Services For Buyers

To assist you I have created a variety of inspection packages and additional services. This provides you the ability to obtain the level of inspection you feel is needed, at a price you can afford.
 
If you have questions regarding these services please do not hesitate to call, or email me, and I will be more than happy to answer them.










A WALK Consultation is available only to prospective buyers who are not yet in escrow on the property. It is specifically meant to inform prospective buyers of major visible problems before they have made a purchase offer on a property and deposited thousands of dollars into an escrow account. By doing this, they don’t have to wait weeks or months to get their money back if the property revealed to many problems, or major problems that they don’t want to deal with under any circumstance. There is no detailed written report involved with this consultation. I talk, you listen, you ask questions, you make notes. If required you will be provided with the standard Texas Real Estate Commission REI-7A-0 report form but it will be pre-printed with a standard departure clause in all sections and no annotations of issues found.

Walk Consultations are generally used by buyers purchasing a pre-existing property but can also be used by new property buyers who are considering purchasing an already built property in a builders inventory.

I believe in the importance of inspections and loyalty by, and to, my
clients.  Because of this I will apply a portion of your Walk Consultation fees to a full inspection fee when you are ready to make an offer on your chosen property.

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This is a popular inspection and most closely resembles the inspections performed by my competition. It is intended only to look for major issues that are readily visible. This is different from our "Walk Consultation" as we do spend more time with the property in an actual inspection and you do receive a report with pictures of issues found in areas not readily accessible. It does not however cover such items such as full attic walks, full roof walks, appliance testing and other inspection aspects such as crawl space inspections. I do offer the ability to add more in-depth inspections of specific areas such as structural, electrical, plumbing and heating/cooling. In this way you are not paying to inspect areas that you are already comfortable with. The additions are charged at a nominal extra fee and one or more can be selected.

The BASIC inspection is best for Clients needing just the basic, major defects.  This type of inspection is popular with Investors because they will be gutting and renovating the house, for those that are a general handyman or other persons familiar with the ins and outs of real estate. Price-shoppers very familiar with properties also usually order this type of inspection to save on their inspection costs.

This inspection is not recommended for first-time property buyers, Realtors completing their first property inspection experience, or anyone purchasing a newly constructed or recently renovated property. Instead we recommend the Full Inspection which covers the property in much more depth.

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A Full Inspection encompasses every possible aspect of the property and surrounding grounds. Every safe area to access is inspected including full attic walks, full roof walks, crawl spaces, etc. This is the premium inspection package and takes the most time and care to perform. A complete report is generated along with additional research for items such as recalls, other common issues and more in depth explanations of the issues found. This inspection far exceeds the TREC minimum inspection standards and is for those who want to know everything possible about the condition of the property they are considering a purchase of.

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Although you have not yet purchased the property please keep in mind the potential need for a "Warranty Inspection" if this is a relatively new home.  As of 1 June 2005 all home builders in Texas are required to provide a 1/2/10 year warranty on a new home (see the government links page, Texas Residential Construction Commission Link). The builder has already calculated and charged the original purchaser for this warranty's cost.  This warranty will be transferred to you upon purchase of the home.  You have the right to a safe and defect free property and should exercise your warranty before each term of the warranty expires! I recommend that you have your first Warranty Inspection at the end of your 11th month of ownership. This provides you sufficient time to contact your builder to report issues before your first year ends.

A Warranty Inspection will cover all aspects of your property under the warranty period you are currently in. For example, the first year would entail a full inspection of the property as all items are still under warranty. From years 2 through 10 I provide a more specific inspection only for those items still covered under your warranty. You may, however, choose to have full inspections performed during these periods as well. A full inspection can help you determine if additional routine care is needed and can be a valuable documentation tool if issues arise at a later time.

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The human eye can only see what is visible.  Infrared thermal imaging has the ability to help discover more about the home you are planning to buy. I offer this service to you for a greater peace of mind in your real estate purchase.  For more detail about infrared thermal imaging and the services I provide please click here.  Thermal imaging can be contracted for on a stand alone basis or in conjunction with your full property inspection. Standard infrared thermal imaging services are discounted when ordered in conjunction with your full property inspection.

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Our job as an Inspector is to find functional issues within your property and not aesthetic issues (cosmetic issues such as scuffed paint, minor broken hardware, misaligned cabinet doors, cracked tiles etc., etc.). If these cosmetic issues are signs of other more significant issues we will report them along with the issue they represent. In general, most cosmetic issues have no bearing on the functionality of your property and will not be reported. However, these cosmetic issues can be expensive to correct individually or with many issues found. Knowing about these will help you make more informed decisions during purchase negotiations or dealing with your new property builder.

The Punch List Creation is an add-on service to the "Full Inspection". For an additional fee I will inspect for, and document, the cosmetic issues in your property. Documentation will include approximate measurements, sizes, make and model numbers of the areas and items affected. A separate list is created that you can use to email or fax to trades persons, or others, for repair estimates. When needed, photographs of these deficiencies will also be provided in this separate list. Many trades people can provide better estimates with photographs of the issue.

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