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Get Your Home Hurricane Ready: Prepare Before You Have To

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We are in the peak of hurricane season again and it sure is an active one. Every year we write a blog about getting hurricane ready and yet last year our shelves ran out of stock when a hurricane came our way. Few people truly keep their household prepared for a hurricane, which means most of us end up with the rest – racing to the store desperately trying to get ready. We know most hurricanes don’t come our way but either way, don’t wait until you have to be prepared to get prepared.

Start with the un-perishables

Start your preparations by stocking up on items that won’t perish. Canned goods, water, batteries, flashlights, candles, and matches. You can also stock up on detergent you can use without a washing machine, bars of soap and medical supplies. You will need an emergency medical kit on hand with your basic medical materials.

Get your house ready

The next item on the list is your home. If you have hurricane shutters, make sure they function the way they are supposed to. clean out your gutters, patch any exterior flaws around the home and make sure the road drains are working. If you are in a flood zone you should have an evacuation plan in place, even if it is to get out of your neighborhood. While you can protect your home from flooding, you won’t want to be there and become an emergency situation.

Make a list of everything in your home

A picture is as good as a receipt for an insurance company. Make a list of all your belongings and take pictures of every room. Keep these pictures and your list with all your important documents. And speaking of documents, you will want to put anything important into a water-proof location. You can buy a small house safe which is easy to find and not too expensive.

If you are really worried about your home you can also have an appraisal done. A current appraisal will ensure you get the most out of your insurance if you need to call on them to make repairs or rebuild. A pre-listing inspection is another way to document issues in your home that can be identified before the storm and prove issues that happened as a result of the storm. You can easily schedule any property inspection directly online with Divinity Inspection Services.

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Summer Projects To Make Your Home Feel Like New

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If your home feeling a little old or dated? Here are a few summer projects that you can do in a short amount of time to make your home feel like new again!

Paint

A fresh coat of paint can brighten up any room or home. Painting the exterior of a home can give it a whole new look. Depending on how much you want to paint, this can also be a very affordable upgrade.

Landscaping

The rainy season is here but it is a good time to plant flowers or start a garden. Increasing your curb appeal can give your home a very refreshing summer look.

Build A Tree House

This is a summer project the whole family can get involved in! Build your kids a tree house, playhouse, or fun house they can enjoy for the rest of the year.

Clean Your Gutters

This summer project won’t just give your home a face lift, but this is really good home maintenance. You can avoid major repairs by keeping your gutters clean.

Now that you have summer projects to work on, you better get to it! Don’t forget to schedule your home inspection with Divinity Inspection Service.

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How Much Should Your Home Inspection Cost?

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The Value Of A Home Inspection

Some home buyers don’t see the value in getting a home inspection. Maybe you think a home inspection costs too much or maybe you think because the home is a new build it doesn’t need one. Whatever the reason might be, no reason is big enough to avoid getting a home inspection.

The average home inspection costs between $400 – $500, depending on the size of the home. A home inspection will take a few hours to complete and you’ll be left with a detailed report. You are paying for time, the report, experience, and you are paying for saving yourself from potentially major issues.

So how much should your home inspection cost?

Let’s look at the potential problems a home inspection is saving you from and their value.

Some of the major issues that could break a purchasing deal include foundation issues, electrical wiring, plumbing, a new roof and mold. Any one of these difficulties could create quite the quandary if they were a surprise. A new roof could costs $15,000 to replace. Mold could make your new home unlivable until extracted. Between your down payment and closing costs, unless you have a few extra thousand or more put away for emergencies, you could be facing a predicament. We don’t want to see that happen to anyone.

No matter how much you love the house you absolutely need to have it inspected.

Our goal is not to kill your deal.

Our goal is to make sure you are well educated before you complete your purchase so you can do so confidently. Home repairs come in all sizes. Some big, some small, some minor, and some major. When you get a thorough home inspection like Divinity Inspection Service offers, you can find peace of mind knowing that any issue will be identified, listed, and detailed in our home inspection report. All of a sudden $500 doesn’t sound like a lot now does it?

