Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This is not a drill.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: This is the age of mine podcast.
All right, folks, welcome back to the Agent Mind podcast. I'm here today with some great information podcast. Get your notes out, your pen and paper out. I've got Andrew Allen from Choice Home Inspections, owner of the company, construction background. He's, he not only inspects homes for all of us agents and our clients, but he's also buying, flipping, buying, buying holds and rentals. So he's immersed in the business. So Andrew, man, thanks so much for coming on the show. How's it going today?
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Absolutely, yeah, good to see you.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: Yeah. So give us, give us the quick rundown, like just tell us about yourself. Tell us about choice.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: All right, so my name is Andrew Allen. I got into home inspections in 2016, the end of 2015, 2016, started doing inspections, inspections. Got to where I absolutely fell in love with doing inspections. I fell in love with real estate as a whole. Flipping, having rental property, commercial stuff, home inspections. I really dived right into it. I spent a couple years doing inspections as a normal inspection inspector, just commission based for, for Choice Home inspections. Got really close with the owner and then in 2020 I purchased Choice Home Inspections as 100 the owner and the, the Clark Cummings, the previous owner, still on with us as a new construction inspector.
But I'm primarily owner operator doing two to three inspections, six, seven days a week.
And then, you know, about a year or two after owning the company, I started to purchase a few rentals. So on the side we are, you know, working on our rental portfolio as well.
[00:01:47] Speaker B: That's, that's awesome. You know, and we might have you on for another podcast episode just because of that. And yeah, that's a whole nother thing. But just give us a, give us a brief rundown of that, like how many. Because I know you have some big goals for this coming year that we talked about before as our. As far as like how many homes you want to flip and kind of build in a team. Is that correct?
[00:02:08] Speaker A: Yes, sir, absolutely. So our goal this year would be to flip 10 properties and purchase 10, four more long term rentals. So we're looking for duplexes, triplexes, quad plexes. So our goal on that end is, yeah, flip 10 more houses and purchase four more long term rentals.
[00:02:23] Speaker B: Yeah, that's amazing. So when I say I introduce you as like you're immersed in the business, you're. That's definitely. You're immersed in the business.
[00:02:30] Speaker A: Absolutely. And then all these things have helped me tremendously. Looking at it from an Inspector's point of view, looking at it from somebody that's going to own rental property, things that can go wrong. All the. Because I do a lot of inspectors for, for a lot of inspections for investors that are looking to rent properties, some of them really bad condition properties, and they're wondering what they're going to have to do to make this thing be not have a call every week about something being wrong. So it's really giving me a different perspective. Whereas a lot of inspectors, I think they get a little bit, they get a little bit more scared of real estate as they've done more and more inspections and they see more and more things have, that have gone wrong with certain things. They're like, oh, you know, I don't know if I want to own rental property. Whereas I feel like I'm the opposite when I go to big inspector meetups. The majority of them are not interested in flipping any properties or owning any rental properties.
A lot of the same with real estate agents that I've met as well, but I felt the exact opposite when I got into the industry. So when I'm looking at it for a first time homebuyer, it's the exact same thing as, you know, when I'm looking at it for an investor. You know, a lot of these things, the investor is not going to live in the property. So a lot of these things are, you know, that they, they're going to need to know up front. And a first time homebuyer is not going to be, have any experience dealing with any issues. So yeah, they, they run hand in hand in my opinion. As far as investors, first time home buyers or just normal families looking to get their second or third home?
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And you do. I've used you before. I know agents that have used you. You're like one of the most thorough or if not the most thorough inspector that I've ever worked with. So I definitely appreciate that. And on another note, I was going to ask this question later, but I think he kind of fits in right now.
You're not a deal killer either. So I know inspectors are like the house is falling down. Like everybody's up in a tizzy and freaking out like that. They're buying this big old lemon because of the wording on an inspection report. So tell me, how do you handle that and have you ever run into any issues with that and what's been the outcome?
[00:04:33] Speaker A: Well, I mean the deal killer thing is a real issue, especially in the home inspector world.
You know, a lot of these guys are they see that as their job sometimes.
So in my personal opinion, how I look at the inspection process with the deal killer or defects, what's major, what's minor. It's a major disservice to a client to write up a lot of different things.
Large words, large paragraphs of different items, and you put them all in this one big list. And so weather stripping on a window seal missing is in the same list as, you know, a leak and sink that's rotted out an entire subfloor in a kitchen. And so a client starts. And so instead of there being three major issues, there's now 50.
