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Let’s talk about Geologic Inspections when buying a home.

Most people think that if they are buying a hillside home that they must have a Geologic Inspection, but if they are buying a home “in the flats” somewhere, they don’t need one. Right?

Wrong.

Many hillside locations are actually very stable because of the shallow depth of the bedrock. But homes in the flats are often located in an ancient dry riverbed, or flood channel. When that is the case the home may be subject to what is known as “liquefaction”. Liquefaction occurs when an earthquake causes the earth to shake so much that is becomes more like a liquid, than a solid. The dirt gets shaken to the point of being of a soft consistency, and any homes located there can settle, crack or suffer other damage.

The best way to determine if a home is in a liquefaction zone, is to hire a reputable Geologic Inspector. Sometimes a home is located in an area that has suffered landslides in the past. A Geo Inspector will let you know if that is the case.

The two Geo guys that my clients have been happiest with are Larry Parmelee at Parmelee Geology (819-889-0762), and Vince Carnegie at Geosystems (818-500-9533). They both rock. Get it? Rock?

Larry is the consummate pro who is precise with his information and investigations. Vince is the guy who seems to be part of the land. He loves hiking and spending time in nature and has seen more landscape than anyone I know. They both know their job, and are passionate about doing it right. And they are two of the nicest, most brilliant guys I know.

Typically, your Geologist will need a few days of advanced notice to do their homework prior to actually walking the property in question. They will need to pull the records and maps that pertain to the location of the home. These records and maps have been compiled over the years by thorough investigations, and aerial surveys and mapping. Areas are routinely photographed from the air, and the photos compared to previous photos from the archive.

A good Geologic Inspector will have access to vast amounts of information about any given area.

After they finish their initial evaluation, they will need to see the property. This will involve walking around to look at indicators of bedrock, old landslides, etc. They check the homes for cracks and settling, signs of poor drainage, erosion, etc. Then they make a bunch of notes, and spend a day or two writing their report. They do an immense amount of work for about $1,000-$1,500.

And in the event a Buyer is planning to do any additions to a home after they buy it, geologic reports will be required prior to permits being finalized by the City.

Spending the money on a Geologic Inspection will give a Buyer valuable information that will serve them well when it comes time to sell later on. You simply won’t know if the home you re thinking about buying has any Geologic issues unless you consult a professional.

So if you are Buying a home in the Southern California area, call Vince or Larry and have them check out your dirt.

See you in the next installment of this ongoing series on Home Inspections.

Two things are true about Mold. Mold is caused by dampness and Mold needs food to live. Mold food is stuff like wood, drywall, particle board, cardboard, etc. If any of those substances get wet, and stay wet, mold can grow.

Before you get scared about mold understand that Mold is just about everywhere, and there are about a bazillion types of Mold. I have been told by Mold Inspectors that any house with carpet has Mold. Have you ever noticed those dark stains in the shower or bathtub? When I was a kid that was called “Mildew”, and it is a form of Mold. Open the door to an old house that has been closed up for a while and you will smell “mustiness”. That, too, is the smell of Mold. Mold is all around us.

People freak out about Mold but it has been with us since the beginning of time, and we need good Mold. But there are a couple of forms of Bad Mold that can be very detrimental to health. These Molds can cause things like respiratory problems, skin lesions and such. Stachybotrys is commonly called “Toxic Black Mold”, or just “Black Mold” and it is one of the “Bad Molds”. Usually, getting rid of the Mold will get rid of the affliction caused by it. Mold is not the end of the world, but you will want to get rid of any “Bad Mold”.

There is another particular type of a fungus that is extremely damaging to wood homes called Meruliporia (Poria) Incrassata, but commonly just called “Poria”. This is a fungus that gets inside the wood framing of a home and just goes crazy. It is rare, but is easily transmitted from one place to another. It looks almost like a white mushroom type of thing growing on the wood. When you get a Wood Destroying Pest report (termite report) it may mention a “fungus” on the wood. Specialized testing is necessary to know if it is Poria. And if it IS Poria, it is crucial to get rid of it.

