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Magic wand? I’d change the home inspection contingency form.

If I could wave a magic wand to make my job as a home inspector easier, I'd change the home inspection contingency form. Dig. When someone buys a home in Minnesota, they typically include an addendum to their purchase agreement, called the Inspection Contingency. This is typically a one-page form that…

New Home Inspection Contingency form takes effect August 1st in Minnesota

For anyone buying or selling a home in Minnesota after August 1st, 2016, heads up: the Minnesota REALTORS® Forms Committee has revised the Inspection Contingency form, which is typically what gets used when writing an offer on a home. If you're a first time home buyer, the whole process of signing…

PODCAST: Melting snow and basement water

Today we talk about tips on how to manage melting snow and basement water.  Reuben discusses where melted snow goes and how they penetrate through the basement or even the sewers. Tessa mentions that newer houses in Minnesota have a drain tile system then she explains how a sump pump…

PODCAST: Home Inspection Legal Issues (with Atty. Steve Laitinen)

The home inspection industry is subject to lawsuits. Attorney Steve Laitinen, a litigator and a trial lawyer from Larson King Law Firm, joins the show to discuss home inspection legal issues. Steve discusses the typical lawsuits against inspectors. He mentions that cases vary in different jurisdictions- some have specific statutes…

PODCAST: Real Estate Market Updates (with Joe Schwartzbauer)

Realtor Joe Schwartzbauer from the Grey Duck Properties team joins the show to talk about real estate market updates. Joe mentions that the market is starting to get back to normal from the limitations of the pandemic. He talks about the rising interest rates and possible rate-lock, the seller's behavior…

PODCAST: Changes to Appraisals

Owner of Inspection WerXs and Appraisal WerX, Lanny Freng joins the show to talk about the property appraisal industry.  Lanny talks about the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) and the Appraisal Management Company (AMC) and how it changed the industry and the appraiser's relationship with mortgage companies since 2008.…

PODCAST: How to win your home purchase agreement (with Rhonda Wilson)

A senior realtor in the Minneapolis market, Rhonda Wilson, joins the show to talk about real estate in 2022 and strategies for clients to win negotiations.  Rhonda explains that it's difficult for buyers to get units; clients need to be prepared and have a good downpayment. She also shares some…

Mandated Energy Audit (with George Ury)

Today’s episode features George Ury, a licensed Truth in Sale of Housing evaluator and one of the finest home inspectors at Structure Tech. Today’s focus is on Minneapolis Truth-in-Housing Evaluations, and the whole new energy component that was added last year. George discusses how the new TISH evaluations are going…

Buying homes without inspections (with Jim Starr)

Today’s episode starts off by digging into the local real estate market with our guest, a Realtor® extraordinaire at RE/MAX Advantage Plus, Jim Starr. He shares what the real estate market’s like in the Twin cities in the last week of February. He shares a couple of listings they had,…

Q&A: How do you inspect a snow-covered roof?

This week’s question comes from every person buying a home in the dead of winter in Minnesota: “How do you inspect a snow-covered roof?” The short and bitter answer? We can’t inspect it. Defects with roofs can be subtle, barely noticeable. Even a small amount of snow can be enough…

Buying a house that’s covered with snow (with Michael Bartus)

This podcast was recorded in the studio in mid-February of 2020, pre-covid. We brought on a special guest for this episode, residential Realtor® Michael Bartus of Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty. The topic was buying a house in the winter, and how to deal with a roof that’s covered in snow,…

Real Estate Negotiations (with Michael Bartus)

A residential Realtor® at Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty, Michael Bartus joins the show to talk about negotiations after the inspection and how to negotiate other real estate transactions. The focus of this show was to pick up on where last week’s show left off, talking about a document that Reuben…

Top 12 clues a storm-chaser is at your door

The storm chasers are out in full force after last week’s hail storm. If you live in an area that was hit, you’ve probably already had visitors at your door. One of the inspectors on my team had people show up the very next morning. Storm chasing is a huge…

How to sell your home with fewer problems: a case for pre-listing inspections

Twenty-five-year real estate veteran Rhonda Wilson joins the show a second time to discuss pre-listing inspections. Rhonda has been encouraging her sellers to get pre-listing inspections for the past decade, and she has become quite accustomed to having her listings sell faster and with far fewer hassles than most other real estate…

PODCAST: Pocket listings with Dan Sibinski

For this episode, we sit down with Minnesota Realtor® Dan Sibinski to talk about the ins and outs of pocket listings. Tessa also shares a frustrating personal story related to pocket listings. TRANSCRIPTION The following is a transcription from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some…

PODCAST: Pocket listings with Dan Sibinski

For this episode, we sit down with Minnesota Realtor® Dan Sibinski to talk about the ins and outs of pocket listings. Tessa also shares a frustrating personal story related to pocket listings. TRANSCRIPTION The following is a transcription from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some…

Podcast: Why some homes qualify for hail damage but others don’t

Today, we interview Charles Thayer from All Around. If you listen to the radio here in the Twin Cities, you've surely heard his company's rock-anthem slogan: "We get it done and we do it right! Chya!" Charles explains that while his company is an exterior contractor, he himself is probably…

Podcast: Why some homes qualify for hail damage but others don’t

Today, we interview Charles Thayer from All Around. If you listen to the radio here in the Twin Cities, you've surely heard his company's rock-anthem slogan: "We get it done and we do it right! Chya!" Charles explains that while his company is an exterior contractor, he himself is probably…

Podcast: What should be negotiated after the home inspection?

Bill, Tessa, and Reuben discuss negotiations after the home inspection. Some home buyers turn to the home inspector for advice on how to negotiate with sellers after the home inspection, but this is something that we also lean on the real estate agent for. This is their realm. Nevertheless, we…

Podcast: What should be negotiated after the home inspection?

Bill, Tessa, and Reuben discuss negotiations after the home inspection. Some home buyers turn to the home inspector for advice on how to negotiate with sellers after the home inspection, but this is something that we also lean on the real estate agent for. This is their realm. Nevertheless, we…

Attic inspections, sealed attic access panels

Sealed attic access panels are the bane of my existence. Nothing about home inspections causes more consternation than 'sealed' attic access panels; not just for the home inspector, but also for the buyer, the seller, and the real estate agents involved in the sale. We've changed our official company policy…

Are sewer inspections intrusive? No.

This week’s question comes from a real estate agent: “Are sewer inspections intrusive? Does the seller need to give special permission if you’re going to do a sewer inspection at the same time as the home inspection? Do you have to notify the seller first?” The answers, respectively, are no, no,…

Dear Home Seller, please let me into your attic

Dear Home Seller, I’ll be doing a home inspection at your house in the near future. I’ll be going through your house from top-to-bottom for the new home buyer(s) to help make sure that your home is as great as the buyers think it is. I’ll surely have several recommendations…

Negotiations after the inspection, part 2: Stuff that shouldn’t be negotiated

In last week's blog post, Negotiations after the inspection, part 1: options for the buyer, I discussed four options that a home buyer has after receiving a written inspection report. Cancel the purchase agreement Do nothing Renegotiate price Ask the seller to perform repairs. The first two options are pretty…