprisingly good
job of warming a house. And because Washington
has some of the least expensive electricity in
the nation, it's fairly cost effective. Oh, excuse
me. When it works, it's great. The thing is about
these heating systems, radiant ceiling heat,
is that when they break, they are difficult,
if not impossible, to fix. One of the points
being that they're installed into your walls,
and so you have to get access to the ceiling
where these electrical mats are. Think of it
as a blanket in your ceiling that you control
with a thermostat, and that heats up those coils.
hence heats your home. This isn't found in a
large amount of homes, but in the homes that
it is found in, I would really plan on getting
a heat pump in these situations because these
heating mats, this radiant ceiling heat, will
fail. It's pretty much inevitable. When it works,
it's great. It's inevitably going to fail, and
that's going to put you in a little bit of a
financial hurt because getting a heat pump installed
can be quite expensive. We're talking anywhere
from 15 to 30 grand -ish to get a heat pump installed
in your home because the heat's going to fail.
And it's inevitably going to fail with radiant
ceiling heat. So in homes where I find the radiant
ceiling heat, I'm going to try to negotiate some
sort of... compromise with the heating. Sometimes
this is hard because if things are still working,
sellers aren't willing to, you know, compensate
you in any way for something they view as functional.
So this can be a little bit of a hot button.
In regards to other homes with the heating, you're
always going to want to have the heat. You're
going to want to get the age of the mechanicals
and you're going to want to have them sort of
stress test. I recommend somebody, an HVAC specialist
come in and just give me a general overview of
the condition. I think that is important, you
know, but having said that. The lifespan of an
HVAC tends to be like 20 to 25 years. They can
go longer. It really depends on how often you're
changing the filter and doing other routine maintenance.
But a red flag is that radiant ceiling heat.
Again, you always want to check your heat source,
make sure it's working, and check the life of
it because you're going to have to either budget
that, budget the replacement, or... negotiate
some sort of replacement with the cellar. Again,
if it's functional, it's going to be tough, but
definitely the radiant ceiling heat is going
to go out. Not seen on every home, but when you
see it, raise an eyebrow and be prepared to negotiate,
be prepared to replace with the heat pump. One
red flag. Another red flag is going to be your
plumbing. Plumbing is the arteries and veins
of your home. It brings the life water, literally
brings the water of life into your home. And
so there's something I'm going to be looking
out for, and it's going to be galvanized pipes.
Galvanized pipes are like the person who has
like arterial sclerosis. You know, their arteries
are shrinking. They're getting smaller because
in Vancouver we have hard water and that's going
to be cause a lot of buildup in those galvanized
pipes, which just they attract buildup of minerals
and they close up just like an artery that's
had too much bacon, if you will. I love bacon.
And so a galvanized pipe is really going to be
a red flag for me. And I am going to look into
that further. and a lot of times it could be
a hard pass. You see these on older homes. Typically,
I'm looking for copper at the bare minimum, and
then PVC, PEX is going to be ideal because this
is going to be the most modern form of plumbing.
Everybody installs PEX these days, PVC and PEX.
Copper is okay. Again, you're going to want to
get that looked at. You're going to want to know
what sort of piping you have in your home. And
if it's galvanized, you're going to want to look
out. You're going to want to beware. And so that's
a red flag that you're going to need further
assessment or negotiate or walk away because
that piping is going to need to be replaced probably
sooner rather than later. My next red flag is
going to be... water damage that you can see
on the ceiling somewhere. So you'll see brownish
outline, almost looks like there's a puddle,
but you just see the outline of it. It can take
different forms and different colors depending
on the amount of damage. But a lot of times this
is going to indicate water intrusion from a leak
in the roof. Obviously, you're going to want
to have your inspector on top of the roof, have
them climb up, ask them to climb on top of the
roof. because it's always good to get a view,
an actual human eyeball on everything, but that
includes the roof. A lot of people don't do it.
