american home week 2011

•

Advertising Supplement to the Lewiston Tribune

American

HOME WEEKHomeowner Resource Guide

• Home Inspections• Downsizing• Doing Your Part• A Yard You Can Eat

2011

All About MortgagesBenefits of Gardening

GREEN Roofs

a m e r i c a n h o m e w e e k S U n D a Y, a P r i L 1 0 , 2 0 1 12

By Tom SkevinThe RecoRd (hackensack n.J.)

HACKENSACK, N.J. — That nasty winter endured by many regions of the U.S. took a toll on more than lower backs sore from

shoveling and budgets strained from all the snow removal — it also punished homes and prop-erty.

Drenching rains this month on top of the seemingly end-less snow of December, January

and February only added to the damage.

“(I’ve had) hundreds of phone calls inquiring about water from ice dams (buildups) leaking into homes and shingles blown off by the high winds,” says vet-eran roofer Stan Reczkowski of SR Roofing in Paramus and Hillsdale, N.J. This winter “rivals the winters of 1986-87 and 1995-96.”

So it’s time to put away the shovels, survey the damage and get to work on spring fix-ups and cleanups.

BasementsAnyone with water in the

basement has company.“We have seen a dramatic

increase in the number of calls from customers,” says Bob Lindsay, president of Weather-Tite Waterproofing in Saddle Brook, N.J.

“Homeowners are seeking a permanent remedy so that they never have to deal with this type of situation again,” he says, add-ing that standard insurance poli-cies often do not cover water-proofing.

Installation of a sump pump can run $800 to $1,000, and an interior-drainage system $5,000-$10,000, with larger homes

Spring means it’s time to take stock of winter’s toll

MCTBob Lindsay, (right) owner of Weather-Tite Waterproofing, watches one of his employees fill in a portion of a newly installed French drain in the basement of a Ramsey, N.J. home.

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priced higher. Exterior work that includes excavation: $20,000 and up.

For mold and mildew, Lindsay says to look for fuzzy-looking black staining along the bottom of walls, grayish/green spots and a general musty odor.

Hire an independent lab to conduct testing to determine the type of mold present before hiring a mold-remediation con-tractor, says Lindsay, who has been in the waterproofing busi-ness for 19 years. “This avoids a conflict of interest and can potentially save homeowners a large amount of money, as not all molds are toxic.”

Roofing/GuttersFor signs of damage, look for

staining on wood in the attic and on the walls and ceilings else-where. Paint that is bubbling or flaking is another indication of water damage.

Outside, walk the perimeter to visually inspect the roof, using binoculars if needed. Looking from a window on the upper floor can help.

“Inspect the gutters and lead-ers (pipes) for damaged, hang-ing or missing parts,” advises Reczkowski, who has been a roofer for 42 of his 62 years. “Then, scan all sections of the roof for missing shingles or spots that are bulged or other-wise funny-looking.”

This is one job that is not for the weekend warrior.

“I would highly recom-mend anyone without experi-ence walking on roofs not doing repairs to their roof,” he says. “I know of many a homeowner with horror stories to tell.”

Repairs that include over 25 percent of the total square foot-

age of a roof require a building permit. Same goes for siding.

For a complete replacement, Reczkowski offers the follow-ing estimates: Cape Cod, $4,200 to $7,800; colonials $3,900-$15,000; and splits $4,800-$9,600. That includes removing material down to the sheathing (plywood), and installation of felt paper and shingles.

“Don’t believe the (low-price) advertisements,” he warns.

Beams and rafters that are broken or split need to be replaced by a pro.

Painting/Spackling“The interiors were hit hard

by ice dams in the gutters that got under the roof and thawed,” says Frank Sacco, a painting pro for 25 years.

Once the roof and gutters are repaired and it is clear no more water is coming in, some interior work can be done by reasonably skilled homeowners.

Lay drop cloths on the floor and cover elsewhere with light-gauge plastic. Wearing a dust mask, use a putty knife or the like to remove loose material on walls and ceilings. Apply a light coat of joint compound (spackle) on the damaged area and slightly beyond its perimeter. Use less spackle along the perimeter (known as “feathering”). When dry, sand in a circular motion with light- to medium-grit paper/blocks. Wear down the edges so that the repair blends into the surrounding area.

Apply additional coat(s) as needed, then brush/roll on primer followed by a top coat of paint.

