Gainesville Home Inspections

I had been scheduling and rescheduling the same Gainesville home inspection for weeks. I would schedule a time initially. Then, two days before the inspection, I would call to confirm and the client would check with their agent, who would check with the listing agent, and we would confirm the appointment. Twice, I received the call the morning of this Gainesville, VA home inspection that we could not complete the inspection because the utilities were not active.

This home inspection was rescheduled four times. Luckily, each time I was able to fill the vacated appointment slot and, therefore, did not charge the client for the last minute rescheduled appointments.

The fourth time that this Gainesville, VA home inspection was rescheduled, I was already nearly in Gainesville, VA. I had just completed a special inspection for a bank on a property that they owned. These home inspections called for me to charge up the home without the assistance of the utility company as well as to check the integrity of behind the wall plumbing without the assistance of the water company.

I had an idea to use the same processes on this home. It was a foreclosed home and the listing agent was having trouble activating the utilities because there was a balance due from the previous residents. I mentioned this to my client, who was anxious to move forward or move on. He agreed that we should give it a shot and see how things go.

I arrived at the home inspection in Gainesville, VA about twenty minutes later and began my inspection on the exterior of the home.

Eager to check the electric, the client had me power up the home with my generator. I hooked everything up and flipped the switch. Immediately, the lights came on, the A/C unit turned over, and all of the electric in the home was active!

I went through and completed this Gainesville, VA home inspection as though the power company had come out and turned on the utilities themselves.

I used my compressor and a special fitting to check the integrity of the plumbing behind the walls and moved on to the rest of the home.

I completed the home inspection and left Gainesville, VA. I got a call about an hour later from an ecstatic listing agent. She apologized profusely for the many rescheduled appointments and told me that the utility company would refuse to activate the utilities until the balances had been paid. She was not willing to pay the balances herself because they were in excess of $2800! She had contacted the bank to reconcile the balances. Each time, the bank advised her that they had paid the balances and each time the utility company had not received any payment.

From this single Gainesville, VA home inspection sprung the entire concept for the “No Water? No Power? No Problem!” home inspection. This service provides a timely, cost efficient way for a potential home owner to take advantage of the foreclosed homes. Too often, clients were moving forward without a full home inspection because the bank was not willing or was taking too long to activate the utilities. I saw that as a HUGE risk. The banks do not have the same responsibility of disclosure that a typical seller does. This means that what was seen as a great deal can quickly become a not-so-great deal!

Although I am not able to fully evaluate the water heater without water or any gas appliances, the relative cost of those items is low in comparison to an HVAC unit or faulty wiring, etc.

Fortunately, this Gainesville, VA home inspection ended without the discovery of any major concerns and my client was confident enough to move forward with their new home. Without this service, they may still be waiting for the utilities to be activated!