October, 2006
Halloween is almost here and everyone is talking about how the housing market has changed and we have a lot of “GHOULI5H” Characters out there that are saying that the world is coming to the end. It ‘s easy to be “TRICKED” by this crowd. But, wouldn’t you rather ‘”treat” yourself to a great deal? Not long ago, you could put a home on the market and it would be sold in a couple of days, or less! That was back when we had a lot of potential home buyers and very few homes to choose from. It was fun to see home sellers auctioning off their homes for tens of thousands more than their original asking price! A lot has changed over the past couple of years, but I feel the biggest change was how our Federal Reserve Chairman “Cast a spell” over our housing market and raised interest rates a record seventeen consecutive times to drive fund rates to their highest level in more than five years!
Yes, it’s easy to be “TRICKED” by the stuff that the “ghouls” are saying. However, if you ‘ ll step back and re-evaluate the current situation, you may realize that you can “treat” yourself to . ONE OF THE BEST BUYER’S MARKETS WE’VE HAD IN OVER A DECADE! Interest rates are falling, we have a large inventory of homes for sale and with some good negotiating – You can wind up with a really good deal for yourself!
Thinking about selling? Take the time to look around and you’ll still see homes that are being sold at a good price. The main thing that I’ve observed IS that clean, good looking homes that are well priced right will sell in one to two months. But, if you’ve got a home that is dirty, un-maintained and over priced – It may not sell at all. .
Another really important point that I’m emphasizing to sellers is that if their home has obvious damage and is looking like a HAUNTED HOUSE, they should have the damage repaired and get rid of these unsightly items before they put their homes on the market. FACT: You’ve only got one chance to make a positive first impression. If qualified buyers see your home and walk away – There are too many other homes to choose from and they won’t be back!
Have a home that needs some wood repairs done before you put it on the market? Call us at (949) 631-7348 and we’ll be glad to fix up your home so that you can get dollar for it!
I met a homeowner not long ago that had an UnUSUal termite problem; Every time she turned on the air conditioner, drywood termites would fly out of the vents!
She called two termite companies. But, all she got was “HORRIFIED CONFUSION” ~ because both companies t . gave her completely different stories. The first inspector said he couldn’t see any problems. The second inspector said he found a couple of spots of termites in the attic and could ” magically make them all disappear with his foam machine”. She asked in frustration , “Who should I believe?”
Then, a friend of hers strongly recommended my service and she called to see if I could help straighten out her mess. We went up to the master bedroom, which was located on the second story . Yes, I saw a couple of dead termites in the window, but I couldn’t tell where they came from .
Drywood termites are attracted to light and they could have come from anywhere in the at house. I checked the windows in the other rooms and there were no signs of termites. If you only find termites in one single room, then it ‘s a fair bet that they are coming from somewhere in that room, but where in that room? About this time I could feel a tension headache coming on because I just hate having to tell someone that I can’t solve their problem! I looked around that same bedroom and didn’t see any signs of termite pellets, kick out holes or damage. The window screens were in good shape, so it didn’t seem like the termites could have got in that way, either. The homeowner and I started talking and I asked her to remind me of what happened the day that she saw the termites. Again, she said it was when she turned on the air conditioner. “Then, let’ s go take a look at your air conditioner filter”, I said.
The filter was mounted behind a grill at the bottom of the wall in the hallway. The air conditioner was mounted in the attic, right above the ceiling in this area. It only took a second to remove the filter. Got my flashlight and took a look lip inside the wall area that leads up the AC.
Oh my! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that the termites would be so bad. This home was only 12 years old! But, it looked as if someone got a couple of coffee cans, filled them up with termite droppings and poured them out all over in this wall cavity!
Next, I went up in the attic. One of the other inspectors said he didn’t find any termites in the attic and the other guy said he found a couple of spots. However, now that I knew about the problem in the wall cavity below, I figured that the area around the AC would be a good spot to start looking. The termite problems in the attic were bad, too. At first glance everything looked good. But, once you stuck your head under the AC and started checking the ceiling joist, anyone could see that this was a serious problem. The homeowner saw how bad the termites were in the air conditioning cavity and she stood on the ladder so she could look in the attic and see those areas, too. She asked if there was anyway that we could do a local treatment. I asked her if she knew anyone small enough to go up into that air conditioning cavity and of course, she said ” no”. She asked if we could treat the attic under the air conditioner but I had to remind her that even if we had the AC removed, no one could fit into that wall area where we saw all the pellets. The only way to solve her problem was to have the whole house fumigated.
“We would like to relate our sentiments to all the workers involved in the repairs and treatment of our home. They all were very professional, hard working and a credit to your company.” – Mr . & Mrs . Howell La Palma, CA
Even with the overwhelming evidence that I uncovered during my inspection, one of the other inspectors was still sticking with his story, where he told the homeowner that they could foam the attic and make all her problems go away! Witches Brew! I get so upset when an inspector makes wild claims about fixing problems when they don’t have an effective solution and continue to pressure sell their service if you find yourself in a situation like this, please be sure to ask yourself;
If a man told you he could walk on water, would you believe him? If a man said he call jump off a tall building and fly like a bird, would you believe him? When you come across someone trying to sell you some sort of “witch’s brew” DON’T BE SPOOKED! Call me and we’ ll get out to your home A.S.A. P. You may not always like what I have to say. But, I would rather tell you ” The way it is” and potentially walk away without doing business with you than to lie to you about some “concoction’ that will most likely never work.
You don’t always have to be “frightened”” you can call us at 949-631-7348 and get the truth from a professional. “Termite” Terry