For holes or damaged wall/ceiling areas that are too big to patch, call a pro.

Exterior Painting/Decks:Due to the weather, blistering

paint and moisture buildup can be found on home exteriors and on decks.

“Because of this past winter being harsh, you’re not alone,” says Sacco of Frank’s Painting in River Edge, N.J.

Keep in mind when hiring a pro that the busy season for outside work (spring, summer) could be hectic this year.

“Call someone now to get on their list, especially for exteri-ors,” advises Sacco. “Decks are best done April, May, June, September or October. Direct sun and heat build up on decks; you can’t treat it if the temperature on the deck is over 80 degrees.”

For complete paint jobs, Sacco offers the following start-ing figures: Cape Cod, $1,600;

split-level, $2,400; and colonial $3,400. Condition of the exist-ing paint, height of the home and property slope are among the variables that can increase prices.

LandscapeHere, it’s more functional

than making the grass the green-est on the block. Erosion where soil meets the foundation can lead to water in the basement, as soil should slope away from the house.

“Look for puddles and run-off so that they can be corrected,” says Will Guttierez of Lawn-a-Live in Ridgewood, N.J., a landscaper for 30 years.

Prior to filling in low spots by the foundation, Guttierez says, a 3-foot-wide layer of heavy-duty plastic can be laid horizontally. Then cover with 4 to 6 inches of soil, stone or mulch, which will help water drain away from the foundation.

Damaged and/or listing trees should be pruned or removed by a professional with insurance.

Rubber mats may turn vinyl flooring yellow

By Al HeAvensThe PhiladelPhia inquirer

Q: I have inexpensive vinyl flooring in two bathrooms in my house. The house is now about 11 years old and I am having a problem trying to clean the floors — some of the area has turned yellow. I have tried several types of floor cleaners. I am seeking a solution to this problem.

A: I looked on the Armstrong website for an answer, and rub-ber-backed bath mats or rugs might be the cause:

Chemical compounds, referred to as antioxidants, are formulated into rubber materi-als to extend the life of the rubber and prevent brittleness.

Some antioxidants react chemically with ingredients in flexible vinyl to produce a yellowish stain.

This is referred to in the vinyl industry as “antioxidant staining.” Any rubber con-taining these antioxidants in contact with the floor could produce this staining.

Certain types of rubber mats, rubber-backed rugs, and rubber wheels on carts can cause this discoloration.

Ensure the mats and wheels will be in contact with the vinyl floor are of the “non-staining” type of rubber.

The experts say it is highly unlikely the yellow can be removed. Some mats are backed with materials that won’t react, so you can at least prevent more stains by buying and using them.

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New options are a good way to cut energy bills

By KATHLEEN LYNNTHE RECORD HACKENSACK N.J.

HACKENSACK, N.J. — When Scott Harris and Sarah Jack did a major renovation of their 1925 Teaneck, N.J., colo-nial in the summer of 2009, they kept the environment in mind — for example, choosing kitchen counters made of cement and recycled glass.

They thought about solar roof panels, but rejected that idea when they were told that they’d have to chop down a towering tree that shades their back yard and house.

Instead, they installed a green, or living, roof. The greenery

absorbs and filters rainwater, as well as adding insulation, which cuts heating and cooling costs.

For most homeowners, the biggest environmental impact of a roof is simply that it keeps the

environment out. But there are innovations that aim to make the roof over your head an important tool in the effort to save energy and reverse global warming. And we’re not just talking about solar panels. There are cool roofs that reflect, instead of absorb, the sun’s rays; roofs made with

recycled material; and green or “living” roofs, like the one on the Harris-Jack house.

While the number of energy-saving options is growing fast, these roofs tend to be signifi-cantly more expensive than the traditional asphalt shingle roof. As a result, homeowners have been slow to adopt them.

But Harris, a graphic designer, and Jack, a publishing executive, made the leap — choosing a green roof partly for energy sav-ings, and partly for aesthetics.

“We wanted to do something to see if we could save on energy bills,” said Harris. “But it’s nice just to look out at it. Now when people come to visit, we have to bring them to the bathroom upstairs to look at the roof.”

Their green installation, on a flat section of roof at the rear of their house, consists of shal-low trays holding a light, rocky

Put a green roof over your head Scott Harris, of Teaneck, New Jersey, peers out of a second floor window onto his “green” roof.MCT

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Do Your Part from the comfort of your kitchen

By Terri BenneTT The CharloTTe observer

(CharloTTe, N.C.).