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All the Reasons Why You Need a Home Inspector

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Why Should You Have A Pre Listing Home Inspection?

Recently we were hired to inspect a home that was under contract for purchase. The buyers were first time home owners and came to use through a referral. After discussing what they needed and setting a day and time, we met at the home for their inspection. When I arrived I realized the home had a sea wall because it sat on a canal. While the new buyers told us the home was on a canal, they did not mention they had a sea wall. How could they? They didn’t even know! I explained to them the importance of having the sea wall inspected, even though there was a small additional cost. They agreed and the inspection ensued.

Upon inspection of this sea wall we found some major foundation cracks. These are the kind of issues you don’t want to find out about after you’ve purchased a home. This kind of repair has a heft price tag associated with it. We walked the new buyers through the inspection, explained everything as we always do, and gave them the details on everything about the home.

Since the home owner chose not to have a pre-listing home inspection done, they also did not know there were existing issues with the sea wall. The new buyers now had to re-negotiate the sale of the house based on this finding.

I know what you’re thinking. “This is why I don’t want a home inspection. A home inspector could kill the dream of buying our dream home! It could kill the dream of selling my house!”. If that is what you are thinking, you couldn’t be more wrong. Our goal is most certainly not to “kill” any home purchasing deal. However, if we hadn’t found the issues then the new home owners could have very quickly found themselves is a financially difficult situation. And while having to re-negotiate the sale of the home, it certainly doesn’t mean the deal is dead. On that same note, had the owner done a pre-listing inspection on the home they would have known about the issue and could have accounted for it before putting their home on the market for sale.

This story is only one of many that we experience every week. New home owners move into a home without having it inspected only to find they’ve walked into expensive necessary repairs. We have no authority to enforce standards but rather to merely point out conditions as they exist and make recommendations.

We would recommend repair to minor grouting in the shower stall just as we would for a leaking roof. Our goal is to help our clients distinguish between the significant needs of the home and those that are more commonplace. Click here to schedule your home inspection today!
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Verify Your Contractors

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Many times a good home inspector will run into an all-too familiar problem. It starts out like every other inspection, checking for important home characteristics, installations, foundation, etc. But then it happens – a clear indicator of unverified (or just really bad) contractors. The problem could consists of bad electrical wiring, incorrect installation of a toilet, a wrong size drip pan in the a/c unit, and the list goes on and on. So let this article be a warning, for any work that needs to be done around the house don’t skimp by using the first (or the cheapest) contractor you can find. At the end of the day, and down the road, you will absolutely regret the decision to hire an unverified contractor. Here are some steps to ensure you get both a fairly priced contractor and a trustworthy contractor.

Use Referrals

Someone almost always knows someone they can refer for contract work. Asking around is a great place to start – but it shouldn’t be where you end. A person referring a business, company, or individual may have the best intentions in doing so but referrals are not guaranteed so you still need to take the extra time to check them out.

Read the Online Reviews

Real feedback from real people should be a deciding factor in hiring a contractor. Most businesses have online reviews from Google, Yelp, or another platform where you can easily and freely see what other people have to say about their service. While the commonly known fact that people are more apt to voice their opinion when they’re unhappy vs. when they are happy, you should still utilize the information. Chances are high the reviews are going to tell you something about the business you are considering.

Call Around

Tampa is saturated with contractors. From handymen to large companies, you have a plethora of choices. So why wouldn’t you call around? Ask about pricing, check out how they deal with you on the phone, and get all of your questions answered. If you run into an issue with a company’s service down the line, more than likely the way you are treated when you call is how you will be treated in the future, so don’t wait until you’ve hired them to find out.

At Divinity Inspection Service we offer a vendor list to any customer upon request. We know, like, and trust our vendors which is why we refer them. You can also trust that they have been verified by us. No matter which vendor or contractor you decide to hire, now or in the future, make sure you verify them first.