Understanding the "Product" you sell (This information could save your clients THOUSANDS of dollars) *  There's no reason to have a pre-sale inspection on a new home!     RIGHT????? *Have a hard time finding contractors?? Last Minute Inspection Discount Offer NBI's Tidbits (Snippets of life from NBI)  *Picture of the Week "Honey....do you mind if we cut back the ivy?" A little Humor to brighten your day *You know you are getting old when.... Time to Read: 5 Minutes or Less Routinely, agents confess how little they know about the physical product they sell…(the house). At times, they are embarrassed that they can’t answer client’s questions regarding the physical aspects of the house. Each publication, you will find helpful comments and pictures to help build your knowledge base. This information is not to make you a home or termite inspector. It’s to increase your core knowledge to make you even more valuable to your client.     There's no reason to have a pre-sale inspection on a new home! RIGHT?????     This is a beautiful home.  Everything was manicured and sitting on top of the hill overlooking a beautiful valley below.     The back yard was equally as pretty.  Beautiful pool and landscaping.   Surely nothing could be wrong with his house.    The only thing the client was concerned about was a musty smell coming from the subarea.                    Did you pick up on my subtle clue?  The client said "sub area".  Look at this picture carefully.  Do you noticed that something is missing?    Look carefully.          If you said its missing subarea vents you would be correct.   See the tiny crack next to the wall.  That is the opening the patio contractor has left to provide air into the subarea.   YIKES! ! !                     The patio contractor felt really generous here by providing one inch of air vent space rather than 1/4".      As you can see, this Arizona Flagstone is EVERYWHERE!  This is a massive patio.    What does it look like under the house???                 The first thing you see when you open the subarea cover is mushrooms.   That's your first clue that its too wet and there is not enough ventilation.                                  Next, you see that the patio contractor blocked off most of the air vents so he can install his "pretty" patio.                 The original air vents were the louvered type that don't allow much air in as it is.  This is one where the contractor left less than 1" of air space.     Notice the white "stuff" right above the air vent.  This is fungus "infection".  Luckily actual damage hasn't occurred.  Within another year, this entire area would have had to be removed and replaced.              The inspector removed the insulation along some of the outer walls and found the rim joist turning black from the lack of ventilation.    Amazingly, no structural damage has yet occurred.  This homeowner was incredibly lucky.  With a little creativity, I believe he will be able to adequately resolve this problem.    Robert Swickard (one of NBI's top inspectors) recommended cutting six inch openings around each air vent using a concrete saw.  He then recommended installing a 6 Mil black plastic moisture barrier be installed in the subarea to trap all of the subarea moisture in the ground preventing it from vaporizing up through the house.    Robert's recommendation will save the owner $20,000 - $30,000 over what it would cost to completely remove and replace this pretty patio.   (This is just another example of hiring a "non-biased" inspection company that isn't trying to sell your client corrective work.  Who are you going to have inspect your next listing??)       Substructure ventilation is incredibly important!      This homeowner wasn't nearly as lucky as the last.  Notice the fungus damage to the bottom of this girder.    This is a classic example of inadequate subarea ventilation.  You will notice that the left side of the subarea is deeper than the right side.  The shallower the subarea, the less ventilation.  You will notice that the fungus damage nearly follows the curve of the soil.  As the soil goes higher....so does the fungus damage.              This fungus is in its advanced stages.  The rooting systems have bored into the wood and structurally weakened the timbers.                    This fungus looks like it's out of a horror movie.....simply taking over the entire house.      These timbers will literally crumble in your hands.  Substantial repairs will be required.  This is what the first house would have looked like in 1-2 years if Robert hadn't caught the problem..   (Pictures by Robert Swickard....NBI's Chief Inspector Alameda County )   This is just ONE of the reasons why plastic moisture barriers under your house are so valuable.  They can be installed for as little as $300.00 per thousand sq. ft of subarea.  $300.00 or $10,000 in damage.... which would you prefer?   Do yourself and your seller a favor.  Have NBI perform BOTH Home and Termite inspections prior to finding a buyer. _____________________________________________________ NBI produces the highest quality inspection reports in the industry.   EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE! ! Like these pictures?  We provide pictures in our Home "AND" our Termite reports.  Go to www.goNBI.com for samples of NBI's home and termite reports. Click on Sample Report in the left column. Place your inspection orders on-line, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  Have you missed previous Straight Fax Newsletters?  Click HERE.  We have many posted for your review.  They contain a lot of great information. To the Top   Have a hard time finding contractors??   It seems as though every time NBI finds a major problem during an inspection, the agent asks two questions: 1.  "How much will that cost?" 2.  "Do you know of any contractor that can do that?" In our last newsletter, we conducted a survey regarding the difficulty in finding qualified contractors.   Your response to the survey was INCREDIBLE!  We received nearly 1000 responses which indicates this is a MAJOR problem in the real estate industry.   Here is a recap of how you responded: 1. When a problem is uncovered by an inspector, what percent of time does your client (buyer/seller) expect you to provide them with contractors and/or bids to correct the problem?     Response:  80% 2. How difficult of a time do you have finding contractors to provide "hard bids" for corrective work found during inspections?  Response:  Difficult 3. How difficult of a time do you have finding contractors to "perform" corrective work found during inspections?  