Professional home inspection services for North Tempe, Mesa, Gold Canyon, & Apache Junction
The following links will help you become familiar with Mesa Az. and the South East Valley.
These pertain to services and information we can provide:
http://www.sosnet.com/safety/local.codes/safety_codes.htm This site goes to the laws in each city pertaining to child safety and pool enclosure requirements.
http://www.respirnet.com/1.html This is the home site for Respirnet. It discusses and locates inspectors who do mold, allergen and asthma triggers screening.
http://www.edrnet.com/ This is the web page for EDR - Environmental Data Resources – These reports can be ordered to investigate the previous use of the property you own or are buying. It shows if there are any contaminates, meth houses, or leaking underground tanks, etc. in close proximity to the property
These give city and government information of the area:
http://www.maricopa.gov/ find information on anything about the county government from air quality to Sheriff Joe.
http://www.cityofmesa.org/Home find information about the city of Mesa
Find information on ASU and local schools:
http://www.mpsaz.org/main2/schools/elementary.html#adams anything you need to know about Mesa schools can be found here.
http://www.asu.edu/ The home page for the Arizona State University in Tempe Az.
Miscellaneous entertainment, non-profit volunteer organizations, and of course GOLF
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/ find out quickly in the entertainment guide what events are happening in the area
http://www.ablanketofhope.org/ a non-profit organization helping our senior citizens by presenting them baskets of non-food items
http://www.packagesfromhome.org/index.shtml a non-profit organization that is always looking for volunteers to fill the packages to send to the troops.
http://www.logoweardirect.biz/gcapshaw14 need logoed apparel for yourself, school, or business?
Find a great golf course and make a tee time:
http://apachejunctionaz.areaguides.net/teetimes.html learn about and make your selection from these fine golf courses
If I Were a
First-time Homebuyer-- Again
By Woody Livingston
Today’s
soft real estate market reminds me of when my wife and I bought our first
home. Some friends of ours had just purchased a
home and told us about one near them that was for sale by owner. We went to look at it that night.
It was a
fixer-upper, a three-bedroom home with a partly finished basement. The owners had to sell to move into their new
home. We offered them $3,000 less than
they paid for it and they accepted immediately—sounds familiar, but this was 20
years ago!
Walking
through the house prior to closing, we knew we had our work cut out for
us. We saw the crayon marks on the
walls, doors, even the ceiling. We
decided the carpet had to go, so no need for a drop cloth when we painted. The basement was partly finished, with a cute
little wood stove already in place.
(Basement? Wood stove? No, this wasn’t Arizona.)
The day
after we moved in I went out to meet the neighbors. I looked across the street at my new house
for the first time. Immediately my eye
went to the carport roof. Rather than
continuing parallel to the roofline of the house, it sloped noticeably away
from the house, its gable end as much as six inches lower than where it joined
the house.
Closer
inspection revealed the cause: no footings had been poured for the posts
holding up the end of the carport. They
had merely been set on top of the concrete slab. In no time the weight of the roof on the
posts cracked the slab and in less than five years that side of the slab had
dropped several inches, causing the rust damage on the basement wood stove.
You see,
the chimney was on the same end of the house, and as one end of the carport
roof dropped, the other end separated from the house. This created a nifty little crack that
collected water and channeled it into the chimney, where it found the stovepipe
and continued down to the basement.
There the water sat, rusting out the stove. That’s what I found the first day. Of course the list grew as time went on.
We made
two mistakes when we bought that house.
First, we should have had a good Realtor® negotiating for us. We had no idea what comparable homes were
selling for, and given the soft market, motivated sellers, and condition of the
home, a good agent could have gotten an even better price. We also paid too many closing costs. Paying a Realtor® to be our representative would
have saved us money. Fortunately, the
market recovered, the home appreciated, and we netted a profit when we sold.
Home
Inspections were not common back then, especially for first-time
homebuyers. But hiring a professional
home inspector would have saved us money, too.
A Pillar To Post inspector starts an inspection across the street. He looks at the roofline, grading of the lot,
and more. A home inspector would have provided
me a home inspection report with photos of the roof, the cracks, the rusted
stove and other defects before I owned them.
His written report would have helped us plan our fix-up expenses more
wisely. For example, all Pillar To Post
inspectors include a Construction and Remodeling Cost Estimate Guide with their
written report.
If low
interest rates, a buyer’s market, and high rent have put you in search of your
first home, make sure you have professionals on your side. Find a Realtor® experienced in representing
buyers, such as an Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR)® designation, and
ask him or her for references. Then when
you make an offer on a home, hire a full-time, insured, professional Pillar To
Post home inspector. Attend the
inspection, ask questions, and go over the written report with your inspector
and your Realtor. You’ll be dollars and
years ahead.
Woody Livingston is a licensed Arizona Home Inspector
and Arizona Area Developer for Pillar To Post
Professional Home Inspection.©2000-2008 Elwood D. Livingston. Used by permission.