It seemed as though the New Year was flat lining here at WestCoast but after several weeks of lack luster business it finally got off its butt. This week was much better and has restored my faith in the Real Estate business despite the now hated banks best efforts. Three times this past week the companies that took our money from congress also took my pay check. The power company out here in Western Washington has decided, and not a bad idea, that they will inspect the houses that have been sitting vacant for an extended period of time before restoring power. Yes, there is a fee involved and its musical chairs to see who is going to pay it but for now it is not going to be the banks. After waiting a week for the appointment their inspector goes out and looks at the house. Since the majority of folks take at least fixtures with them, the house is going to get red tagged. The utility now requires that a licensed electrician go out and make the needed repairs (at whose expense?). Once the repairs have been made and the utilities inspector has returned and inspected the property again (for another fee) the utilities can be restored in 48 hours. Total time wasted on this exercise in futility was three weeks with a second house on-going. The third pay check they took from us was over leaking plumbing yet again. With this one a contractor was hired to paint the interior, hang new doors, install new carpet and clean and winterize the property. However they ignored the fact that both the main and master bathrooms were actively leaking enough to damage the drywall at the ceiling in the garage. Run some water and it is instantly evident that there is a problem. One phone call to the listing agent assures all involved that No, the bank will not fix the problem, and No, we cannot allow anyone to open up the ceiling and assess the damage. Done and done. The whole thing reminds me of a Chinese finger puzzle.
Now on to good, positive happy news. The second half of the week here at the Coast was spent looking mostly at new construction. New construction you say? Yes believe it or not there are houses being built out there and they are for the first time in years competitive again. We looked at brand new, never lived in, no leaks or missing anything houses this week that were beautifully finished for prices that were amazing. The builders we dealt with were also in a giving mood. We saw new houses with refrigerators, washers, dryers and garage door openers again without upgrade pricing. We saw fences, window screens and landscaping for no additional charge. In some cases these new gems went for about the same money as a comparable bank owned house and you didn’t have to make any repairs, replacements or uncover any surprises. The new ones even come with a warranty. Now I ask you; why would you show your clients bank owned or short sale properties that will not likely close, waste massive amounts of everyone’s time, are not such a great deal at the moment and have more hoops than a basketball tournament when there are these nice new homes out there. Now even if you don’t like new construction it is hard to argue with the fact that they will usually pass inspection, appraise and close. Not to mention the fact that it puts a lot of people back to work who can then afford a new house. Just one guys opinion. What do think? What are you seeing? Have a great weekend, I know we will as we have work to do.
This week’s pictures are of what was holding up a house in Tacoma
WestCoast Home Inspection Phone: 253-380-2922
No comments:
Post a Comment