Response:  Difficult 4. On average, how many hours (per listing/sale) do you spend calling contractors and meeting them at the property so they can bid a job?   Range:  6-20 hours.   Average 9.5 5. On a 1-10 scale (10 being extremely valuable) how much more valuable would an actual BID (vs. an estimate) be to perform corrective work? (A BID is where a contractor commits to perform the corrective work for a set price.)  Answer:  Resounding 10! ! ! 6. On a 1-10 scale how valuable would it be to have repair bids on HOME inspection findings?  Answer:  Resounding 10! ! ! 7. Do you currently use a termite company that DOES perform corrective work simply because it is easier to get needed "bids" and get the repairs performed?  YES:  87%   NO:  7% 8. What percent of your transactions is the corrective work performed "prior" to the close of escrow?  Range 0% - 80%  Average:  58% 9. What percent of time (if you know) do the home buyers actually hire a contractor to perform the corrective work vs. performing the work themselves?   Range 30% - 90%  Average:  74% 10. If you were able to receive bids from three competing contractors; what percent of times would one of those contractors "actually" be hired to perform the corrective work (either by the seller or buyer)?  Range 4% - 95%  Average:  82% I am so impressed with the number of agents that took time to answer these questions.  It clearly shows that this is a very IMPORTANT topic.  You confirmed that: Finding a contractor is Difficult!  That having bids on Home reports would be incredibly valuable.  That you are hiring termite inspection companies that perform corrective work because it is "easier".  NBI is in the process of developing a method whereby you will be able to receive actual hard BIDS to perform corrective work on the properties we inspect.  Developing this technology is very expensive and time consuming.  We need further input from you to determine whether it is worthy of that type of investment.  Your responses to our first survey has clearly demonstrated the need for such a service.  Now, we need answers to another set of questions.  Please take the time to answer these SURVEY questions.  They will assist us in our final determination. Remember, YOU will be the ultimate beneficiary of this survey.  Thanks in advance for your candid responses.      (Snippets of life from NBI) Picture of the Week: "Honey....do you mind if we cut back the ivy?" "Its making our bedroom so dark. "    Response:  " I like a dark bedroom."   "I'm having a hard time looking out the window."    Response:  "Is it really that bad?  I kind of like it."   "Actually....what I like most is having indoor plants that I don't ever have to water! ! " Pictures by:  Jim Zahiralis (NBI Inspector) To the Top We need your help! ! Our records are showing that thousands of our emails are being swept out to Sea by overzealous spam filters because of our graphic text and pictures.  If you feel that NBI's newsletters are informative and helpful, we would really appreciate you jumping up and down, waving your arms during your next sale meeting asking all of the other agents in your office to put us in their email address book.  They are missing out on very worthwhile information. Thank You NBI has only two things to sell, unequalled construction knowledge and “TIME”. We understand that we will never be able to sell “TOMORROW” again. NBI would rather give your client a GIANT discount for acting fast, than not filling an open time slot. By ordering a “Last Minute Home and Termite Inspection”, your client could save up to $300. Our normal rates are: (Based upon homes under 2000 sq. ft.) (Prices may vary between market areas.) (San Francisco and Fresno County prices are slightly different.  Please call our office for exact fees.) Home Inspection: $375.00 Termite Inspection: $210.00 Total:.. $585.00 If you fill a combination (home and termite) inspection for the day following your call; your client will have to pay only $285.00! A $300 SAVINGS! (Example: If you call NBI on Monday and you are able to fill an open time slot we have on Tuesday, you will receive up to a $300 discount.) If you fill one of our time slots 2 days from your call, your client will have to pay only $385.00! A $200 SAVINGS! If you fill one of our time slots 3 days from your call, your client will only have to pay $485.00! A $100 SAVINGS! (Note: Our condominium inspection prices are $240, $310, and $380 respectively.) Call our office at (800) Go-NBI-NOW (800) 466-2466 for complete details. For additional information about our company, please visits us at www.goNBI.com. NBI produces the highest quality inspection reports in the industry.   EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE! ! We provide pictures in our Home "AND" our Termite reports.  Go to www.goNBI.com  for samples of NBI's home and termite reports. Click on Sample Report in the left column. Place your inspection orders on-line, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  Have you missed previous Straight Fax Newsletters?  Click HERE.  We have many posted for your review.  They contain a lot of great information. To the Top You know you are getting old when.... When someone compliments those beautiful alligator shoes you are wearing and you’re barefooted. When your doctor just holds you up to a light when he needs an X-ray. When your wife yells downstairs and says….”Run up real quick and let’s have some sex.”……and you yell back.    “You know, I can just do one or the other.”  ---------------------------- This guy was driving down the freeway, and gets a call from his wife on the cell phone and she says. “Harry, be VERY CAREFUL….I just heard on the news, there’s a car going the wrong way on the freeway.”  And Harry says….”One car?   There’s HUNDREDS! ! ! “ To the Top Like NBI's Straight FAX Newsletter?   Nearly 500 new agents per month are asking to receive our newsletter.  Encourage everyone in your office to register for this worthwhile information. Send to, Answerman@goNBI.com. What issues would you like us to discuss in future Straight Fax Newsletters?  Electrical, Plumbing….Roofs???   Proper interpretation of pest control reports???   Let us know. HAVE QUESTIONS or concerns regarding a potential home problem, ask NBI's AnswerMan at Answerman@goNBI.com  Editor Notes:  Dale J. Luger founded National Building Inspectors in 1986.  Mr. Luger has purchased; rehabilitated and sold over 1000 residential units in his career.  His credentials as a General Contractor, Roofing Contractor (1976), CA Real Estate Broker (1982), Pest Control Operator (1987) make him uniquely qualified and knowledgeable of all aspects of real estate transactions.