So a lot of inspectors think they're doing the client a good service by absolutely just, you know, putting everything they can think of in this report. But really the client's mind, it just creates anxiety and they can't actually determine what actually needs to be repaired. If this is a 1981 property and you've got some weather seals at a window, or you've got some minor issues, you can make a mountain out of a molehill and blow a deal that does not need to be blown. Now I've seen a deal will be blown. The inspector will get another inspection from that client, that deal will be blown, the inspection will get another, the inspector will get another. And these are all the same items that are all 1985 in their price range. So instead of somebody sitting down and being honest with them and explaining to them the type of house they're buying and what they can do to prevent some of these issues and more of a repair on an as needed basis. Especially if you're buying a house built in 1940. Yeah, but it's, it's more of a repair on an as needed basis and being able to actually sit down and have that conversation. One of my favorite things to do is once I send the report, there's a lot of miscellaneous items. It's is if I can have the client looking at the report and I'm looking at the report and we're on the phone, then I'm able to go down through the report. So let's just say, you know, there's gonna be 20, 30 items in every home inspection report, but maybe two or three items probably need to be repaired pretty quickly. Maybe those would be the three that we would talk about and then, you know, talk about in a timely manner how to address the rest of the items. I don't look at it as I'm the last defense to the client, like, oh, if I don't, if I don't tell them everything. They don't have anybody protecting them. The reality is the agents are trying to protect them, I'm trying to protect them. Everybody's looking out for them. And a home inspector is more of a.
A peace of mind. It can be more of a peace of mind or a negotiation tactic as well.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I've certainly used that before to use the inspector report for a little negotiation.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: But there is items that have come up now every now and again. You got major. The reality of it is there's very few deal killers that actually exist in reality. There's only. I mean, even going through all the training that I've been as a home inspector, one of the first things they teach you is most homes do not have major issues. Yeah. So that's the first thing you learn. You're taught as a certified home inspector is most homes do not have major issues.
So, you know, major foundation issues can be a problem. Termites that have eaten 30, 40% of a structure could be a major problem.
But 95% of problems at a structure can be repaired within 24 hours or 48 hours is the reality of most home repairs.
[00:08:02] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. And I like what you said before. Like, you're not. Every home inspector is going to get on the phone with your client, with an agent's client, and really spend that time to make sure that they understand.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: Right. They're not going to understand a lot of this terminology. Yeah. So, you know, when the, when the agent calls and says, hey, did you. Did you get the report? And, you know, are we good to go? And the client's like, I'm not sure. You know, we got a lot of things on here. And then they just start kind of going down this road of like, I, we need to ask for this. And they're asking for 25 things and $50 things, and they start. And. But you got to set that tone from the beginning.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: Okay. These things are normal. These things. Maybe you could ask for a little bit of closing cost. Maybe you could get, you know, so if they had. If I had that conversation with them first, usually when they talk to their agent, after that, it just is very smooth because now the expectations are already set, and they're not asking for the seller to come and caulk, you know, around a bathroom counter or to caulk a nail hole anymore. They're not worried about those things because they realize these are normal.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Absolutely. And I know I. Most, Most agents, I know, they, they. And I definitely do this. I, I set it up. My, my phrase or how I describe it to the client is listen, it's, we're hiring a home inspector. It's their job to find things wrong with the house. So absolutely, it's gonna like they're there to, to show you everything that's, that could potentially be wrong and what might need to be looked at, you know, in the near or distant future. So don't be scared of it. Like that's, that's how they stay in business is finding things wrong with the house.
[00:09:34] Speaker A: So yeah, if we don't find anything, then that would be, you know, even on new construction, it's almost, it's virtually impossible to have a home inspection. When I don't. When I have a home inspection that's almost perfect, then I, nine times out of ten, it's been inspected more than a couple times. And the listing agent has already hired contractors to nitpick and go through every little thing. So generally that's the only possible way to have. And that's why I really recommend having a pre listing inspection. We do. A lot of those people are like, you know, I'm gonna get my house on the market. The listing agent will say, you know, we can get an inspector out there and it may be two deck boards that are rotted on a deck that can just be swapped, but then the inspector writes it up for the buyer and it's written up as deteriorated deck, safety hazard. And now the buyer asks for a new deck when really you just need it. Under that rug that you have your table out on your deck, there was a few rotted pieces that you didn't know about. But if you had a pre listing inspection, you can really catch a lot of these things ahead of time too.
[00:10:31] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's certainly, it's such a great marketing tool. Honestly, you can say that you have a pre marketing or pre listing inspection, it speaks volumes to buyers.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: Yeah, right. For sure. Yeah. Another thing that we do to try to, to do more of a service to the client about what's major, what's minor, what issues should be addressed is we have a full color coded report. So our report setup is blue with blue font, red font and orange font. Blue font is handyman items, loose outlet cover, little things that could be touched up.
And then red is safety items and then orange would be thousand dollar or more items, major leaks, roof leaks, damaged roofing, things like that. So you're kind of, as you scroll through our report, you know, you're reading most of our report, you know, we got about a 50 page report. Most of our report set up to teach you everything about the house. Here's where the furnaces are, here's where the filters are, the water shut offs. Here's how you turn off your outdoor spigots. You know, just kind of. We take pictures of everything that we look at. But as you're kind of scrolling down, you know you got a large report. When you see a blue, a blue comment, you'll say, oh, this is a little handyman comment. Hey, you know, add some extra weather stripping around the exterior door to prevent a breeze. Just minor little things. And then you'll see a safety item, loose handrail on the deck.