We know that the heart of the home is in the kitchen. So, what better place to set up your own green headquarters? Going green at home means creating a healthier environ-ment for your family. When you Do Your Part you’ll have your loved ones eating better, breathing easier, and reducing their impact on the planet.

One of my most effective ways of getting the whole family involved in recycling is with the mobile recycling center I stash in the corner of the kitchen. OK, it’s really a laundry cart on wheels, but it does the trick and is easy on the eyes. There are three compartments that make it super simple to collect paper, paperboard, and other non-food items for recycling. I use one compartment to store all my reusable shopping bags. Since it’s on wheels, I move it

See KITCHEN, Page 6

soil and a mix of sedums, a drought-resistant, low-mainte-nance plant.

It was the first residential roof installed by Rob Schucker of R&S Landscaping in Midland Park, N.J., who also created a rooftop garden at Hackensack University Medical Center. He got interested in green roofs several years ago.

“I was flying out of Newark, and I looked down and just saw this sea of black asphalt roofs,” Schucker said. “It just struck me: ‘Wow, we’ve really impacted this New York-New Jersey area. What would it look like if these black surfaces were all green?’ ”

The cost of green roofs ranges from $15 to $35 a square foot — significantly more than a simple asphalt roof. The roofs require a structure strong enough to hold the plants and soil, even when the soil is saturated after a rain-storm. And some homeowners worry that if such a roof devel-ops a leak, it would be more difficult to fix — though using trays lessens that concern.

But green roofs tend to last much longer, because the vege-tation protects the roof structure from drastic changes in tem-perature, according to Jennifer Souder, a research manager at the Center for Green Building at Rutgers University.

“They can be a hard sell, because this is money you have to pay now,” she said. “But over the long period, they can be cost-effective.”

n n nGreen roofs also can help the

environment by reducing storm water runoff, which washes pol-lutants into the state’s water-ways. And they can dramatically reduce the so-called urban heat island effect — the tendency of built-up, paved areas to be hotter than rural, natural areas. Souder said a test on roofs in Queens found that on a hot day, the air above a black roof registered 170 degrees; above a white roof, 115 degrees; and above a green roof, 85 degrees.

Though green roofs are still unusual, the industry grew 16 percent in 2009, according to the organization Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. They’ve been used on a number of pub-lic buildings, including Chicago City Hall.

Environmental concerns also are giving a boost to metal roofs, which make up an estimated 11 percent of the residential re-roofing market, up from about 4 percent a decade ago, according to the Metal Roofing Alliance, a trade group.

Metal roofs cost two to three times what an asphalt shingle roof costs, according to the alliance. But the group points out that metal roofs are lighter than asphalt shingles, and last decades longer.

They typically include at least 28 percent recycled material, and can be recycled at the end of their useful lives. In addition, the roofs can be coated or paint-ed to reflect sunlight, which

reduces the home’s air condi-tioning costs. Some are Energy Star-rated, which entitles hom-eowners to a federal tax credit of up to $1,500 (which expires at the end of the year).

Bob LeSauvage had a very simple reason for choosing a metal roof on his Mahwah, N.J., home: “I’ll never have to think about doing a roof again — and the next guy (who owns the house) probably won’t, either,” he said.

The steel roof LeSauvage had installed on his 1930s-vintage home last summer has a 50-year warranty.

So far, he’s very happy with it. There’s a layer of insula-tion between the wood and the metal, which muffles the sound of rain — though he said the acorns falling from a nearby tree do seem to make more noise than they did on the old roof.

Metal is not the only material that is recycled for roofs; roofs can be made out of recycled rub-ber and plastic, including old tires, carpet and bottles, and made to look like slate or wood shakes.

n n nEven asphalt shingles, the

workhorse of the roofing world, are getting an energy-saving twist. Asphalt roofs are the low-est-cost option, typically run-ning $80 to $100 per “square” — a roofing industry measure that’s equal to 100 square feet. That comes to about $1,000 to $1,200 for a 1,200-square-foot roof on a Cape Cod (not includ-ing installation charges). Larger

houses, of course, cost more.Because the asphalt shingles

are affordable, they cover eight of every 10 homes in the U.S., according to the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association.

