I have an inspection that was scheduled (next week) for a small home in the 50’s and an “Outbuilding” and “Crawlspace” were added as an add-ons. I have looked at the property listing (which was difficult to find) and found that the home was what you would expect from a small 50’s house in NC. But then I looked at the “Outbuilding” and there were a few, the listing states for extras “2 storage barns, Church and an additional home”. The church and additional home I am assuming are not going to be inspected. The storage barn looks like this and the church is in the same state (which I will not be inspecting).
I’m going to contact the client later this week and ask what their expectations are from inspecting this “Outbuilding”? My initial thought is to delete it from the inspection and refund the add-on, I don’t really think it would be safe to even enter…
I would like to pick some brains on how to handle this.
That is actually an easy inspection. Give them the information they requested and let them decide if it is a tear down. I have a friend who lives in a home just like this. Yup, it sucks per moderns standards but he loves it.
I just had a similar one and upon arriving I advised the agent and buyer it was undoubtedly a tear-down and not financeable. No perimeter foundation, massive sloping throughout all the interior floors, massive amounts of rot and termite damage visible from the access hatch, inadequate clearance throughout the crawl space (built roughly 6" from the ground - unsure why there was even an access hatch… there was nothing to access).
Anyway, buyers had dreams and thought they could fix it, agent wanted to get paid so they spent the $600 having me inspect it. A couple weeks later I saw the agent and he informed me if didn’t go through because it wasn’t financeable and was likely going to be torn down. Yeah, I know (I wanted to say).
Yeah, I don’t know what people expect we’re going to say about these places. The inspections are actually quite easy when everything is just totally jacked up.
I would call your client and find out exactly which “outbuildings” they want inspected and what their expectations are. I wouldn’t assume anything. They may think that by selecting outbuildings, that means you will be inspecting all of the outbuildings. Maybe you have clarified it with the client, but your OP doesn’t make it seem that way.
I agree.
From all the posts I thought it might not be necessary to contact the client (but uncomfortable), you bring up a good point. I want to go in to the inspection knowing what is expected and agreed upon. The fee is substantial (distance, age, crawlspace, lead assessment and outbuilding) I want everyone to be on the same page.
Thank you for giving it a second thought and following up Ryan!
That is the main concern, especially with a complicated property such as this. That is one of the reasons I don’t do self-service online scheduling as of now. Many properties in my area have too many variables to leave it up to assumptions.
I suppose if you are in an area where every home is a <5-year old cookie-cutter home it could be different.
Aw c’mon man give us cookie sheet inspectors a break. I’ve only inspected one house that was only 3 years old. Most of my cookie cutter home inspections are 15 years old or less ;). Some of the houses in The Villages are 30 years old now! Including one I own. There’s only another 71 thousand or so left to inspect.
Now when I’m outside of my preferred area…oof. Alum wiring, bugs, rodents and no building standards. I still haven’t had a single booking through my web portal, but that’s ok too. I’d prefer a call.
