Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Escrow: The Home Inspection

Please, insert suspenseful music here.

Well, the moment we've all been waiting for: Joseph from Elite Home Inspections arrived on-time in order to inspect our potential new home.

First stop: the kitchen.  Everyone warned us, and we were prepared for it.  A leaky kitchen faucet.  We've got one.  It isn't too bad and he said no boards under the sink needed to be replaced.  Cross that one off of the list.  Joseph also noted that the sink had been damaged through the white or porcelain coating.

A view from the dining area.  You can see the small breakfast bar as well as into the kitchen.  

Next stop, the water heater closet and back yard.  Well aside from being covered in leaf litter and debris, there isn't anything wrong with the back yard.  The water heater?  It's good too, except it needed to be strapped to the wall in case of earthquake.  (Side note: Michelle has already spoken to the listing agent and they should be taking care of this.  Sweet.)

A view from the back gate entrance, into the property.  Here you see the sliding glass door and the water heater door.  

Now it's off to the bedrooms and up first is the guest bedroom with the walk-in closet.  Joseph noted that the door was missing from the bedroom (odd) and that the door nob was missing from the closet (even more odd).  Other than that we've got a bit of a shotty seal on one window that can be fixed without replacing it, or if we really want to step it up we can replace our windows with the double paned type.

Interior View of the Walk In closet in the guest bedroom.  Joseph was in the attic which is why the ceiling is missing.  


Furnace?  Check.  Crawl space or attic?  Check.  Master bedroom?  A tiny bit of discoloration from the beginning stages of some moisture near the seam of the roof and the chimney.  Joseph's solution was easy: because the HOA takes care of the chimney and the roof we need to call on them to place some mastic along that seam and take care of it before it becomes actual water damage.

The master bathroom had 2 sinks and each appeared to have had the porcelain damaged and the toilet was missing the chain in the tank.  Oddly enough in life, I've had to fix toilets more often than I'd like to admit.  I know that hardware stores sell kits that include everything you need to change out the working parts in the tank of a toilet.  I think today I'll go buy one.

First sink in master bathroom, there is one just outside of the bathroom itself.  It's odd, but it works out pretty well if you ask me?  

Downstairs powder room and laundry room?  You guessed it, the sink was damaged as well.  I have no clue what these people did to their sinks, but I am starting to feel bad for the poor little sinks.

No, this isn't a sink as I had mentioned in the previous paragraph.  It's just the fireplace and I thought I'd throw it in there because I'm so excited about it.  

Joseph then took a thermometer and cranked up the heater and walked around the house checking all of the ventilation on the vents.  That was my favorite part of the day.  The house became instantly warm and while he was doing this, Michelle showed up with the best salad I've ever eaten!  I was warm and my tummy was full.  What else could go wrong?

Here's a view going up the 180 degree stairs.  My favorite part?  The mini closet below the staircase.  I'm thinking wine closet!  

Joseph proceeded to do the same with air conditioning.  This was not such a great experience, but I lived through it and we then walked through the rest of the house as he showed us any trouble spots.

Was it all rainbows and butterflies?  No.  There are a few areas we need to replace ourselves.  The first one is the water damaged front door, but I didn't get a photo of that.  The sliding door to the rear patio also gives people lots of trouble, so that something we need to think about replacing as well.

But overall, everything ran quickly and smoothly.  We have a big update for you coming soon, and it may involve something that no one I know has ever heard of.  Our next update might just involve a little tutorial on how to turn your 30 day escrow into a 20 day escrow.

Love, Mike and Kipp

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