That’s true, Wendy. But you have some older furnaces with solid, long-lasting heat exchangers which have reputations for living a long time. They may not be efficient compared with newer furnaces, but you mention that in the report.
Some people may be able to afford an extra $20 a month in heating costs more easily than they can afford $4000 for a new furnace when they’re buying a home.
At any rate, the choice should be theirs and my point was that just because a furnace is old doesn’t mean that it’s is at or near the end of its useful life. For the price of a specialist inspection they can get a more accurate idea.
I agree. I didn’t mean to imply that that should be a one size fits all commentary. Certainly each situation needs to be evaluated on it’s own merit.
such as this:
**32) **The heat exchanger has rust on it which may indicate cracks in the heat exchanger.
Because of the age and/or condition of this furnace, recommend that a qualified heating and cooling technician inspect the heat exchanger and perform a Carbon Monoxide test when it’s serviced.
http://www.reporthost.com/strictly/AliMohammed/AD7D4EE5-3F15-4C5D-A1FC-FB509179E37F.jpg
Photo 45
Burner tubes have rust on them, as well
as the heat exchanger.
**) **The estimated useful life for forced air furnaces is 15 to 20 years. This furnace appears to be at this age or older and may need replacing at any time. Recommend budgeting for a replacement in the near future.
http://www.reporthost.com/strictly/AliMohammed/E689D6F1-08D1-49F3-BE18-5320AB9E7E8A.jpg
Photo 43
Data plate for furnace.
Manufactured 7/1987
http://www.reporthost.com/strictly/AliMohammed/68A89A96-3736-487A-9721-759C4E9D2F8F.jpg
Well the lines are off, but I’m not sure how to correct that. Sorry.
What software are you using Wendy?
I cut and pasted it from one of the Report Host reports I wrote. It doesnt look like that in the report.
The only time I renogotiated the price higher was when the agent didn’t give me the full story on the size of the house. What was originally a 2,000sf detached house turned out to be a detached house that was main building in a home run childcare facility.
It had two other smaller buildings on the property, a 2-car detached garage, and conditioned storage building.
The agent wasn’t happy and I was more than willing to walk away from it if she balked at the increased price. You can’t work for nothing.
Wendy, how’d you take picture #32. Good photo.
It’s not my photo. I write reports for another inspector so I really don’t know. But I’m sure they’d appreciate the compliment.
It’s cheaper for that inspector to take the time to describe the defects to you, including the problems accompanying each picture, then pay you to assemble the report than to simply write it himself? How does that work?
He is able to perform more inspections while I am writing reports, so he is getting more money for his time than he is paying me to write it.
How do you two avoid miscommunications, since he looks at it, but you write it up without seeeing it personally?
Lots of notes, lots of photos, high quality photos (and we do have miscommunications) and he does alot of proofing and sends me all the stuff I need to fix. I spend hours and hours making sure these reports are perfect. I got an excellent compliment about one of them. It was very gratifying and helps me know that I am definitely able to prove what I know in this business.
how about when you get little info from the client… “ahhh its a 3-4 bedroom… small… two bath… not sure the square footage…”
you get there and its a two unit… 2500 sf, two kitchens, two baths, 4 bedroom, two services, one or two heating systems…blah blah blah… oh and can you look at the detached two car garage… we are also going to convert it back to a single family…
I leave an open in my quote that clearly shows an upcharge for a garage if they fail to tell me over the phone… but I’ve had this happen before where the home is much larger and complicated than expected… not so much lately as the listings HAVE to include the SF on them now here previously they did not…
I never up it I lower it.
the only times I have increased fees is when they have added ancillary services of added a detached garage (and not always that)… definately when there is an inlaw apartment above the garage tho…
not so much lately cause I have learned to ask all the right questions…
Who pays for the lawyer Wendy if something you write gets him in trouble?
I have only upped my fee one time…the 2000 square foot home was actually 3 different buildings with 3 different roofs…3 different heating systems…and so on and so on.
I would not modify my fee after the fact.
And a 20 year old furnace is beyond it’s design life, and should be pointed out.
On a Monday Morning I had a “Client” call me from San Francisco. He wanted to buy three condos in New Hampshire. He was going to “Close the deal” on Friday.
I ask for the details and he tells me that he does not have the “List sheet” in front of him but that the average size was 1,000 SF.
I said the “Standard” price was $250.00 for a small 1,000 SF condo.
He agreed to the price.
Later he calls me to give the address, which turned out to be three different addresses, and the details.
[FONT=Arial]1. He tells me that condo #1 is located in the center of town and has six {6} units in it.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]2. Condo #2 is located 4-miles away and also has six {6} units in it![/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]3. Condo #3 is located across town and has six {6} units in it! [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]4. I explained that 18-condos at $250.00 each was going to cost him $4,500.00 [/FONT]
I explained to the “client” that the price was based on three condos not eighteen {18} different condos / units.
He told me that he had been “Price shopping” and had received lower bids than mine, but that due to my certifications, and credentials that he wanted to use me.
[FONT=Wingdings]v He actually wanted me to lower my price! [/FONT]
He also went on to explain that he was flying in on Thursday and wanted to “Be there” for the inspections so he wanted all 18-units inspected on Thursday and wanted the report in his hand by Friday at 11:00 AM when he went to closing.
After 4-5 minutes of explaining the situation and finding that this “Client” was not going to listen to reason, I declined his most generous offer.
REport writing can be the single most time consuming part of the inspection process, if you encounter new things for which there is no existing comment, if you personalize each comment, or if you need to research any specific item.
I would happily trade the time I spend writing reports for time with my daughter if I thought someone would do it exactly as I would. I am pretty AR about it, though, so I am not liekly to outsource - but I think Wendy may be on to something with this.
I am sure there are at least a few inspectors (busy, bad writers, etc) who would pay a reasonable fee per report not to have to type a report.
Couldn’t agree more.
I waste untold amounts of time making my sentence structure and paragraphs just so.
While I’d LOVE to be able to outsource it, I’d have to be sure they were as AR about it as I am! 