But there are some new developments here, too — nota-bly energy-saving “cool” roofs, which incorporate reflective granules to reduce the heat that comes into the attic.

GAF Materials Corp. of Wayne, N.J., the nation’s largest manufacturer of roofing materi-als, estimates that such roofs can cut homeowners’ cooling costs by 7 to 15 percent.

Cost, however, is an issue. The cool shingles cost at least 40 percent more than regular shin-gles, according to Tim Williams, director of marketing at East Rutherford, N.J.-based Allied Building Products. Many hom-eowners like the idea of saving energy, but are reluctant to spend the extra money, he said.

Dean Logan, president of Complete Roof Systems in Dumont, N.J., said the reflec-tive shingles don’t offer much benefit, especially considering their cost.

He said homeowners who want to save energy would be better off spending money on insulation under the roof.

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from room to room to collect items that might not otherwise make it to the recycling bin. It’s the perfect chore for younger members of the family because it teaches them about all the items that can be recycled into something new.

Recycling is one way to go green in the kitchen. Reducing waste and reusing items are others. Packing waste-free lunches should be on every mom’s list. Putting lunch items in reusable containers (includ-ing reusable juice “boxes”) helps cut down on waste. Think about all the single use items you could avoid — plastic baggies, snack bags, paper nap-kins, and plastic utensils. Paper towels are another single-use item responsible for a lot of waste in most kitchens. Try doing without them for a week and you’ll see how easy it is.

Instead of grabbing one on your way to the garbage, keep reusable dishtowels and cloth napkins handy in a drawer. You’ll use fewer resources laundering them than what it

takes to produce roll after roll of paper towels.

Next up — those toxic cock-tails you have sitting under the sink. Things like chemical cleaners, bug killers, and air

fresheners can actually pollute your home with toxins that are known to cause asthma and other more serious health prob-lems.

These days it’s easy to find

effective and totally non-toxic products to help you clean every dirty job or remove any pest or odor from your home. You can also make your own cleaners and air fresheners using two of my favorite sta-ples — baking soda and white vinegar.

Of course, we can’t forget the food when considering ways to go green in a kitchen. If you don’t have the room or time for a full-fledged gar-den, consider planting a small container with your favorite herbs or small veggies. Or you can support a local farm and receive freshly picked produce in exchange by join-ing a Community Supported Agriculture. Visit DoYourPart.com/Columns to find one near you.

It really doesn’t have to take extra time or money to Do Your Part at home. There are many ways you can make an even bigger difference — right from the comfort of your kitchen.

MCTOne of the most effective ways of getting the whole family involved in recycling is with the mobile recycling center Terri Bennett stashes in the corner of the kitchen.

KITCHENFrom page 5

By WILLIAM HAGEMANCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Turning your front yard into an edible garden can be an edu-cation. Not just for you, but for neighbors too.

Ivette Soler tells a story about skateboarders who stopped to admire her front yard, where the lawn had been replaced by a variety of vegetables and herbs. “One of ’em said, ‘Look! Those are artichokes! Dude, they grow

on plants!’ ”Soler, who lives in Los

Angeles, has been writ-ing the gardening blog “The Germinatrix” (thegerminatrix.com) since 2006. She has been a longtime advocate of having

an edible front yard. In fact, her first book has just been published, called, appropriately, “The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden” (Timber Press, $19.95).

Q: When people think about growing food, they often think of farmers’ fields, regimented rows of corn or beans.

A: Plants that give us food can be just as ornamental when we combine them with other things and when we create smart associations. Then we have real gardening. We plant in rows for yield, which is of course super-legit, but when you’re in the front yard you have to think about curb appeal as well. And so (we go) to those traditional ideas of garden design, a few little hints and thoughts and tricks and plan-ning that allow you to do things that create cohesive, lovely landscapes with edibles.

Q: Do you have to choose between what looks good and what you like to eat?

A: What’s so fantastic, there’s such a wealth of beauty in the edible palette, you can kind of skirt the issue in many ways. You can do both, espe-cially if you’re looking into the heirloom edibles. They’re just glorious things to choose from in terms of color and texture and form.

Q: What about vegetable rustlers?

A: Anybody can walk up and take a lemon or grab an apple or, God forbid, cut off an artichoke, which has happened to me. What I’ve realized is it’s usually not somebody from another neighborhood. ... It’s usually people who walk around the neighborhood. I’ve seen them take basil. I talk to them. I say, “You can always ask me, and I’ll give you some.”