When hiring a Mold Inspector, be very careful. The hype surrounding Mold has lead to a lot of unscrupulous people getting into the business so they can prey upon the fears of people. One Mold Inspector that I have used and who is very precise and non-inflammatory is Scott Trimingham. His company is called “Indoor Air”, and he just reports what he sees and what he finds. First, he looks for signs of water leaks or water intrusion, because Mold needs a water source in order to live. If he sees signs of water intrusion he then recommends air sample testing.

Air sampling is when a small sample of air is taken from a few places inside and outside of the home. Those samples are then tested, and compared against each other to determine the types of Mold, and the concentrations of Mold.

If you have tested for Mold and believe that a Mold Remediation (Removal) is warranted, check around for reputable companies to do the work. Too many scam artists out there.

If you are buying a home and want to check for Mold, please give Scott Trimingham or another certified Mold inspector a call. Scott can be reached at 310-539-2224.

Check in for our next post in this series…..

Last year, I was lucky enough to see the The Doors, the epic rock group from the 60’s, perform an hour set at the Roxy. To see Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger on that small stage performing and sharing stories about touring with Jim Morrison was the coolest thing.  I grew up listening to The Doors and I’ve got to tell you, there is no way in a million years I ever thought I would see them perform in such an intimate setting.  It was truly incredible.

Recently, I had the chance to meet up with the club’s manager Jason Decosta. We discussed what the Roxy is all about and what it has to offer.  Enjoy this video of our conversation.

For more information and to see what is coming up, check out the website. http://theroxyonsunset.com.

Have you been to the Roxy? What are your favorite music venues in LA? Please leave your comments below.

Part 4, The Value of Inspections.

You have done a General Home Inspection, Chimney Inspection and a Sewer/Septic inspection. So what is next? Well, here in California the rainy season is right around the corner, so how about a Roof Inspection?

Suppose the General Inspector done an inspection and has noted some areas on the roof that are either dried out, worn, damaged, or maybe show signs of water pooling? Maybe some of the roof joists in the attic show signs of past water stains? There could be a variety of reasons for an inspector to recommend a roof inspection. That is enough reason to have a roofer tell you how it looks, and let you know how many years it may have left.

A high quality roof can last for a LONG time. There are standard Composition Shingle roofs now that have 25 year warranties. A Spanish Tile roof might last for upwards of 50 years. Flat roofs that are most common on Mid Century, Architectural and Contemporary style homes are especially prone to wear and tear because water can easily “puddle” on top of them. Knowing the roof condition will allow you to negotiate with the Seller for a suitable repair or credit. The small cost of a Roof Inspection will give you valuable information to use in your negotiation.

Some basic background on roof maintenance should be in your brain when you start doing inspections. For a basic composition shingle roof, you are allowed to have 3 layers of roofing material. So when you are buying a home and see what looks like several layers of shingles already on the roof, be on notice that putting on a new roof may entail removing all of the old roof layers, which increases the cost. Talk to your inspector about that. If the roof only has a single layer of shingles, you should be able to put a new layer on top of the old one, which saves you a bunch of money.

Water is invasive, so do everything possible to keep it out of your home. Having a great roof is your first line of defense.

Last winter my wife called me to tell me that water was dripping onto our couch (it was raining outside). She got a bucket under it right away, but if she had not been home the sofa would have been ruined in short order. Turns out we had a small area of dried out mastic around a piece of metal flashing. Our contractor fixed it for $50. Much cheaper than new furniture and water damage remediation.

And once water gets into the structure, you will probably have some mold. Check back tomorrow to learn more about mold.

In the process of buying your new home you have already completed your General Home Inspection, as well as the Chimney inspection that I spoke about in parts 1 and 2. This time I’ll discus Sewer and Septic inspections.

One of the things that your General Home Inspector will not be able to advise you about is the waste removal system which may be either a Septic Tank, or Sewer Line to the City. The Sewer line is one of those “forgotten systems”, until it goes wrong. The inspector may notice that sinks and tubs drain slowly and that may be all they can see to indicate plugged or damaged sewer lines.