So that way it's just not a lot of information thrown in your face all at one time.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I do, I do appreciate that about your reports. It's very easy to read and under and understand.
We're talking about, like being proactive about explaining to your clients the process of the home inspection. What, what can we do as agents? What should we be looking out for?
[00:12:16] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, it's one of those rules is that you're trying to get the first house under contract and close. You're trying to get under. If as a seller, you're trying to get the first buyer under contract and close, it's like one of those things. I mean, the number one thing that I hate to see is I would say agents really need to learn a lot about appraisals. You know, just up front, you know, VA loan, FHA loan.
Because I've seen this quite a few times and I'm not by any means a real estate professional as far as an agent goes. You know, I'm an investor. I'm a home inspector. I've been home inspector for years, but I'll see. So I try to mention it to some newer agents, but I'll show up to a house and it's got missing shingles. You know, the basement's got water in it and it's got a lot of issues to it, which is fine for somebody that's looking to get a good deal on a house.
But then I ask and they say, oh, this is a VA loan. And I'm like, I don't know. Because then you're going to get through this home inspection process and then now you're going to get nailed with this appraisal. So that, that can be the number one thing. It'd be a FHA loan. And I go around in the backyard and there's shingles completely missing on the roof, which could be fixed, but the appraisal is going to. Going to fail. Yeah, so that's, that would be number one. So the agent, as you're going and you're walking through the house, there's when we have a actual 3 hour CE class called Avoiding the aggravations of a Home Inspection. And it goes over 10 or 15 things that can kill the deal that have nothing to do with me or you that just whether it's the type of piping, lead paint, asbestos, discontinued roofing, electrical.
But yeah, as an agent, you can learn about a few of these things. You know, you really want to look at the house when you go there to show it to the client. My opinion is probably the best idea to go look at the house before you show the client, if you can. If it's vacant, of course. If it's vacant, you know, stick your head up in the attic. It's easy because to find these little things like you stick your head in the attic, there's usually the furnace real close to the door. There could be vermin droppings. If there's vermin droppings, they're usually going to be all around the furnace right there by the door, just because that's where the heat is and that's where the mice and squirrels tend to go. So just little things. And I, I know agents that do a lot of this stuff and it really saves. They'll tell the client, we don't need a home inspection on this, we're going to go to another property. But you know, if you show up and you see a little bit of vermin droppings and you see a little bit of missing shingles, you go in the basement, kind of look around the exterior walls, you see some staining, you see some wetness, there's just a handful of items that you can just check yourself and then it, it really goes over a lot better. The client really loves the house. You let them know about these things like, hey, you know, hey, I noticed that there's some vermin activity. We're going to need to get a pest control inspection. You know, we're going to need to get. The inspector is going to write up some, some stuff or hey, I saw some staining in the basement. We may need to get somebody out here to look. You know, maybe so if you kind of give them a heads up and then I come back behind you and I kind of assure the client just of what you assured them of, everything's kind of falling in place and then we can get the necessary other auxiliary inspections. That we need or you're able just to talk to the client about what they can do when they close.
The biggest thing is walking through and just really kind of doing a mini inspection yourself, you know.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I would recommend as an agent like if especially a newer agent, if you haven't been on a home inspection before, to go and kind of shadow a home inspector.
[00:15:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: On one of your deals. Don't get in the way obviously.
