Standing Out in Ohio Podcast
Listen and learn how some stand out from competition and gain market share. Information helpful to agents and buyers. Conversations with professionals and entrepreneurs regarding their stories and what makes their companies and themselves stand out and gain competitive advantages. Listen to stories from Ohio real estate agents and related businesses to help you know how to improve and who to consider using for yourself or friends. Created by the owners of a highly rated home inspection company in Ohio and the Winners of Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest https://homeinspectionsinohio.com/
Standing Out in Ohio Podcast
Real Estate Inspections: Balancing Safety, Credibility, and Buyer Expectations
Have you ever wondered why some home inspectors raise alarms that real estate agents wish they wouldn’t? This episode, we recount our bustling Memorial Day weekend at Trothwood and dive into the intricacies of home safety with a closer look at Barry Stone's article on attic insulation and furnace platforms. Learn why insulation thickness and platform dimensions are not just technical details but essential aspects of home efficiency and safety. We break down the inspector's rationale and highlight the critical role these professionals play in protecting homebuyers.
Navigating the real estate world can be tricky, especially when tensions flare between agents, inspectors, and contractors. We delve into the delicate balance of trust and transparency in these relationships, revealing why some agents might feel threatened by inspectors' findings and how this can impact their credibility. By sharing personal stories and drawing parallels with car maintenance, we underscore the importance of setting realistic buyer expectations and the value of impartial inspections. Tune in for a discussion that equips you with the insights needed to make informed decisions in the real estate market.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Two-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com) Schedule online if you need a home inspection or related services.
If in need of a real estate agent definitely recommend checking the agents that have been guests on the podcast.
See some fun home inspection findings Habitation Investigation LLC (@habitationinvestigation) • Instagram photos and videos
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For home buyers: What to expect from a home inspection. YT video for home buyers
Homebuyers, Help Protect Yourself When Going Commando (buying without the home inspection) – Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast, where we discuss topics, upcoming events, news and predictions with real estate professionals and entrepreneurs. Listen and learn what makes their companies and themselves stand out and gain advantages over the competition and gain market share. Subscribe for the latest news and discussion on what it takes to stand out from the crowd. Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, Welcome to the Standing Out and Out podcast. This is Jim Troth, and with me, of course, is Laura, the office. Goddess, Hello everyone. All right, Laura, so we've been busy, which is great. Which is great. Cannot complain about that. Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend Crazy, it's June almost. Yes. And our Trothwood, where we were building our new house. We have a couple campsites down there. They were completely filled up.
Speaker 4:Very nice people.
Speaker 2:Friendly people. Yep, they were good, they good, everybody nice. They did a good job cleaning up the campsites when they were done. We only have three sites there now. They're all spread out, so if anybody wants privacy, they have it quiet. This is that's the place to go. You don't have those crowded campsites oh, I always hated that like you do other places. Yeah, yeah, I get it, though. My parents took me and my brother and sister to those campsites and they had a playground.
Speaker 4:They had a pool, yes, Makes it easy to occupy the children I get it Showers.
Speaker 2:Those were really nice. It was nice. We do have a shower on Trothwood. Yes, it's very hillbilly, but you have a shower there and it does what you mean hill, jimmy hill, jimmy hill jimmy type shower, but it is heated yeah, it is solar heat, so you don't want to take a shower in the morning, you want to shower in the afternoon.
Speaker 2:But in the event that is kind of cold out, not very sunny that day, you can build a fire and heat the water up. Yay, it has a backup source. But anyway, inspections saw an article from I think it's from the Herald. Barry Stone is the. I'm not editor, but he's the one that writes that piece.
Speaker 4:The article writer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're going to discuss this. It was about is an agent for the other real estate agent complain about inspectors who she had, a inspector who she? Thought experience, experience, good reputation. She said he screwed up on two things, and they're not even important things in the first place, but we want to chat about. I want to talk about that briefly, but first let's listen to this habitation investigation is the way to go for a home inspection in ohio.
Speaker 3:Licensed home inspectors for your needs. From radon to mold to warranties For a great home inspection, you really can't go wrong. Visit HomeInspectionsInOhiocom.
Speaker 2:All right. So agent said I did what you recommended, had an experienced home inspector.
Speaker 4:Oh my God, he messed up two things in the attic.
Speaker 2:He messed up two things. Those are not even important things. First of all, he said that the insulation was only it wasn't what it was supposed to be. She said it was only like six to eight inches, which is not much, no matter what type of material you got. She said it wasn't. He said it wasn't much and I contacted the contractor. Who installed the insulation, who installed it and says, yeah, it's fine, the insulation settled, but it still has the same R factor, which is a total lie.
