AskNACHI.org » No Water, No Power! (posted by Samantha)


Reply
  #1  
Old 8/1/08, 1:17 AM
AskNACHI.org AskNACHI.org is offline
Automated messenger from AskNACHI.org
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 111
Please Note: AskNACHI.org is a non-member guest and is in no way affiliated with InterNACHI or its members.
Default No Water, No Power! (posted by Samantha)

[ASKNACHI]This question was posted on [I]AskNACHI.org[/I] by [B]Samantha[/B] (from Everett, WA). [/ASKNACHI]How can a house's pipes and electricity be inspected when the energy and water are turned off??? Is there something I can look out for?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 8/1/08, 1:19 AM
relliott's Avatar
relliott relliott is offline
Active Poster
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: HARWOOD HTS, il
Posts: 8,570
Please Note: relliott is a non-member guest and is in no way affiliated with InterNACHI or its members.
Default Re: No Water, No Power! (posted by Samantha)

They need to be turned on ,as a good Inspection can't be performed that way.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 8/1/08, 8:16 AM
James H. Bushart's Avatar
James H. Bushart James H. Bushart is offline
InterNACHI Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Cassville, MO
Posts: 13,399
Default Re: No Water, No Power! (posted by Samantha)

Sounds like you're dealing with a repo. Many banks in this area simply refuse to be bothered with turning on utilities for inspections.

I've had to advise several clients that hesitation on the part of a property owner to provide service to any of the utilities should send up a red flag. If the seller forces you to "assume", you should "assume" the worst. Force them to eliminate your assumptions by providing you with the utilities you need to do so....or find a seller who will.

Especially with repos, one has to be realistic and understand that the owner who lacked the financial means to keep their house probably did not put a whole lot of money into its maintenance. A leaky pipe was more likely to find a temporary fix with a mouthful of chewing gum than an expensive call to the plumber. Accordingly, the water may be off for a plumbing reason....electricity may be off to keep the service panel from catching fire. You simply do not know.

Last edited by jbushart; 8/1/08 at 8:21 AM..
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 8/2/08, 4:03 AM
Brian E. Kelly Brian E. Kelly is offline
InterNACHI Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 11,642
Default Re: No Water, No Power! (posted by Samantha)

[quote=AskNACHI.org][asknachi]This question was posted on [I]AskNACHI.org[/I] by [B]Samantha[/B] (from Everett, WA). [/asknachi]How can a house's pipes and electricity be inspected when the energy and water are turned off??? ?[/quote]

They can't be properly inspected unless they are in energized or in operation at the time of the inspection.



"Never ever threaten anyone in Camoflage"
Tim Wilson

"Not everyone follows the same path"
Governor Sanford, musings on the Appalachian Trail
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 8/2/08, 7:59 AM
David P. Valley's Avatar
David P. Valley David P. Valley is offline
InterNACHI Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: METHUEN, MA
Posts: 7,925
Default Re: No Water, No Power! (posted by Samantha)

My advice....[U]Do not[/U] purchase a home without having the piping and other utilities in operation.

I've inspected many homes that were winterized when I arrived to inspect the home. I can't perform a thorough inspection if I'm unable to inspect the utilities.

I always tell my clients to have the utilities turned on before close of escrow and they do. Once the water did get turned "ON", they found that water was pouring out from all the ceilings. Every pipe in the house was full of holes from frozen water.

Closing papers never got signed.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 6:58 AM.

no new posts

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146