[00:15:35] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: Because they're there for a purpose. They're. You're there to do a job so. But just to kind of, to see what they're looking at and, and you know, get, get a little more first hand experience of what a home inspection is and, and, and does like on premise and it does make it a lot easier and I, I will certainly do that and I do, I do know a lot of agents also that will, that will do that as well as kind. I go in and I'm, I'm looking at different things than the homeowner or the potential buyer is looking at. So they're looking at like, is the, you know, do they like the, the kitchen layout and all that stuff? And I'm looking, I'll open up the cabinets. Is there a polybutylene piping in there? Is there moisture? Is. It is like the bottom of the cabinet soft. Like I'm looking at all this stuff while they're looking at, you know, are the rooms big enough and things like that. So which is good. And I don't, I don't bring it up until, unless they say yeah, I think I really like the way this house is. I was like, okay, well the couple things I'm gonna point out and not, not a deal breaker. Anything can be fixed, you know, with enough money. Like do you want to move forward on it? And a lot of times they say yeah, and now I'm not scared of that. And other times it's, it's a, oh no, I don't even want to, I don't want to start thinking about that. And then, then you move on. So it's, it's like the communication also between you and your client and then you and your home inspector and the home inspector and the client. It's got to be, it's got to be good and it has to be somebody that you trust and you know, meaning a home inspector that you know is going to like work with you as a, as a partner for your client rather than, you know, killing the deal or, or not or worse yet like not inspecting the home. The way they should be inspecting.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Right, right. It's more of a strategic partner outlook. And I was taught that when I've got into this industry by the, by the, the founder of choice home inspections. It's. We're strategic partners in the real estate business. Our job is to assist the real estate agent and the client. Well, because 99 of the time the real estate agent is putting us in front of the client. So we are kind of like an extension of them, Even though we're not connected to them, but we're kind of representing them in a way. And so we try to dress a certain way and we try to kind of look like an agent and we try to. Because we're kind of an extension of them. The way we talk, if we say something that is off the wall or if something comes up different than that could reflect negatively on the agent. So it's more of a strategic partner of, hey, my buyer found this beautiful house. They're going to raise their family in it. This is great. Can you come and check it out and make sure everything's great for them? Boom. I get over there, I check everything out. It's not my job to get over there and just destroy the house just because my job is to be a home inspector and inspect every little thing. My job is to be like, okay, is this a good house? And it comes along with experience too. You know, if you seen 2 or 3001980 built homes, then it's a lot easier to gauge, okay, is this house been taken care of or is this just normal maintenance items or is this house been like not taken care of very well?
But definitely, definitely being a part of it, being looking at it with the state of mind of a strategic partner, being able to explain things to it. I think that that's the best outlook to have between inspector, an agent and I think agents. Another great thing for them to do would be look over as many home inspection reports as they can. You know, start from the beginning. Don't skip over anything you just. Because if you notice, if somebody, if you were to call an inspector and say, send me 10 reports, they'll send you 10 different houses. And as you go through, you're going to notice about 50 or 60% of the items are all the same, you know, pans, underwater heaters, different little things that just constantly come up and you're going to start to be able to, be able to, to normalize some of these, these things. Because I'll have agents that have been doing real estate for a couple years and Then you know, a pan's missing under a water heater in the garage. And they'll say, is this a big deal? Is this a big deal? Is this a big deal? And I can tell that the agent has no idea. Yeah, but I'm like, you haven't seen enough reports. Like, you haven't actually talked to enough inspectors. You haven't showed up to enough inspections to actually know. And that's what's going to make you the best agent is like, oh, me? I've seen tons of inspection reports. This is not normal. So you'll be able to point it right out. Like, this is not normally in a report, you know, and that's gonna make you good.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a very good point, is getting to know the home inspection reports and getting to know what, what you'll. You'll start to know, like, the different. Like the different decades, what's happening. Like, if I go, if I show a house that was built in the early 90s in Fayette County, I'm looking for polybutylene piping for sure.
[00:20:09] Speaker A: Right.
[00:20:09] Speaker B: And then. But if it was built in, you know, I don't know, 2000, then I'm not. I'm. I know it's not going to be in there. So just little things like that you start to get used to, and you're just a little bit more prepared to represent your client and. And communicate with your client, like the potential issues and in conjunction with the home inspector. So it's pretty.
[00:20:30] Speaker A: Right.
[00:20:31] Speaker B: I have a question, though, because we mentioned, you know, you mentioned foundation, I think, a few minutes ago in the report. Something that can be frustrating for clients.
They'll see in the report, home inspector recommends further inspection, referring to a more specialized trade to come in and look at it. So foundation is one. Heating and air conditioning tends to be quite frequent.
[00:20:54] Speaker A: What.
[00:20:55] Speaker B: A, why is that in there, first of all? Um, and. And B, like, is that something that is.
Like, how do we know the difference if it's. If it's something that we should really get someone in here to look at that H VAC equipment, or is it just on there to kind of as for, like liability, like cover. Cover things on your end?
[00:21:14] Speaker A: Well, yeah. So, I mean, there's a few things. Yeah, the foundation stuff. So a lot of this stuff that we. That's recommended, have an expert come look at would be there's a higher chance of future issues. So whenever there's like a lot higher chance, like. So with the foundation guy, you're going to recommend a qualified contractor A qualified foundation specialist come evaluate this very large foundation crack or differential movement. Whenever the walls crack, it may be a little crack, but if it's moved in or out a little bit because you just can't determine in a one time visit if this is going to be a future problem or if this is currently going.
So if you just get your average handyman to come over there, grind the crack and seal it, most likely in the future, potentially in the future it may not, but it could just break right back open and continue to. It actually could be a current thing. So it's more of a specialized thing because specialized foundation company is always going to provide a warranty with their work. They're going to say hey, this is either a lifetime warranty or a 10 year warranty. And that's why it's so expensive because they kind of factor in, you know, if future issues were to come up. So it can be a little bit more expensive with the heat and air.
