House Inspection
We just had Tim Curran of Safe Haven do an inspection for us, and would highly recommend him to anyone that’s looking to buy a brownstone. He was very realistic, not an alarmist. His contact: 718-745-6517
We just had Tim Curran of Safe Haven do an inspection for us, and would highly recommend him to anyone that’s looking to buy a brownstone. He was very realistic, not an alarmist.
His contact: 718-745-6517
I agree that you want a thorough, but not alarmist inspector. For those who say they want an alarmist inspector, the downside to this is that such an alarmist approach might scare you away from buying a house which is actually perfectly workable. Our inspector (not Tim alas) did provide a very thorough report, including some significant red flags that we indeed will need to watch out for (i.e. erosion of foundation). But, when I spoke to the inspector to find out how scary these issues were (as some may recall, I was very nervous after receiving the “fair” rating), our inspector pointed out that, in spite of the scary-sounding language in the report, many of the issues he pointed out were in fact quite par for the course with these old brownstones. It would be a pity to be driven away from a potentially good purchase by an inspector who does not carefully explain that, while issues are important to point out, they can also be addressed and repaired. That said, our inspector worked with us to give estimates for the costs to repair these issues, and we used the report to negotiate $50K off of our purchase price.
The first thing you need to do is develop a budget, scope of work that needs to be performed and your wish list. This is best by doing a room by room walk thought. Break this down to tasks and trades which are followed up by prices against your budget.
I don’t normally discuss items like this openly online. Because people will say I’m doing it to drum up business.
If you would like you can email me tim@gosafehaven.com I also do construction/restoration consulting and project management. The developer of the Brownstoner is a past client.
Tim,
How do you estimate costs for such a broad range of possible issues? My architect can’t seem to do this.
The reason I am call a realist and not an alarmist is that I have 20 years of experience restoring and renovating brownstones and buildings over 100 years old. For the last 9 years I have been inspecting them. I explain to my clients that not all alarming conditions found are deal killers and I’ll give possible solutions on how they may be repaired. I am respectful to the nuances of older houses and the clients budget for renovation. Almost anything in older homes can be repaired or restored given the size of the budget. So my clients get a very realistic view and approach on what would have to be done if they want to buy the property.
Tim Curran
Safe Haven Inspections
The definition of “alarmist” is, I think, relative to the experience and knowledge level of the buyer. I’ve seen an inspector come up with 20 pages of minutiae that would scare the pants off of any first time home buyer. They are referred to as “deal killers” and I saw real estate agents ban them once!! When each individual point is addressed, 90% of them are ridiculous. He’s justifying his fee. A good inspector really has to complete his job by informing the buyer of the impact and cost of each thing that comes up on his list
I’m with you, 12;26. Slightly alarmist is good. Diligent, thorough, extra careful, those are qualities I want in an inspector. Honeycut’s posts seem to suggest Curran is within this range, and I am not trying to comment negatively on him in anyway (I have no experience with him). But I guess the real point is, if someone tried to sell me on an inspector, “realist, not alarmist” would send me running the other way.
Is it just me, or does anyone else want a slightly alarmist home inspector?
the whole “accusing anyone with a referral of being the person being referred” has seriously jumped the shark.
it’s not “funny” nor “clever” anymore.
grow up.
6:30 what are you implying?