Would you inspect this home.

General Inspection Topics General Inspection Discussion
1

Just had a call from a first time flipper.

House was built in the 40’s. House has been vacant for 2 years. House is bank owned.

The utilities are off. House has skunk, racoons, rodents. House has mold.

The roof has holes in it.

He is receiving the house for about 50K and the market value is about 150K

I really dont want to deal with the critters.

I told him I would help him out. I also told him that he should have every major contractor give him estimates. House is on a wooded lot so the drainage is probably ****** up.

Lets see. 10-15K for drainage. 10-20K for the roof & framing/sheathing.
5-10K electrical. Mold remediation & gutting the house. HHHMMMM. 20-30K.
Plumbing 2-5K Critter control $$$$
Probably needs new kitchen baths 10-15 K

His 100K can add up fast & this doesnt include structure. Home is a slob. I mean slab.
I think this guy is getting a flop to flip.

Would you inspect this home?

I really dont want to.

2

I did one similar to what you describe lat month. It was terrible. There was so much to document that it took me at least 50% longer than usual on site. and 50% longer for the report. The place was an absolute mess with broken “winterized” plumbing non-operating heating plant and too much else to list here.

I gave the client a price range before booking it. And of course I charged the highest end of my range which he was glad to pay. Honestly I should have quoted it even higher and probably will for this type of property in the future. Do what you are comfortable with. Quote it high if possible in your market. As tough as it was I appreciated the experience but I’m not sure I would like to repeat it soon.

3

If its in such bad shape to begin with, and they know it,
what do they want from you?
Seems counterproductive to spend money to be told what you already know.

4

You answered your own question.

Listen to your gut, and only inspect what you feel comfortable inspecting.

5

David,

You may have started a new pricing idea for flipper inspections. Charge by the hour. :wink:

6

I would not pass up any opportunity to inspect as long as it pays what I need to make.
Price it right and go for it.

7

Erol, I like it. I wonder if it will sell.

8

I dont even think RR has a flip inspection.

Lets see animals. Add $25 Mold add $25

Anyone watch flip this house? Usually there are termites/mold to be found when they start tearing up the walls.

9

Flippers typically don’t spend the money that someone who is buying the home to live in would. They do not install high end products if they’re merely looking for a quick profit.
If this is his first flip, he may very well loose his butt if he doesn’t have contacts and contractors in line and ready.
For a small ranch on a slab:
Small baths can be done for 12-$1500, kitchens around $2500-3500, roof with sheathing around $5000 or less, HVAC $3500-4500, electrical with panel changeout at around $1500, etc.
This is not quality material nor high-end work, but it will be functional and typically looks much better than what it started out as. Investors do it for these prices all the time.
I wouldn’t think twice about inspecting a property such as this.
Don’t get too descriptive… just tell it like it is and move on. The majority of this property will be ripped out and replaced anyhow. The first time flipper is probably seeking your opinion to ensure he is not missing anything.

10

RR does verbal flipper inspections (client does the writing).

Makes me wonder…if all inspections were verbal would that reduce our liability?

11

Depends on the preinspection agreement, also interesting

12

The only only good thing I could see coming out of this is ca-ching $$$$.

Mic

13

Hey David, Send it my way if you don’t want to do it. I’m on the eastside

14

Yes I would inspect it and give him my professional opinion, which would be to start over. Why try and make a silk purse out of a sows ear? And of course I would expect payment for my sage advice. :slight_smile:

15

Not even a PIA. You talk - client writes. You get your fee.

I don’t see how an inspector can get sued this way? In most states verbal/implied agreement and communication would not hold up in court.

HHHHMMM.

16

Would never work in a licensed state. I forgot the stupid SOP calls for a written report for the client. :twisted: Nice thought anyway. But definetly a verbal for the flippers.

17

Dave, Where was the skunk at? in the crawl space?

18

Yes. It would be a great candidate for a WALK inspection. In fact, it sounds like you’ve already done a WALK inspection. Now just charge him for it.

How many square feet?

WALK inspection
1000-1499 SF - $99
1500-1999 SF - $149
2000-2499 SF - $199
2500-2999 SF - $249

19

Of course I do. In fact, I have six of them:

WALK
DRIVEBY
FLYBY
CARRY
VOICE
ASK

I market them specifically to the 5,000 members of the Flippers Association, er, I mean the San Diego Creative Investors Association.

20

I did a WALK inspection for a flipping Client back in October. After the WALK inspection he was so impressed with my knowledge that he sat me down, picked my brains about flipping (that’s what I used to do in a previous life), and paid me my going rate for “flipping consultation” ($250 an hour). We spent 1½ hours at On The Border drinking margaritas and eating jalapeno nachos (my type of Client), and he handed me a check for $300 and paid the bill and left the tip.

He closed escrow on November 14.

I’ve been by the place four times since then to see what he’s doing. It’s so gratifying to see that my WALK inspection was dead on, that he followed my recommendations, that he didn’t find any surprises (I was 99% certain he wouldn’t based on my WALK inspection), and that he has implemented many, many of my property flipping ideas.

I went over there with Jim, my Domestic Partner and a Realtor with Century 21 Award, this past Thursday for an update. I created a bunch of marketing materials for Jim to give him. Everything is working out beautifully. When they get to where they are about two weeks from being finished, he’s going to list the property with Jim and let us start doing marketing in preparation for having some special Remodeling Tours. I’m also creating a cool DVD presentation that folks can take with them from the Tour; it touts his new company, Jim’s services as a Realtor, my services as a home inspector, and About Homes. I’ll also do a LIST inspection for him which he can also present to his prospective buyers. And prospective buyers will get a free 30-day subscription to About Homes. He’s quite impressed with my marketing ideas, which I also implement for Jim.

His first WALK inspection was $149 and look what it’s turned into. Probably thousands and thousands of dollars resulting from a great partnership for the three of us.

In all that you do, think

[marketing, marketing, marketing](http://www.abouthomes.info/files/NACHI/100 Guerrilla Marketing Weapons.doc)

Always strive to be

helpful, helpful, helpful.

Provide your Clients with

choices, choices, choices.

If you do those three things, the financial rewards will come back to you manifold.