Yeah, you can really have a handyman come and really do a lot of damage to a unit, wiring stuff around, moving stuff around.
So it's like I tell buyers all the time, like if sellers will have a certified professional come out and fix the heat in there, that's great. If they're just going to fix it, you may just want to ask for $500 to have a service and then you can hire a guy to do the service. It's always better if you're going to be in the home for the next 20 years and there's these few issues, maybe you can kind of negotiate them a little bit more. But it may be better for you to be fully involved and it's not. And that way you can get the full report from the foundation guy, the full report from the heat and air guy. Same with the roofer. If somebody comes up there and repairs some shingles, there won't be any type of warranty to protect the client in the future. It'll just be to get the deal to close. Yeah, so it's, that'd be more of a disservice to the client. But yeah, like you know, tile showers and bathrooms and like just fixing leaks under sinks, like smaller items that you can pick up the phone and call a handyman.
But yeah, major electrical issues, foundation issues, roofing, heating and air.
Those are the four or five things. And like I was saying on the original walkthrough, like when you go look at the house, the first thing you do is you're walking around the exterior walls and you're trying to see, does this have a lot of damaged siding? Does this have a lot of damage roofing? It only takes one circle.
And then when you're going in, first thing I do would be checking that attic. And then like you're saying, check up under all the sinks.
And then if it's got a crawl space or a basement, you want to check for moisture. Just like open the door, shut a light in the crawl space, or just look in the basement. Because those are going to be the things that could stop up a deal. Because there's a lot of times where I send an inspection report, the lender wants to see the report, you know, and that I've had lenders reach out to me and say, hey, there was no water in the basement at the time of inspection, but there was a lot of staining all over the walls that I saw a photo of in the report. So we can't close this loan unless you send us an email saying that there's never going to be water in that basement again.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: And so I love those lenders.
[00:24:26] Speaker A: I'm like, I'm like, so this basement killed this deal with this particular lender.
And I can't send an email saying it's never going to leak again.
[00:24:35] Speaker B: So of course.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: So that's another thing you want to look out for too, because even if the inspector says, oh, this is a past leak, I can see where they fix the drainage out front and everything. And then we actually get through that whole process. Boom. Either appraisal fails it or the lender fails it now. So that would have been something you could have caught from the beginning. And if you did catch, at least the client would feel really secure as far as my agent knows what they're doing. Because my agent brought this up the first day we saw the house. And now here we are a week from closing and we can't close now because of it. But at least, uh, they feel like they're working with a well educated agent that, that did see it as an issue from the beginning.
[00:25:11] Speaker B: A hundred percent. Yeah. No, I'm going to make a quick plug because you, you brought up like working with a lender and all that stuff. So you're going to be at our event coming up on February 6th, and you'll be, you'll, you're going to be on a panel with a lender. And this is one of the things I'm going to, I'm going to kind of pull out of all you guys.
Before we go any further, I got to give you a Verbal save the date for February 6, 2025 the Real Estate Collaborative Network is hosting a huge one day event on the south side. Dustin Brome of the Massive Agent Society and Neil Mathwig, founder of Agent Rise, two powerhouse industry leaders together for the first time here in Atlanta. Unlock the game changing strategies as you learn firsthand the proven tactics they use to drive success in today's market. So whether you're looking to scale your business or stay ahead in this constantly changing environment, this is your chance to gain insights from the best in the business. Link is in the show notes or go to events.realestate collaborativenetwork.com to register. The best part is it's absolutely free. So you've got nothing to lose. I'll see you there is the like deal killers and things like that. So I'm excited. We'll talk more about. I haven't given you much detail on. I'm kind of throwing this on you. But, but that's. So if you're listening out there and you want to dig into more of this, we have a great event on February 6th. It's called Build a massive real estate business you love. I got some great speakers coming in from out of town but before that to kind of to open the show, so to speak, Andrew's going to be on a panel contract to close building a circle of success. So really having, it's about what we've been talking about here is having a great relationship with your home inspector, with a lender, with a foundation guy, a septic guy, a closing attorney. Like having those relationships and building rapport and a line of communication. Like all those people have to communicate with each other. And I know and trust Andrew that you do 100%. And the other folks on the panel will as well. So just wanted to plug that in if you want a more if you're listening, you want to hear more about this which I highly recommend come to the event because Andrew's going to be on the panel to kind of kick us off there.
[00:27:21] Speaker A: So awesome.
[00:27:22] Speaker B: Thanks for that. Yeah, appreciate that. For sure. So let me, let me ask you this. Let's shift gears a little bit kind of on the lighter side, lighting things up a little bit. What's the most unusual thing that you've ever seen at a, at a home inspection?