I find when I talk to people

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it changes the relationship. (It becomes) “This is my friend; of course I don’t want to take from my friend.” So the more you start interacting with your neighborhood and community, which automatically happens

when you’re gardening because you’re out there so much, it becomes a different dynamic.

Q: What do you have in your front yard?

A: Lots of herbs integrated (with ornamentals). And a great

thing that translates climate to climate, I have lettuces all over. I grow artichokes, I grow toma-toes, little cherry tomatoes, way in back because foliage can get a little ratty as the season goes on. My front yard is all about the basils and the oreganos and the fennel. And every year I grow beans. I also have another part that I consider my front yard, the area between the side-walk and streets. I have three large raised beds there. I grow Swiss chard; right now there’s a lot of Lacinato kale, or black kale, and red mustard.

Q: Is it the same every year?A: I love experimenting.

That’s one of the things about edible gardening that captured my imagination — I can do something different from sea-son to season. For the most part, my ornamentals are my structure. Then year to year I make changes in my edibles. That makes it almost like I’m creating a new garden.

This season, it will be a char-treuse garden. So I can go mad with the golden oregano and variegated thymes and really bright lettuces.

There are more benefits besides vegetables

By Kathy Van MulleKoMDaily Press (NewPort News,

Va.)

Gardening is good for you in many ways. Besides giving you better views to enjoy, gardening

improves your physical, nutri-tional and mental health.

Here’s how, courtesy of Bonnie Plants, a label you’ll see on many vegetable and herb plants available for spring and summer planting at garden cen-ters nationwide.

Power Of Sunlight When you work in the yard,

the sun helps the body make

vitamin D, which is essential for healthy bones and may slow the progression of osteoporosis.

The positive powers of sun-light also work on the mind.

Physical Fitness To reap the benefits of gar-

dening, you have to do more than just patter about. The most energetic activities in terms of calories used are digging and shoveling.

If you spend 30 minutes on either of these activities, you burn 200-360 calories.

Gardening gets you and your loved ones outdoorsGardening gets you and your

loved ones outdoors for ex-ercise and time together.

MCT

See GARDENING, Page 10

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GARDENINGFrom page 7

By EvE MitchEllContra Costa times

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — Loc Chau was looking for a super-low interest rate to finance his San Jose, Calif., condominium, a place he envi-sions living in for a few years. Super-low to him means below 4 percent.

So he opted for an adjustable-rate mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration as an alternative to a 30-year-fixed rate mortgage.

In November, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hit a 40-year record low, averaging 4.17 per-cent. But now, they are back in the 5 percent range.

“I don’t plan to stay here for-ever. History tells me I’ve aver-aged five years in each place I’ve purchased, and I don’t see any benefit to lock in a rate that is higher. I didn’t want to go with 30 years,” Chau said.

Adjustable-rate loans can provide lower payments than a fixed-rate loan for the first sev-eral years, but those savings can go away after the reset period kicks in. Payments also can rise sharply, leaving borrowers in a tough spot.

Typically, borrowers who get adjustable-rate loans try to either sell the home or refi-nance before the reset kicks in. The lower reset caps of an FHA adjustable-rate loan pro-vides borrowers with a more

breathing room than conven-tional adjustable loans, which have higher reset caps.

Chau obtained a $343,000 FHA adjustable-rate loan with an interest rate of 3.77 percent through San Ramon, Calif.-based Mason-McDuffie Mortgage. He moved into his three-bedroom condo in January.

Chau said the lower reset caps of the FHA adjustable-rate loan will help avoid having a big reset rate if he is still in the home after five years.

“To me, that’s a no-brain-er. It’s not that much, I can live with it if I need to stay here another year or two,” said Chau, a 41-year-old fiscal and operations manager for the city of San Francisco. “It’s pretty decent.”

As with any real estate prod-uct, there are trade-offs when comparing loans.

Many conventional loans require a minimum 20 percent down payment, while FHA loans can be financed with a minimum down payment of 3.5 percent. FHA loans have a lower down payment require-ment, but they also can take longer to process.

The higher mortgage insur-ance cost associated with an FHA loan can raise borrowing costs, said Steve Donahue, vice president of mortgage origina-tion at San Jose, Calif.-based Technology Credit Union. That

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factor that has to be weighed when considering their lower reset caps.

