Rick Bunzel's (rickbunzel) Blog

Lately I have seen the results of what I call flips gone bad.  I got a call from an agent that had seen an inspection report on a HUD repo I did last year. I usually don't like to see my reports passed around but this time I was happy and it generated another job. Last year when I inspected this ...

Buyers judge a house by many attributes but generally if it smells, it won't sell. Odors that a lot of longtime homeowners have gotten used to can torpedo a sale. It’s been proven in scientific studies that our olfactory senses or smells help us remember a particular time and place. Realtors can...

Are home inspections worth the cost? Most clients’ who call our company start the conversation with “how much for your home inspection?” Most clients don’t realize that the home inspection can actually save the client significant money by pointing out defects that layman would not recognize. For...

Buying a home 'As Is' Many times buyer will come across homes that are listed “As Is” and that the seller’s will not perform repairs, should they still get a home inspection? The overwhelming answer is yes! The true purpose of the home inspection is not to identify additional negotiable items bu...

Understanding Home Inspection ReportsBy Rick BunzelPacific Crest Inspections, LLCWhen shopping for a home inspector most buyers’ initial question will be "how much"? However, a much better question would be “what does your inspection cover and what type of report format do you provide”? There are...

  I recently discovered the CLUE database after I identified several mysterious issues for a savvy client. Home inspectors are limited to doing visual inspections. At the time of inspection rarely does our client own the property, so we are in the property as a guest of the seller. This means th...

How long do inspections take?   Our cannned answer is 2-3 hours. However the reality is "it depends". Yesterday, I found myself apologizing to a realtor for getting done in 90 minutes on a 2300 sq ft. home with a crawl space. There were a number of factors that allowed me to move quickly through ...

As a precursor to a performing a home inspection, I will typically ask for the disclosure. Many of my buyers aren't even aware of this form. The disclosure is critical as it is the sellers statement of the condition of the home. One of the roles of the home inspection is verify the statements of...

The whole real estate process can be very intimidating to clients and sometimes its useful to break things down into bite size morsels of information  Responsive - We answer our phone 8AM to 8PM seven days a week. This is a personal choice and we do it because these are the typical hours realtor'...

I saw a post on another site asking this question. It reminded me that many phone calls start out with "HOW MUCH DO YOU CHARGE" For buyers who are about to spend several hundred thousand dollars on a home, a reasonable person would think there would be other questions that would come to mind prio...