[00:27:35] Speaker A: The most unusual thing, man, there's a lot of things I would say some of the, some of the most shocked I've been is out of state investors will find a property online but it's not really that property. It's a lot of other pictures. So it'll be like in different condos in like south Atlanta or like inside the city. There'll be like different townhome type condos and it'll be like the one next to it. And so they post it all online, it's for sale, It's a good deal and all that. But when I show up, it's got boarded up windows and doors and like all the windows are busted out. There's like 15 people living in it. So I've showed up, I've started inspections before and then go into a room and see like five or six people like passed out on a floor with like drugs and, and, and kids and, and, and just be like, oh my goodness. And then the investor have no idea. Already have earnest money down and everything. So that's happened.
The most unusual thing would probably comes to mind. It was in Atlanta. It was a 2,000 square foot brick ranch. Oh well, it was on a basement and all the plumbing, it was down in a hole. And all the plumbing went down through the basement. It went into a sewage pump. And then the sewage pump pumped it up hill to the sewer. So everything was controlled by the sewage pump in the middle of the basement. And there was tenants living in the property.
The homeowner was getting ready to sell the property, put it up for sale. The tenants got upset that he put it up for sale. So they went down to the basement and they unplugged the sewage pump. And so this was for about two months, two or three months.
In the meantime, they were just. There was a family of like seven living upstairs. And they're just using every shower, every toilet they flush. Everything is going down in the basement. It's not pumping out, so it's just overflowing. It's all carpet. It's all finished space down there. So I show up to do the home inspection with the first time home buyers. So these are first time home buyers, probably about 25 years old. And then the landlord, the seller, and we all show up there together and the seller's like, yeah, these tenants, they're not very happy with me, so we'll see how this goes. And so I go in, they're like, come on in. No, they were so excited for us to be there.
[00:29:58] Speaker B: Yes. Because they had a nice surprise.
[00:30:00] Speaker A: Right, right. They had this big surprise. So they're showing me all around and they're. So the buyers and the landlord are standing at the front door and she's like, come on down to the basement. And so when I go down the basement, there's. It's probably 15 steps to go down. The sewage was probably 30 inches maybe. It was up a few of the steps. All carpet. There was stuff, floating kids, toys, pillows. I've never seen anything like it. It was probably 1200 square foot down there. Completely black. Water, sewage.
[00:30:29] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:30:29] Speaker A: When she opened that door, I was like. And so I went back out there and I had to explain it. That was probably the most severe thing I've ever seen in my life.
[00:30:38] Speaker B: Wow, that's crazy. That is very unusual.
[00:30:42] Speaker A: I've never seen anything like that still to this day. Besides like, you know, hoarders and things like that. I've still never seen sewage like that in someone's own home.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: You know, I imagine they did not buy the house.
[00:30:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I have no idea. I know that I did the upstairs and I sent the report and I'm not sure. I think the landlord took them to court, I'm sure.
[00:31:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Wow, that's crazy.
[00:31:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:31:07] Speaker B: That's a good story though.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: So, yeah, I've got tons of them. I've got tons of them. As far as hoarders, we've done. I've probably done about 20 or 30 hoarder houses where like you couldn't even get into the living room.
[00:31:17] Speaker B: Really.
[00:31:17] Speaker A: The seller, I mean the buyer would have all their family over there making trails for me to go around and look for termite damage and stuff like that. So yeah, I've definitely seen, I've seen entire rooms full of like gallon jugs of urine and things like that. Like the entire 200 square foot rooms to the ceiling.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:31:35] Speaker A: Things like that. And those people, those are investors. They're still buying these houses too. So I'm actually bought for myself, honestly, so.
[00:31:41] Speaker B: Well, hey, I mean it's. You get a good deal, right?
[00:31:44] Speaker A: Yeah, get a great deal.
[00:31:45] Speaker B: It limits the buyers, that's for sure, man.
[00:31:48] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah.
[00:31:49] Speaker B: So it doesn't just happen on, on reality television. It only happens in, in real life.
[00:31:54] Speaker A: You'll be shocked by the way that people can live now.
[00:31:57] Speaker B: I need a shower after listening to that story. One more, one more question here. Are there any trends in construction that you've seen lately that might be causing it, causing an issue potentially down the road? Well, it's kind of a loaded question or kind of a broad question, but.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: Well, one, one overall thing is they're making homes so energy efficient nowadays. They're, they're like tight, they're. They can't breathe at all. They're not, you know, it's it used to, they used to be a little bit more breathable. Which, you know, drafty homes and stuff like that. People don't want that obviously, but that ox that obviously that does give it a little bit more of a chance to ventilate.
But yeah. So I, I do see some issues coming up with how, how much they're sealing everything up. And then you got the spray foam in the attic and the spray foam in the attic sealing is great. It's, it's do it, doing the whole attic, it creates, you know, if you do the crawl space and you do the attic, it creates one envelope.
But then the air exchange becomes really important. As far as your heat and air, you really need to have really efficient heat and air systems that are going to be supposed to pull out. You have to have four or five air changes per hour. So you're supposed to have brand new air in your home four or five times every hour when your system's running that. That's what it needs to be on a really efficient home.