“It’s important (prospective buyers) talk to a qualified loan officer who can explain the dif-ference between an FHA and conventional loan so they can really understand all the costs involved,” he said. “There are so many factors (besides interest rates) involved.”

Mortgage insurance, which is paid for by the borrower and protects the lender against default, is required when there is less than a 20 percent down pay-ment. While mortgage insurance is tax deductible, depending on a borrower’s income, that tax break will go away after 2011.

A borrower who made a 10 percent down payment on a $277,500 home and financed a $250,000 loan with a 3.7 per-cent interest rate would have monthly mortgage insurance premiums of $98 on a conven-tional loan, compared to $177 on an FHA loan. There is also an upfront FHA mortgage insur-ance premium equal to 1 percent of the home’s purchase price, a cost that can be financed into the loan.

Beginning April 18, FHA loans will see higher premiums for monthly mortgage insurance. Contact a mortgage professional for details.

FHA adjustable-rate loans can be the right loan for bor-rowers who are now looking for low rates and a low down payment, and who may stay in the home for longer than five years, said Kevin Conlon, senior vice president of operations at Mason-McDuffie.

“It allows them to get into a home and qualify at today’s prices for those homes,” he said. “In the sixth year, a (conven-tional adjustable-rate loan) can go the lifetime limit. That can be a big payment.”

Rising interest rates have resulted in more people consid-ering adjustable-rate loans, said Tara Nicholle-Nelson, consum-er educator for San Francisco-based Trulia.com, a real estate website.

“There’s something about that 4 percent interest rate. It seems like the Holy Grail of interest

rates,” she said.Still, she said, many borrow-

ers are still shying away from adjustable-rate loans, which are viewed as one of the factors that created the housing crisis. Adjustable-rate loans are tied to financial indexes, which means when they reset at a future rate the new interest rate can be lower or higher.

“A lot of what was wrong with adjustable-rate loans, at the top of the market, was not the adjustable part of it. It was the interest-only or option ARM part of it,” she said, referring to loan features that allow borrow-ers to pay little or no principal. “Their payment is going way up because they were never making a full payment.”

Loc Chau, 40, poses for portrait in his recently pur-chased condominium in San Jose, Calif., Feb. 24.


By Al HeAvensThe PhiladelPhia inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — A home inspection often means the dif-ference between a sale and no sale, even if the deal that results isn’t exactly what the owner expected.

Buyers and sellers typically recognize the need for a home inspection. Still, it may put both sides of a sale on edge.

Sellers fear the inspector will find something amiss that slashes the price. Buyers fear the house they want will have problems.

Today, with so many hous-es for sale, inspections have become the chief tool for hag-gling over price.

“We are a coupon-clipping society,” with people trying to save every penny they can, said Noelle M. Barbone, manager of Weichert Realtors’ Media, Pa., office. “Real estate is no differ-ent.”

Though he isn’t always aware how the negotiations proceed after his work is done, Harris Gross of Engineers for Home Inspection in Cherry Hill, N.J., said buyers were more apt to use

an inspection report as leverage in this lean housing market than in the boom.

The buyer’s goal is to get the seller to pay for repairs or cut the price to reflect their cost.

“The result depends on the financial position of the seller and the comfort zone of the buyer,” Barbone said.

Which means a lot is riding on the accuracy of the inspection and the quality of the inspector.

Home inspections are not intended to point out every small defect, though they can highlight the good points of a house, be sources of information, and edu-cate buyers and sellers.

Nor are they appraisals, which are used to determine a proper-ty’s market value.

The American Society of Home Inspectors emphasizes that an inspector “will not pass or fail a house,” but rather will describe its condition and indi-cate which components and sys-tems may need major repair or replacement.

That is especially important with older houses, where sys-

Home inspections are an essential tool for buyers

MCTDoing an inspection before their pending real estate purchase, Engineers for Home Inspec-tion engineer Harris Gross (right) talks about the porch of a home in Burlington, N.J., with buyers Jodi and Scott Whaley.

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tems may not be up to the most modern standards.

The standard report covers the condition of the heating system; central air-conditioning system (temperature permitting); inte-rior plumbing and electrical systems; roof, attic, and vis-ible insulation; walls, ceilings, floors, windows, and doors; and foundation, basement, and structural components.

