inspecting a possible building
Hi, What should I look at when inspecting a 3 family? Some of the things I have thought about- water pressure water sport/stains cracks rust …… I would love to hear from your experience.
Hi,
What should I look at when inspecting a 3 family? Some of the things I have thought about-
water pressure
water sport/stains
cracks
rust
……
I would love to hear from your experience.
do you really have to dig up the streets to get additional Electric service in? I though they had some tunneling technique to take care of that.
Are you going to renovate? Then you just really need good bones like proper plumbing and structure.
If you’re looking for move in condition without a lot of work I’d look at windows, any kind of out of level/plumb conditions that might indicate settling or structural deficiencies. HVAC and plumbing? What kind of heat, does the plumbing look new or does it look like it was done fifty years ago? Insulation is another thing to think about. Is there an attic? Is it insulated? What about exterior partitions? Windows are also a big deal. My rental apartment has single pane wood windows which probably cost my landlord a fortune in extra heating costs. Boiler and Hot Water Heater? New? Efficient? Piped and connected properly? What is the level of electrical service entering the property? How many amps? Nothing sucks worse than realizing you need to dig up the street to get enough power to your new AC compressors.
Get a home inspection! Get an architect in there early if you’re going to renovate. Don’t believe anything that anyone says. I’ve had real estate agents promise impossibly cheap renovations and easy fixes to really complex problems. Almost every house is going to have some things wrong with it after fifty or a hundred years so do your homework. Everything is going to cost more than you think.
all you have to check for really is that three families no longer live there. Everything else can be fixed easily.
Look for signs of water damage and rotted wood in the floors and in the cellar beams.
Look at the wiring and whether or not it looks modernish.
Look at the plumbing and see if it looks like big pipes connect to little pipes connect to hoses and back to big pipes made alternately of lead, copper and pvc, or if the plumbing basically runs through some matching pipes and into the wall.
Look for mold or mildew on the walls.
If you’ve got a good eye for that stuff, you can save yourself $500 by not hiring an inspector to tell you you can’t afford to fix the place up, and hang on to your inspector fees for a place you think you’re really going to buy.
An inspector will look at the foundation, boiler, windows, roof, plumbing, electrical system, termites, etc.
Water sports? That’s a different DOB designation.
ditto DIBS – well said!
Do you mean Water Sports Stains?
I Agree with Dave. It is going to be THE purchase of your life. Please spend $500-$600 on a professional inspector who will do his job much better than you.
Look for the pending violations as well.