Some homes in L.A. will be on sewer and some on septic, and in rare instances, both. Some older homes were originally on septic and when the city came through with sewer lines they connected them to the home. Once In a while the plumber got lazy and just installed an over flow from the septic tank into the sewer.

Most often the homes in L.A. will be on city sewer. Malibu, parts of Brentwood, parts of Bel Air and parts of the Hollywood Hills will still be on septic tanks, though.

The big concern with sewer lines is that maintaining the line from the house to the connection with the city is the homeowner’s responsibility. So a cracked or damaged sewer line might end up costing thousands of dollars to fix or replace for a new home owner.

And a home on a septic tank needs periodic maintenance so that it remains in good shape and working as designed. Septic tanks in L.A. are NOT cheap. The rest of the country can have one installed for about $3,500 but here it will be more like $35,000! Or more. Ouch!

Most of the time a sewer line will only have some tree root intrusions that need to be “rootered” away or “hydro-jetted”. But when the sewer line needs to ne replaced it is best for the Buyer to know it in advance. Sewer lines can crack, separate, crush, collapse, and just plain degrade. The old ones might be clay pipe, or cast iron. Both are easily damaged.

Hiring a reputable sewer line inspector pays off. They have tiny cameras that they run through the line to look for problems. They can also track where the sewer line runs so that you know not to put a driveway or something over it. Tremendous peace of mind for a couple of hundred dollars.

And if the home is on a hillside, does the sewer line run down to the street below, or up to the street above? If it is up, it gets pumped up, and the home needs a set of sewage ejector pumps. Usually two pumps on line with a third in backup mode. These pumps only last a couple of years, so having the backup is imperative. Then get them re-built and re-installed.

Often times a cracked sewer line van be re-lined without digging up the whole property. But if new pipes are required it will be expensive, and invasive. Digging a deep trench from the house to the street will be required.

Do a sewer line inspection when buying so that you can negotiate with the Seller for repairs or replacement. It will cost a couple of hundred dollars, but may save you thousands.

Don’t wait until the whole family is at your home for the Holidays to discover you have a sewer line problem. Get it inspected now.

Stay tuned for another tip in this ongoing series of reasons to inspect a home when buying.

OK, so you are buying a home and have completed a General Home Inspection as your first step.

When you were at the General Home Inspection with the inspector and your agent, the inspector mentioned that they were unable to do more than a cursory inspection of the chimneys by using a flashlight. Hmmm….

Do you really want to spend the money to have a chimney expert look at the chimneys for you? I say “YES!”. Even if the Seller says they have burned fires in the chimney for “20+ years” you should inspect them.

Why? Today’s chimney inspections are done using a long pole with a camera and light at the end. They show all the flaws, defects, cracks, separations, etc…

Most older chimneys are made of bricks and mortar. Mortar cracks easily, and maybe in the last 20+ years there have been some earthquakes? Maybe some trucks rumbling by the house? Any shaking can cause cracking eventually.

Cracking lets super hot exhaust gases seep from the chimney into the walls surrounding the chimney. Eventually they can get hot enough to cause a fire. And even if no cracks are visible, a chimney inspector will tell you if the chimney is working properly. One that is too high may allow carbon monoxide to settle back into the house through the fireplace. Very bad.

A reputable chimney inspector will use a camera on the end of a long pole and look for cracks or separations inside the chimney that a “flashlight inspection” will not reveal. It may also show any code violations and such that are not visible from below.

But hire a chimney inspector that does not do repair work. Why? Another good question. Because an inspector who only does inspections has no vested interest in finding problems. They get paid for the inspection and nothing more.