So I do see an issue with mold growth and some stuff like that. You get a leak in a wall, it tends to be a little bit more severe. Mold tends to thrive a little bit better with these higher energy efficient homes. And then having the spray foam applied, the temperature and humidity is very important.
So I've seen a lot of issues coming up and I've been to some seminars about this, but I've seen a lot of issues coming up where people are going in the attics and they're sticking their finger in the spray foam and it's like cake mix in the middle. It's like still goo and it's like it's not hardened out.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: And so it's actually still emitting a toxic chemical when it's in that, that liquid state. When it hasn't foamed out and completely dried out, it's actually still emit. So I've done several inspections for mold testing where people have terrible migraines, they have terrible sinus issues, they're having these issues. And then we do the mold test. Nothing comes back high. But come to find out they're having a reaction to that chemical.
And it all starts with the temperature and humidity in the attic when they apply the spray foam. So can't always help when the house was built, all these different things. But it is something you can check when you go do an inspection.
[00:34:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:31] Speaker A: You know, it's hard to check everywhere, but I always will kind of slide something and when you pull it out, it'll be wet on it. So that's, that's one big problem with it's. I mean it's awesome how energy efficient all these homes are. I mean that's great. But there is a little bit of an issue with air quality. Especially if you don't have, you know, you got a bedroom upstairs somewhere and you don't have a good undercut under the door or the returns not pulling air out of it. That one room can go lack of air pretty easily with how efficient everything is.
So that's an issue. And then the actual spray foam itself not fully curing properly, which it can be redone. It's not, you know, especially during the home building process. You go up there when your home's being built or when you, you know, that's when you can catch it the easiest. But a lot of people, it's slipping by. So I'd say the number one thing is making sure if you do have spray foam added to your home that you have a full warranty. You, you, you pay for the full lifetime warranty of the foam.
[00:35:34] Speaker B: That's good, that's good advice. I didn't know that. I was not aware of that. I just learned something for sure. So if it's, if it doesn't cure properly, it's a com. You gotta redo it. It won't like eventually cure.
[00:35:46] Speaker A: No, as far as that because it's, it hardens on the outside and then it creates that insulation barrier and now it's just goo in the middle. And that admits that actually has an admission.
[00:35:58] Speaker B: Huh. And how it can. Is that easily identifiable or is that something that you have to like probe it or what?
[00:36:03] Speaker A: Yeah, you'd probe it. Hire a contractor. You could call a guy that does spray foam and you could have them come check yours. Okay. I see it happen a lot. Not really on new construction as much because I do have a little bit more quality control. But it can happen on people that just, they decide they want to have their home done and they're like, this is the new thing. And they're calling somebody to come out and it. Because it mixes at the gun, at the nozzle. So you got the chemical and then you got another chemical. And as they spray out, they mix as they spray as they intersect. And if the temperature and humidity aren't right around the atmosphere, right around it is not correct. Which people go out there in 25 degree weather like we are in now, and they'll go spray in that attic and it's just not going to mix. So that's a problem. Uh, so as a homeowner, you can learn more about it if you go online, but it'd be a good idea to tell your builder to bring it up. Or if you're gonna have it done, make sure you do it during, you know, low humidity and then you got actual hot temperature.
[00:37:01] Speaker B: Gotcha.
[00:37:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:03] Speaker B: Yeah. That's a lot low humidity around here. There's not much, much time in the summer.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: It's hard to actually have done. It's not as easy as just, hey, we're gonna have it done next week, like you can. And it might work out fine, but I've just seen a lot of cases where it's not and there's not. I'm sure they're going to figure out some type of additive to put to it to make this not happen, but I know there's going to be some lawsuits here if there. I think there already is.
[00:37:27] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay.
[00:37:29] Speaker A: People having to get their entire roofs torn off.
[00:37:31] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:37:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:32] Speaker B: That's not. That's a. Yeah.
[00:37:34] Speaker A: Because, you know, specific types of roofing, the hot, more high end luxury roofing, you can't just scrape it off from the inside. It's actually. We're gonna have to take off the door decking. Normal roofs. Yeah. You're just scraping it. And I've been to houses where I'll tell you a story real quick. So this was kind of a catastrophic story for this lady, but she spent about 750,000 on new construction. They moved in. She's having all type of health issues from the spray foam. Come to find out, it was cake mixy in there and it was gooey. So they hired somebody to come out and scrape all of it off.
But in the meantime, they were going to put insulation, you know, normally in the sealant. Just spray foam. I mean, just spray and spray and fiberglass. Yeah. But you know, when you insulate an attic now, you can run all your plumbing through the attic because it's fully insulated. So when she was, she removed everything during the winter. Two weeks later, all her pipes in her attic busted. It flooded her entire home.