Trade groups such as the National Association of Home Inspectors (www.nahi.org) and the American Society of Home Inspectors (www.ashi.org/ customers) offer virtual inspec-tion tours on their websites so prospective buyers know what

to expect.Some larger inspection com-

panies offer what Barbone called “complete packages,” adding termite inspection and radon testing to the typical checklist.

Although the cost varies by region, the standard inspection runs about $350 to $400 in the Philadelphia area, she said, with termite and radon testing push-ing the total to $550 to $600.

Add more to the price for larger houses.

Under the profession’s stan-dards, the inspector is not required to advise whether you should buy the house. That’s a decision you must make based on factors including the inspection.

If a buyer has concerns about issues raised in the report — for example, a wet basement that has a “moldy” smell — the inspector typically suggests fur-ther testing by an expert.

Buyers and sellers are gener-ally aware of the parameters, Gross said, but at the start of an inspection, “I like to explain to the buyers what a home inspec-tion is, what we will be doing, and what to expect.”

A prospective buyer should accompany the inspector on the house visit, taking a notebook or voice recorder and a camera for future reference, Weichert Realtors agent Diane Williams said.

Other criteria for what a home inspector cannot, or should not, say or do are spelled out in the codes of ethics and perfor-mance standards of such groups as the American Society of Home Inspectors, the National Association of Home Inspectors, the American Institute of Inspectors, and the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors.

Professional organizations can provide contact information

for their members. Although real estate agents cannot steer you to an inspector, they often provide lists of several prospects for you to consider in addition to look-ing on your own.

Once the inspection is done, buyers, sellers, and their agents want to see the write-up as soon as possible.

“I always complete the inspection reports the same day because the sooner you write it, the fresher it is in your mind,” Gross said.

Plus, “I’m not thinking of the inspection report I have to write the next day, when I have other inspections.”

Home Inspector 411Some things to consider

before choosing an inspector:

CredentialsKnow whether your state

requires that inspectors be licensed or affiliated with an association.

experienCe Any prospect should have

made enough inspections “to make you feel comfortable,” cautions Ronald J. Passaro of Danbury, Conn., a founder of the American Society of Home Inspectors. Has the inspector been in business long enough that you know he or she will still be there in a year, or five years, if you have questions or problems?

professional affiliationsThese require adherence to

codes of ethics and standards.staff If you have a problem or

question, can you get in touch with someone when you call or e-mail?

a sample report Is it concise, readable, and in

layman’s terms, or is it a vague checklist that’s not tailored to your home?

other serviCesDoes the prospect offer more

than just the standard inspec-tion, including radon and water testing?

Doing an inspection before their pending real estate purchase, Engineers for Home Inspection engineer Harris Gross, center, shines his flashlight up into the floor joists in the basement as he looks over a home with buyers Scott Whaley and Jodi Whaley in Burlington, N.J. MCT

What Gets InspectedThe standard inspec-

tion report covers the following:l Heating systeml Central air-condi-

tioning system (tempera-ture permitting)l Interior plumbing

and electrical systemsl Roof, attic, and vis-

ible insulationl Walls, ceilings,

floors, windows, and doorsl Foundation, base-

ment, and structural components.

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When a person comes to a certain age and the children move out and on with their own lives, a home may become too big for its occupants. At this point, residents may feel it’s time to downsize to a smaller home.

Downsizing can be excit-ing and challenging at the same time. Going through and packing belongings can be a trip down memory lane. But chances are a smaller space will mean that a person will have to part with a number of his belongings col-lected over time.

To make the process easier, first assess how much space there will be in the new home. Many times floor plans or room dimensions are available. First measure large items, such as furniture, to be sure they will fit in the rooms. Then think about storage possibilities.

Next, make a running list of what items can be discarded

and where those items will go. Some belongings can be donat-ed to charity, while others may be given to family and friends. Many other things could end up in the trash or recycling bins. Knowing where things will go will make them easier to sort.

When actually beginning to get rid of things, start with the areas that receive the least amount of use. Belongings stored in the attic or basement may be simply tak-ing up space and hold less sen-

timental value. People can then work their way toward items that are used on a regular basis. It can be cathartic to clear out clutter and get ready to start anew.

Some people find they have to downsize because of financial reasons. In these cases, thinning out belongings can also be a way to earn a few extra bucks. Selling or auctioning off seldom used items may produce a little extra cash that can help finance moving expenses or even bills.

Some seniors are thinking about downsizing

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