A lot of inspectors will use drones. They're
okay, but I would prefer that you just get on
the roof and look. I think that alleviates a
lot of things, and it'll tie into something I'm
going to mention later because you need hands
-on a lot of things. You need to touch, you need
to feel, you need to turn on, you need to turn
off. So during the inspection, your inspector
is going to be turning on the water and leaving
it on and checking drainage. They should be turning
on the heater, the dishwasher, everything. You
know, they'll typically use like a thermal gun
for the heat, you know, and a moisture meter.
And so they can do that if you see those signs
on the ceiling of like a brownish. greenish outline
that looks like an outline of a puddle, basically,
that's going to be a red flag. And you're going
to want to get that looked at. And a lot of times
the inspector is not going to, you know, they
might be able to get up there and actually see
some of the water damage in the rafters. That's
going to be another sign. You can tell if there's
been leaks because the water will have dried.
If it gets wet, it dries and it discolors over
time. So you'll be able to see that. A lot of
times there'll be like a lot of mold. If there's
been water intrusion, you're going to want to
look at that. And if you see that sign during
your inspection, that's going to be a red flag
because a roof is expensive and that is a livability
issue and something you're going to want to negotiate
with that seller. Water stains on the ceiling,
going to be another red flag for me. Next up
is going to be signs of bug infestation. Now,
obviously, I am not an exterminator. I'm not
an expert on bugs, nor am I an expert on roofs.
Always get a qualified inspector to deal with
this issue. But for bugs, a lot of times what
I look for is obviously the presence of bugs.
So if you see things with wings, buzzy things
around that you don't typically see, and you're
like, hey, what's that? Well, that's going to
be a red flag. A lot of times when you're looking
around the rafters, you'll see little piles of
sawdust and holes, like what looks like where
there's been boring insects, where they're digging
out your wood. And that creates a little bit
of a mound of dust. I've seen that before. And
so you're immediately going to want to call in.
a specialist, like a pest management, an exterminator,
someone who's going to be able to evaluate the
damage that's been caused because this is going
to be a serious thing. It's not super common
around here, but if you see the evidence of that,
and that's typically like holes in the wood,
you know, pin size or pencil eraser size holes
somewhere, little holes like that, especially
with that sawdust can indicate a pest infestation
and nobody wants that in their home. So for each
one of these red flags, you're going to need
to call in a specialist who's going to come in.
And I would suggest taking your time to do this
if you see the warning signs because it can save
you thousands of dollars. So if you've had an
inspection where you found something that saved
you a lot of money or you have an inspection
disaster story, I'd love to hear it. Drop it
in the comments. Let me know if you've had some
experience with this before, whether you've uncovered
something that somebody missed. or your inspector
uncovered something that you had inspected and
found out that it was going to cost you a lot
of money and you were able to negotiate that.
I'd love to hear all your inspections stories.
Drop them in the comments. Really appreciate
it. And if you find any value in this, please
don't forget to hit the like button and consider
subscribing because it really helps me out. And
I'd like to think I'm helping you out. Let me
know. I'd love to hear from you. My next red
flag, and honestly, it's my final red flag. He's
going to be the chimney. Now, we all love a fireplace,
you know, especially a wood burning fireplace.
You know, it just there's something about having
a fire that just touches us from a long, long
time ago. I think evolutionarily it touches us
and we see a fire and we stare at it. A gas fire
is nice, too. But something about a wood burning
fire, it's just. There's nothing that you can
compare to that. It says coziness. It says home.
There's a smell. There's a noise. It's the colors.
Man, it's a fire and it's great. But the thing
is a chimney, you got to check that out. So especially
if it doesn't have a cap on top of it, a lot
of times water will come in and start wearing
away the mortar. So you really want to have this
checked out. by a professional there's a lot
of creosote that gets can build up and cause
damage in the fireplace if it hasn't been cleaned
out and so anytime there's a fireplace that's
wood burning i would recommend having a chimney
sweep come out and give you kind of an assessment
and see where you're at and they're also going
to be able to tell you the condition of your
chimney because what's happened to me before
is i had an inspector who used a drone and didn't
push the chimney And so when they actually pushed
the chimney, it was moving. So that's not good.
