Realtor was not talking

[cbottger]

The realtor did not even mention the word fire until she saw me head for the attic entry hole then she stated I did not know if you be able to fit through the excess hole. She did not know me very well. Then she stated BTW there has be a fire in the attic Gotta Luv them all

[bjones1]

Nice find. reminds me of an inspection on a building owned by a civil litigator. Main floor was his office, second floor apartment and attic apartment. 12 X 12 attic opening (thats inches). I got my shoulders through, shone my light, lo and behold, 4 rafters charred. Lawyer says he never knew. Go figure.

[Linas I. Dapkus]

Charlie,
Are you sure it wasn't scortched because of a bad roof installation or inadequate ventilation??

[bjones1]

Originally Posted by ldapkus

Charlie,
Are you sure it wasn't scortched because of a bad roof installation or inadequate ventilation??

meebee the insulating guy waz smokin up there?

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by bjones1

Nice find. reminds me of an inspection on a building owned by a civil litigator. Main floor was his office, second floor apartment and attic apartment. 12 X 12 attic opening (thats inches). I got my shoulders through, shone my light, lo and behold, 4 rafters charred. Lawyer says he never knew. Go figure.

Maybe the lawyer didn't know. I've met many people who have never seen the insides of their attic, and some people buy properties without getting home inspections, and some people have not lived in their properties since the date of construction so they might not be aware of what happened in the past.

A few months ago I was doing a Move-In-Certified inspection on home built in 1937. I was up in the attic, a very clean attic, and found three boxes with some old books in them. That was the only thing in the attic (other than the knob and tube wiring). The seller asked me if I could bring them down. When I did, she exclaimed happily, "I've been looking for those for forty years! I thought the movers lost them." Turns out that when she moved into the house, her daughter put them up there and they went missing until I found them. The collection had belonged to her grandfather and included many books from the 1800s.

[David P. Valley]

Nice catch.

I like it when I find extensive Termite damage and the Realtor then says "Oh, that's been treated already".

I reply with, OK, great. Please supply my client with the paperwork to prove treatment for termites. Then I ask "When do the Sellers plan on reinforcing the damaged structural members"?

They always reply with, "Oh, it has to be reinforced"?

[Russel Ray]

Originally Posted by dvalley

I like it when I find extensive Termite damage and the Realtor then says "Oh, that's been treated already".

I guess I'm lucky in that it is very rare for me to do a home inspection before the termite inspection has been done. The sellers pay for the termite inspection here, so they usually get that done right after they sign the listing documents with the Realtor. And 90% of the Realtors bring the termite report to the inspection and ask me if I would like to look at it. I usually do and proceed to go over its findings with my Clients and the Realtor, who are always very appreciative of my extra effort in interpreting these obscure termite reports that we have here.

[bjones1]

Originally Posted by rray

Maybe the lawyer didn't know. I've met many people who have never seen the insides of their attic, and some people buy properties without getting home inspections, and some people have not lived in their properties since the date of construction so they might not be aware of what happened in the past........

Russell..........His secretary knew, said it was before the lawyer bought the building. The RE did not know.
On this particular house, my clent's agent was barred from the property by the lawyer. The agent had looked over the property, found a lot of unsafe things and promptly notified the building inspector instead of going to the lawyer.