Pre-Offer Consultations, Walk-and-Talk Inspections, Whatever - I Don't Like Them!

Let's talk about walk-and-talk inspections. Which, I will point at in the beginning, isn't really an inspection - it's the inspector blabbing away and hoping that the client is taking copious notes, a plentitude of photos, and understands what is being conveyed.

Can I get a show of hands on how likely that might be? Very? Or, nope?

These have become popular, especially among real estate licensees who hate written reports that require future disclosure. Pesky things, written reports. Discoverable documents.

Walk-and-talk inspections are popular with some inspectors as half a fee is better than none, and the inspector is not required to walk the roof, walk the attic, enter the crawlspace, take the cover off the electrical panel or furnace, or generally do anything that you might expect from an inspector.

All of them have contracts with disclaimers: "THIS IS NOT A HOME INSPECTION. GET THE PROPERTY INSPECTED BEFORE PURCHASING."

Which would be great except: a) the client does not get that inspection; and, b) the seller, on the advice of their agent, is not permitting a full home inspection.

To cap it off, in the heydays of the hot Seattle market, you only had a window of time to do the walk-through, a couple of hours on next Thursday so you might have ten parties all milling through the house at one time. The buyer has the choice of a pre-offer consultation (what they call these in Washington State) and bupkis.

Total chaos.

Surprises abound.

I HATE surprises.

Now, if it should sound as though I think this is a bad practice, you would be correct.

The eventual effect is that the worst inspector rules. He's the one that doesn't find anything and has clients who buy a house with either no idea of its true condition, or worse, a mistaken idea of its condition.

I know for a fact that I can get into crawlspaces that others can't - and it isn't always a matter of willingness. Being skinny is an advantage to an inspector.

I know, for a fact, that there are inspectors who will not bend over to get a better look at the foundation more closely. Who won't look up to judge the height of the chimney from the roof.

I know inspectors who will call an electrical panel (FPE) bad in Washington and call the same one in Idaho fine.

In a world where I am king, walk-and-talk inspections would disappear. But, then, I'm a curmudgeonly inspector who hates surprises - and hates to have his clients surprised. And, no, the government shouldn't pass a law. They do too much of that already.

I would like common sense and ethical behavior to fix the situation.

Sadly, walk-and-talk inspections are not going away any time soon.

Mold Problem Here?

Mold Problems Here?

I'm seeing a big uptick in requests for mold testing. Interestingly, these are being driven by doctors asking their patients to get tested. Since I am certified in Mold Inspection, I have been getting a number of these referrals.

In each such case where doctors have referred their patients for mold inspection, I have found, through air sampling, surprising levels of mold. Unusually, it is in the exterior samples that I am seeing high numbers which is, obviously, affecting the indoor air quality. Oftentimes, there is NO visible mold present but there have been plenty of mold spores in the air.

And, before anyone thinks “Well, not around here!”, I have done mold testing in Lewiston, Clarkston, Moscow, and Pullman - plus a bunch out of town. Mold is becoming a problem here. Now, that may be the result of a really wet spring - or, it may not. I suspect, but don’t and can’t know, that the past several years of national health issues have impacted the population such that mold that did not affect people previously is now a much more serious concern.

When I am inspecting for mold (NOT included in a home inspection), I am looking for sources of moisture in the entire structure. So, if a client says they have mold in the bathroom, I'm still going to be in all the other rooms, up on the roof, in the attic, and in the crawlspace. I'm also going to be testing surfaces for moistures, testing the air for humidity, and looking under and behind things to find the moisture source.

Sometimes, there just isn't a problem. But, more recently, there has been, from leaking plumbing to a failed dryer vent to water in the crawlspace.

Without testing, we just can't know.

If mold is a concern in your home, I recommend testing. It is a worthwhile investment in your air quality.

Don't Make Excuses

I am loathe to make excuses for why I couldn’t accomplish my job though it does happen. The 2016-2017 winter was so brutal that I didn’t climb a roof for two months. This year’s more mild winter has been much easier to deal with - but there are still occasions where your inspector has to extend some effort.

Things that Inspectors Find

Old houses are always a treat for inspectors since they've had plenty of time to accumulate oddities. In this case, I manage to squeeze into a tiny crawlspace and wormed my way around underneath this house in Eastern Washington.

I did not expect to find an entire tree stump under there. I took some video because it was fun but I have to apologize - the lighting conditions were not really terrific.

For those of you curious, yes, it is mandatory for the inspectors to enter crawlspaces if it is accessible and safe. Obviously, accessible is a relative term. I get into a lot of spaces that others simply can't because I'm a touch on the skinny side.