You don't want your chimney to move. And so that's
another reason for you to get up on the roof
and touch the items, feel them, push them, you
know, kick the tires almost literally. Don't
cause any damage, but give it a solid tactile
inspection is what should be happening. And you
can do this too. Like be active during your inspection.
Ask a lot of questions. And also kick the tires
yourself because we're all humans and inspectors
can miss things. And so I always recommend that
my clients attend the inspection and be active
participants. Like I've invited clients to sit
down or come to inspections where and then they
just end up chilling. You know, maybe the inspectors
I use are very good at educating the clients.
And so this typically doesn't happen with my
clients, but they're not bored during the inspection
because they're being taken through in each step.
The inspector, my inspector, is basically narrating
what's going on, what he's seeing, pointing out
anything that's of note, because it's really
an opportunity for you to get to know your home.
And so this overall general inspection is like
the first date. You're just getting to know the
home, you know, getting to know you. Everyone's
on their best behavior, if you will. And then
when you see these little warning signs, you're
going to want to call the specialist. You know,
if you're on a first date and you see warning
signs, what do you do? You might go on a second
date, but then you're sort of paying attention.
You're getting a closer look. Maybe you're asking
the opinions of your friends. I don't know. I
haven't dated in a long time, so I'm not sure.
But the inspection is the first date, and when
you call in these, you see the red flags, you
call in the specialists, you're getting a deeper
look. You're going to want to be as hands -on
as possible during this inspection. I think that
helps. and to ask those questions. So there's
a couple ones that I haven't brought up. I'm
going to give you a bonus one, and maybe it's
not so much of a surprise, but it's the sewer.
Always get a sewer scope. And even when you get
a sewer scope, if there's anything out of ordinary,
you're going to want to call in some professionals.
So recently I had an older sewer, super old sewer
line, and the pipes were disjointed. Like they
were connected, but like... You know, there was
an inch gap there, obviously something I wanted
to check out. It ended up being like an $8 ,000
cost to have the main line dug up and to be repaired.
And so we could have taken the sewer scope at
face value and been like, well, you know, there's
nothing wrong with the. sewer necessarily functionally.
But like having to look at that, then bringing
in a professional to give us an estimate really
gave us some leverage when negotiating because
that's something that's going to have to be repaired
at some point. And any buyer that comes by is
going to have to deal with that issue. And it's
now going to be disclosed to future buyers. So
it gives you a little bit of leverage because
a sewage pipe is a livability issue. You can't
live without a sewer pipe. And so when you get
that checked out. It also gives you some leverage
in negotiating, which should provide a return
on your inspection investment. Because again,
changing our mindset. We are owners. We are investors.
We are getting these inspections so we can get
peace of mind, which is worth something. And
then we can also use that as leverage in our
bargaining. So getting that dream home is wonderful.
It's a great feeling. You just can't. And describe
what it feels like, especially, you know, if
you're a first time home buyer, even it's your
fourth home. You know, it's still a great feeling
when you get that acceptance. But that inspection
process is really something you're going to want
to spend time on. And you're not going to want
to shortcut that because a lot of things can
come up, as I mentioned, in these red flags that
could trip you up. Stay strong, everybody out
there. I hope this has helped. Again, like and
subscribe if you found value in this. If you
want to schedule a chat with me, I have a link
in the description. 100 % pressure free. I want
to answer all your questions. Maybe we're a good
fit to work together. Maybe not. Maybe you're
not ready. Doesn't matter. Reach out. Let's chat
about how we can help you. And until next time,
take care, everybody. I'll see you in the next
episode.