The Confident House Hunter: A Home Inspector's Tips for Finding Your Perfect House

by Josep LluÃs Larriba-Pey

Overview

With a zillion houses out there, home inspector Dylan Chalk will help you find your perfect home in the midst of imperfection. Chalk weaves over a decade of home inspection experience into stories and tips with helpful pictures, teaching homebuyers and real estate professionals how to look at and understand houses like a pro.

• Learn to see through the fresh paint, staging, and beauty bark
• Understand what constitutes the bones of a house
• Develop strategies for sorting and comparing houses
• Prepare yourself for the home-buying process
• Find the house that’s right for YOU

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462126781
Publisher:	Cedar Fort, Incorporated/CFI Distribution
Publication date:	07/12/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	32 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

With a zillion houses out there, find your perfect home in the midst of imperfection. In The Confident House Hunter, home inspector Dylan Chalk weaves over a decade of home inspection experience into stories and tips with easy-to-understand language, teaching homebuyers and real estate professionals how to look at and understand houses like a pro.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Part I The Philosophy 7

1 Learning to See 9

Learning how to have the right expectations and how to distinguish repair concerns

2 Guiding Principles 19

Guiding principles for homebuyers and for understanding and managing house problems

3 Gehrig Starred 27

Strategies for looking at houses

Part II The Nuts and Bolts of Systems 35

4 Core Systems I 37

Rooflines, location, orientation, site preparation, and drainage

5 Core Systems II 55

Foundations, framing, access, and floor plans

6 Entrenched Systems I: Siding and Chimneys 75

The "EXTERIOR envelope"

7 Entrenched Systems II: In the Walls 99

Branch wiring, hearing and cooling distribution, water piping systems, windows, insulation, and ventilation

8 Disposable Systems 127

Water heaters, central healing and cooling equipment, gutters and downspouls, exposed decks, and so much more

Part III Using Alternative Sorting Methods 145

9 Sorting Homes by Age 147

Decade-by-decade breakdown of building trends

10 Sorting Homes by Home Owner 169

From the grandma house to the foreclosure

11 Sorting Homes by Type 183

From the cabin to the townhouse

12 Sorting Homes by Architectural Style 199

From the craftsman to the A-frame

Part IV In the Field 209

13 Getting the Most tram Your Home Inspection 211

Why to get a home inspection and how to select a home inspector

14 Wood Destroying Organisms and Other Pests 219

Red flogs to look for with pests

15 The Bones of Comfort 227

Thermostats, fuel choices, and much more

16 House Safety, Building Codes, and Liability 239

Stairs decks, windows, egress and safety glass, indoor air quality, MOLD, radon, and A few common liability concerns

17 Cheat Sheet: Common Problems and House Trends 257

Sorting red flags by location, age, and designs

Index 265

About Dylan Chalk 273