Speaker 4:It has been tested and proven that the important part in the installation, the R value, which is how much insulation is going to work, is directly related to the thickness of it. So if it compacts, it's not as good of an R value. Which means that the inspector was right, wait, wait. And the guy who installed it, who would be on the hook for adding more installation to it, said oh no, no, no, that's not right, it's still that same R value.
Speaker 2:The contractor who installed that, maybe just covering his ass right. Take a two by four. It's cellulose, so you got a little check and you use straight up that. We have very specific size of two by four. You know, say 10 inches long, and you use that for insulation. You're not going to get a whole lot of insulation out of a 2x4. But take that exact same material, grind it up and fluff it. Okay, then you're going to have more insulation.
Speaker 2:Now how much insulation value does that would have? It's the same mass, same weight. It's just fluffier because you're air pockets. Any contractor says, no, it still has the same insulation value. We just we shoved more in there and compacted it in there. No, they ruined it. That's not how Get a new installer. That's not how insulation works. So the other thing that the agent said the inspector screwed up on was guess, this house had an attic and in the attic they had the heating system, they had the furnace up there. And the inspector says hey, these have like 30 inches bait like a working platform. And the agent says why talk to a carpenter? He said it's only needs to be 24. First of all, it's only six inches for the difference and she thinks this is a major issue. But the article he goes no, your inspector is right, it's supposed to be 30 inches. This has been long established for a long time. This is the platform for the worker to work on it.
Speaker 4:Isn't that the commercial standard too?
Speaker 2:I think it's the same. Yes, okay, but also the platform to walk a walkway is supposed to be a minimum of 24 inches.
Speaker 4:So once again he got confused or he just didn't know.
Speaker 2:The carpenter who told the agent that's wrong. Maybe confused Right, I don't know Either way.
Speaker 4:It was not right who?
Speaker 2:cares a whole lot. You got. You have a platform to work on. It's not big enough, OK make it bigger. Make a little bit If you can make a little bit bigger. Or they weren't able to, they just said they did the biggest that they could.
Speaker 2:you can make a little bit bigger or they weren't able to and they just said they did the biggest that they could. But what kind of entertainment about the whole thing is. Why is the agent automatically assuming the inspector is wrong? Right, are they agent automatically biased against the home inspector because he's gonna ruin my deal like? No, the inspectors don't ruin deals. It's the condition of the house that ruins deals and that condition not matching the buyer's expectations.
Speaker 4:Or ability to take care of it.
Speaker 2:Which, like we always said, if you're a real estate agent, you need to prep your client on what to expect from the home inspection and we have that video that you should send to all your buyers even before they find a house. They know what to inspect. But in this article and we have that video that you should send to all your buyers Even before they find a house they know what to inspect. But in this article Barry Stone suggested listen, if you have contradiction between what the home inspector says and a tradesman, go get another opinion, go get a third one and figure that out. But always weigh in the fact that the home inspector has no vested interest if that house gets worked on or not. The, in this case, the contractor who did the installation totally invested in going no, no, I did it right, because he don't spend the time and money to go back and fix his screw up right, right, or it could have been the same guy Doing the other.
Speaker 3:It could have been yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Who could have been the carpenter go, who actually put the platform in, didn't do enough.
Speaker 4:No, no, no, I'm good, that's, that's the right.
Speaker 2:That's the good, yeah yeah, and code is just a minimum. Oh, their requirement for the installation of their product usurps all codes, so I don't care what the code says.
Speaker 4:It's manufacturer's installation requirements that are what is supposed to be met.
Speaker 2:So yeah, you got the agent who says they're wrong, tells their client that the inspector is wrong, tries to devalue the home inspector and the home inspector goes no, this is it. Here's a reference. Now the agent looks like an idiot, the contractor looks like an idiot or they look dishonest.
Speaker 4:And not only that, but then that client's like, okay, so this contractor worked on this house didn't know these standards. Why do I want to buy this house from somebody that doesn't know what he's doing? And why would I trust this real estate agent when she's trying to cover up stuff that's wrong?
Speaker 2:yeah, and that is a perception, right, because at this, point it you're, you're setting yourself up well, there's that study that you referenced, where that they look at the. They did a survey. They rated the trustworthiness. Yes, people, agents were right there next to used car salesman was it seven percent? What was it you remember?
Speaker 4:that 11 11?
Speaker 2:I think it was 11 trusted them as a profession. So right, the agents on that are kind of like, I guess, behind the eight ball a little bit on trust, trustworthiness. So you, yeah, yeah, you got to tell the good life too, that those two things.