[00:38:25] Speaker B: Oh, wow.
[00:38:26] Speaker A: So if you remove the spray foam, you've got to get a new unit, the new heat and air system, because it's a different type of system. And you're also going to have to redo some plumbing. So it's just a big thing to look out for when you're purchasing a new construction more than anything. Gotcha. And definitely want to do your research before you call somebody and have your home that you already live in. Done.
[00:38:45] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:45] Speaker A: You can cause some other problems.
[00:38:47] Speaker B: We can sit here and talk about that all day, I'm sure. But that I just learned something. Thank you for that. I'm sure a lot of people that are listening, a lot of agents that are listening learn that as well.
[00:38:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:38:56] Speaker B: So that's, that's certainly something to really consider when you're, when you're looking at new construction. One of the questions I was going to ask you, but I think he answered it right there is like, should we get a, should we have an inspector? I know the answer. Should we hire an inspector even if the home is brand new, was just built?
Yeah.
[00:39:15] Speaker A: I say absolutely, yes. But number one because, well, you can find, you could find something super major, but that's the main reason. But number two, the builder fixes almost everything that you find. So there's just not a reason not to do it. It's like, yeah, you do have a year warranty, but do you really want to move in and then file under your warranty? This cabinet door is broken and then this faucet's loose and hey, my glass door, my master shower. That quite clip. You really want to move in in your brand new home and submit all these claims to your one year. Not really. When your builder will literally tie all these things up before closing. You know, as long as he does, as long as he feels that he was done right during the inspection, he will he or she, 99% of the time cover everything on the report.
[00:39:57] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, for sure. And there is some.
[00:40:02] Speaker A: I'm sorry, go ahead.
[00:40:04] Speaker B: There's some. Sometimes, you know, somebody's not paying attention. It might be a subcontractor in there that installs something incorrectly. So it's always good to have.
[00:40:12] Speaker A: One thing that I come across on new construction would be entire walls of outlets that are not hooked up.
This random hot water line never got connected.
Small things. The water shut offs inside the garage wall, but they never cut it out and actually put a cover there. Just all these.
Yeah. Little things that just get left off. Not usually major things, but I've gotten into the attic before and seen whole areas of a house that didn't have insulation.
I've got into a bonus room attic where you know, you have a vaulted ceiling in a bonus room on the second floor. Crawl over the top and look on the other side and the whole other side is not insulated.
Yeah. And just somebody just left it off. It's not on purpose. So it's always A good idea to have it on new construction. I find tons of things on a new construction.
[00:40:55] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I've had clients that have said, oh, it's new construction. We don't have to get an inspection. I'm not going to waste the money. I'm like, it's, trust me, it's, you know, if you get it and you don't find anything, great. But it's. It's cheap insurance, that's for sure, to know what's going on.
[00:41:12] Speaker A: You'd be better off not getting an inspection on a house that's a year or two old that somebody moved into, because now they tested it. You know what I mean? Like, once you build something brand new, nobody's actually tested it, lived in it, ran showers and tubs and dishwashers and, you know, and had to deal with all the little things to touch up because, I mean, that's just the way construction is. But when you buy a house, like, there's a lot of times people buy a brand new home built in 2022, their job got transferred, and then in 2023, they're selling it and then you move in. It's a beautiful home. And, you know, I, I would, I would not get an inspection on that home before. I wouldn't get an inspection on a new construction.
[00:41:45] Speaker B: Right.
[00:41:45] Speaker A: Because, you know, people, they're gonna. They're gonna miss something on a new construction.
[00:41:49] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure.
Yeah. Well, cool, man. Thanks so much for coming on. I'm looking forward to seeing you on February 6th at the Post Barn in Fayetteville. That's gonna be fun. And is there anything, Anything. I didn't ask you that I should have. You want to add anything to. To it?
[00:42:06] Speaker A: No, no. I'm looking forward to the event. You know, I. I enjoy being around other people that, that want to be strategic partners and want to talk about real estate and talk. Talk about crazy stuff that we've all seen and all kinds of stories. That's my favorite.
[00:42:17] Speaker B: Nice. Yeah, there's gonna be a lot of that there, for sure. So. Cool. All right, Andrew, well, thanks so much. We'll see you in the next inspection.
[00:42:24] Speaker A: Yes, sir. Hey, and if you guys want to find out more about choice, you can just go on Instagram. Just choice home inspections. That's. That's where we primarily post all of our stuff. I got a lot of reels on there that show. All kinds of silly, funny stuff that I've come across.
[00:42:34] Speaker B: Awesome. Yeah, good. Good point. And I will have that stuff in the show notes, so link to your Instagram, a link to the website.
Way to contact you that I'll be all in the show notes there for sure.
[00:42:44] Speaker A: So. Perfect. Well, hey, I'll see you at the event.
[00:42:46] Speaker B: Sounds good.