Many years ago I had a listing and it went into and back out of escrow several times because the (so called reputable) chimney inspectors kept saying the house needed a new chimney ($8,500-$12,000 estimates) and the Seller refused to give the Buyers a credit. Finally, we went into escrow again and the Buyer had a chimney inspector do an inspection with a camera on a pole (the first one I had ever seen at that time)

Guess what? NO cracks at all. The chimney was in perfect shape. I was amazed, because the previous chimney inspectors were all from large, well known companies. Companies that BUILT chimneys. Aha…

But what if the house you are buying has a chimney with a sheet metal pipe instead of brick? Well, sheet metal bends and separates. Plus, the metal pipe sections sleeve together in sections to create a high enough chimney. And every once in a while those metal sleeves are installed upside down, creating tiny cracks every few feet that allow the previously mentioned “hot gas” to escape and potentially cause fires. I know that because it happened to me once when my clients were buying a home. We received a sizeable credit from the Sellers on that one because the whole chimney needed to be torn down and rebuilt.

And sometimes the chimney is not tall enough to meet code requirements. Maybe the architect built it according to design aesthetics, but it is not tall enough?

All that really matters is that, if you are buying a home, have the chimneys inspected during your “due diligence” period. If corrective work is required, you may be able to negotiate with the Seller to get it handled. If the chimneys need work, once you notify the Seller of said work, they will need to disclose the damage to any other potential Buyers if you decide to cancel the escrow. They are better off giving you a credit and moving ahead with your sale.

If you want any more info, please let me know.

And if you have questions or comments about home inspections, post them here.

Also keep checking here to see more updates about Home Inspections and Investigations. Maybe we will discus the riveting world of “sewer line inspections” next time?

Here in the Palisades, there are currently:

• 138 homes actively for sale on the market
• 40 homes that are in escrow
• 61 homes that have been sold in the last 3 months.
• From those 61 homes sold, the average square feet are approximately 3,450 and the median price is $1,900,000.

Looking at the Riviera neighborhood in the Palisades, there are currently:

• 20 homes actively for sale on the market
• 3 homes that are in escrow
• 3 sold in the last 3 months.
• The average square feet of those homes sold is 5,053 and the median price is $5,205,600.

Now, keeping all of that in mind, do you think the median sales price for the Pacific Palisades went down since this time last year?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANMgconmDH0

The median sales price actually went up from $1,700,000 to $2,200,000.

Despite the regional trend towards lower sales prices, the Pacific Palisades have defied the odds and the median sales price has gone up.  What do you think of this trend? Live in the Palisades and have questions about the market? Please leave your comment below or contact me directly.

Buyers sometimes ask me why they need to do a home inspection, especially if they are planning to do a bunch of work on the home they buy.

Great question.

In our current real estate market, a large number of home sales are either bank foreclosure properties or short sales. Either way, the odds are high that the house will be a “fixer” because the previous owner was not in a financial position to maintain the property.

There are no disclosures regarding property condition if it is a foreclosure sale, because the “bank” never lived in the property. Short sale sellers must give full disclosure, but may be in a very stressful situation and not as diligent as a buyer would want.

Are you with me so far?

So in a world of “buyer beware” it is very important for buyers to check out what they are buying.

The California Purchase Contract mentions, in more than one place, that the buyers need to protect themselves. The Buyers Inspection Advisory and the Statewide Buyers and Sellers Advisory, which are part of the Purchase Contract, each outline the items that a buyer should have investigated.

The first inspection that the buyer is advised to conduct is a “General Inspection.” This is a standard home inspection, usually performed by someone who is certified by CREIA, The California Real Estate Inspection Association. When you hire a home inspector, ask them about their background, experience, and certifications.

A general inspector will look over the property for obvious defects and known code violations. If they see something that does not look right, such as a worn roof for instance, they will recommend that a licensed roofing contractor be called out to give their opinions. Make sense?

If they notice that the heating and air conditioning, pool, electrical, plumbing, or any other systems don’t work or need repairs they will recommend that the specialist be called to say for sure, or just to give an estimate.

The general inspector is like going to see a family doctor: they will let you know if you need to go to a “specialist.”

It may be a good idea to do a general inspection as soon as possible after opening escrow, and then call in the specialists to give more detailed reports and cost of repair estimates, as needed.

Stay tuned and we will post more specific investigations that buyers often have performed when buying a new home.

Are you in the market to buy a home and had an inspector check out a house you were interested in? Did you find value in the inspection? Did it help you make a decision on whether or not to put an offer on the home?  Feel free to leave a comment in the field below!