Russel Ray, Property Consultant

Blame the property inspector
Property inspectors nationwide get blamed for a
lot of stuff that goes wrong after the property
inspection, especially when the residence is
occupied and fully furnished, and even when the
residence is vacant and.... (read the article)

Building codes
A property inspection is not a substitute for a
building inspection or a code compliance inspection,
and I do not interpret or cite building codes. The
main reason for this is because of the many codes
involved in building a property.... (read the article)

Does initial happiness have a cost associated
with it?
Most things in a home are intended to be used for
a specific purpose. When homeowners modify or
adapt things for purposes for which they were not
intended, there probably are consequences,
sometimes financial.... (read the article)

Home owner remodeling and renovation
pictures, part I
Throughout my 40+ years in real estate, I’ve been
collecting pictures of some of the more interesting
(I’m being polite) homeowner improvements (?),
remodeling, and renovation. I’m in the process of
scanning many of my pictures.... (read the article)

How Sellers can prepare for a Buyer’s
home inspection
The perfect home simply doesn’t exist. Why? Well,
in a brand new home, the contractor often is not
aware of everything his subcontractors do, and
government building and code inspectors do not
have the time or the budget... (read the article)

Is your Clients’ pet being foreclosed?
Today’s paper reports that animal shelters here are
continuing to accept pets at a record pace,
sometimes resulting in overcrowded facilities and
resulting in the shelter not being able to take in
additional pets. Who knows.... (read the article)

It was only a matter of time....
Considering all the news items in both the paper
and the television about thieves stealing copper
plumbing pipes and copper electrical wire, I figured
it would just be a matter of time before it affected
me. Today I was out with a.... (read the article)

Need help paying your mortgage?
I think fully 90% of the home inspections I have
done this year have been vacant properties that
have either been foreclosed or are in a short sale.
Earlier this year I did a vacant property that was
actually in pretty good shape.... (read the article)

Sorry, your insurance claim has been denied....
I make myself available to my Clients and their
families for as long as they live. Sometimes one of
them will call me with an insurance problem
because they know that I worked in insurance at
one point in my business.... (read the article)

Study of life expectancy of home components
The life expectancies of the components of a home
depend on the quality of installation, the level of
maintenance, weather and climate conditions, and
the intensity of use. Some components may remain
functional but become obsolete... (read the article)

Vacant residence
A vacant residence is nice to inspect since I don't
have to worry about breaking the priceless
antiques, but it does present its own types of
problems. Although vacant residences are typically
unfurnished, meaning that I.... (read the article)

We're three strange men. May we babysit your
three young children?
In November 2003, two employees and I did an
inspection where the only people who would be at
the inspection were the three of us and our Clients,
a mom and dad with three young children, the
oldest around 10. After.... (read the article)

When things go wrong (also known as
home ownership)
Generalist vs. specialist; intermittent or concealed
problems; clues; minor things; recommendations;
last-man-in theory; insurance; advice of others;
conditions during inspection; hindsight; invasive or
destructive testing; and more.... (read the article)

Why would a Realtor say that?
All things considered, a home inspection is not
expensive at all, especially when we consider the
alternative. Let's say that instead of hiring a
generalist home inspector, one were to hire experts
from other industries to.... (read the article)