Posted by on Aug 13, 2014 in Uncategorized |

How To Inspect a Property – Part 1

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Below is the text of what was said in the video.

As a property management company we get management from a lot of investors who recently bought a new investment property.  Over the past 30 years in the business our brokers and agents have pretty much seen everything.  

In this video we are going to cover some of the more obvious things you should look for and question when you are inspecting a property you are thinking about purchasing

Time and time again we find issues with properties that should have been dealt with during the property’s purchase.  But the issues were not adequately dealt with because the property was not properly inspected.  

Sometimes these simple oversights can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in unexpected repairs.

So it is imperitive you know how to analyze a property correctly…or to at least to get the right person to analyze it for you.

To teach you better, let’s do a proper tour of a house and I’ll point things out that you should be thinking about.

For walls, look out for Flaky chipped paint, dry rot, termite trails, and cracks in the bricks or stucco.  These issues may not be cosmetic ones, , but could be evidence of more serious problems such as leaking pipes, roof issues, or poor construction.
The roof, Look around… is the roof membrane worn or delaminated?  Are there composite shingles missing,  

Do you spot cracked tiles, cracked vent pipe collars, cracked roof jacks, or maybe maybe perhaps any cracked concrete chimney caps…  

because if you do you may just want to say…that’s that

However, some simple repairs like a fresh coating may be all that’s needed to add years to the life to an old flat roof. But at $1.00 psf on average.  Things like this can cost you. 

Some items on the roof such as the water heater flue cap or the flue cap for the fireplace should be looked at by a licensed inspector.  Many old caps no longer meet current building codes and may be a fire hazard.

What types of bedroom windows does the house have?  If you are going to rent the property you must be able to open and provide easy egress for fire safety.  Old style Jalousie windows and some other types of crank windows do not allow egress and will need to be replaced.

Open up the breaker box.  Most built today have 200 amp service, apartment will have at least 150.   Many older Arizona  homes built with evaporative coolers had only 100 amp breakers and may need to be upgraded to install an a/c system…a requirement of most renters these days.  

We manage many older properties with only evap cooling…but if you want to get the rents up, drive up the cap rate and ultimately the value of your property…you will have to upgrade the electrical and a/c eventually. 

Take a look in the kitchen and baths.. Do you see GFCI receptacles?  These outlets are considered a safety essential by present industry standards.  Outlets within 6 feet of a water source or are located outside should be GFCI.  But I wouldn’t worry about the cost too much because they are relatively inexpensive to install.  

You only need one for each bathroom or kitchen circuit.  If two bathrooms you only need one and the beginning of the circuit.  We often assume management of properties where the maintenance man replaced  every bath and kitchen outlet with a GFCI outlet…a wasted expense.  

Keep in mind many of these issues can mean a failed inspection by your lender.  Which means…no loan and no deal.  

So inspect wisely!