Speaker 4:In the grand scheme of things, they're not that important. It's not horrible to the structure of the house, it's not going to damage anything. Why are you making a big deal out of those two things? Was there something else more important that you should have been focusing on, and you instead chose to focus on those two things?
Speaker 2:What makes me wonder did that inspector find other, more valuable, more expensive issues? And she wants to nitpick these things to therefore discredit anything else she has to nitpick these things to therefore discredit anything she has to say.
Speaker 2:I remember one time I did an inspection and the agent was like the furnace was not working at the house Right, I remember this, I think. And there's a garage door issue Went back to that and the seller was like no, the inspector's wrong, the furnace works. When we were there six months ago, legit, they've been gone for like six months. I'm like no, it worked, everything's fine. He's like no.
Speaker 4:I trust my sellers.
Speaker 2:The seller says everything's good. I'm like, well, I'll come out, take a look at it, come with me. Sure enough, it's not working. I videoed it. I'm like here's the furnace it's not working. It keeps shutting off. It's not working right. Here's the garage door. Yes, this little bracket is damaged on it, but now, oh, look the stain on the base of the wall. That was just a stain before. Well, it rained the last couple of days. Now there's actively water dripping in here, so I'll make sure I update that for you as well. Why not just take the inspector's word for things, because they have no interest in making up stuff? The agent looks like an idiot, first of all saying we're wrong trusting somebody who hasn't been at the house for months. And now the problem has gotten worse.
Speaker 1:It's proven to be an issue.
Speaker 4:In that case, the agent should just not just say said okay, I'll have somebody come in and fix it it's gonna age bad guy.
Speaker 2:I mean, it hasn't that furnace. I remember it had not been serviced long time. Anyway, you're gonna. You should get some out there anyway. Just go service and fix what's wrong with it now I find another six months.
Speaker 2:I mean why I mean, listen, a house probably has. I'm sure it does but the number of parts in a house is vastly greater than the parts that are in a car. Right, you kind of expect your car to break down every now and then have an issue, get a flat tire. Why is it you view a house not to be any different?
Speaker 4:Well, that's why you've got the little service codes that pop up on cars. Now you need this type of maintenance or you need this type of maintenance. The house is pretty much the same way. You've got some things that are quick and easy. Like you fix the grating around the house every year, you know that's going to happen. You should service your HVAC, you should do all of that stuff at certain periods of time, and if that doesn't happen, of course you're going to have problems. But it's not the inspector's fault. We have no vested interest If that house sells or not. We have no vested interest and we have no reason to lie or exaggerate things, because then that's going to damage our reputation as a home inspection company.
Speaker 4:And we're not going to be trusted, why would we ever do that?
Speaker 2:so if you have a home inspection's opinion on something and it contradicts or not exactly validated by a another person's opinion of it, just get a third opinion. Or or if you want to go, look, go, research codes, all that nobody has time to do all that stuff and there's so many interpretations of codes Call the county Go get a third party to look at.
Speaker 2:That has no interest. Don't get the sellers, let me get my handyman to do it. I'm like, no, this guy wants to continue doing work for his homeowner, so no, don't get a third.
Speaker 4:Or for you, if it's a real estate agent, using their handyman. They're going to want to continue to do work for you. They're going to find a diplomatic way of saying that you're still right.
Speaker 2:Yes, and then you find somebody unbiased, and even if that's enough, I kind of hate this one get another home inspector to come in to look at just that specific thing. Because I mean home inspectors, we like to work well with each other, but you don't want to go in. I do not want to go into the inspector and go. No, that inspector was wrong on this.
Speaker 2:I don't want to do that, but it can happen, or they go yeah he's right, I would have worded it this way, but he's right, this does need fixed. It's the same thing, it still needs fixed it it doesn't matter. So talking this is from the bottom of my head. We're talking about assuming things are good with the house, because you're gone for six months but work from your left. It should be good. That reminds me of new home construction.
Speaker 3:Oh, good Lord. So that's going to be the next thing we're going to talk about because we do new.
Speaker 2:we do inspections on existing homes and pre-drywall final walkthrough, and then we do the 11 month warranty inspection on new builds. We've got some stories. We've got some stories, all right, but I think that's it for this one. Thank you everybody, have a great week and keep on listening. Bye, bye-bye.
Speaker 1:You've been listening to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast. Be sure to subscribe on Spotify or Google Podcasts to get new, fresh episodes. For more, please follow us on Instagram, twitter and Facebook, or visit the website of the best Ohio home inspection company at homeinspectionsinohiocom or jimtroffcom. That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H and click on podcast. Until next time, learn and go do stuff.