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home inspector

Spring forward to sell your home

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Daylight saving time kicks off this weekend, and although we aren’t excited about the loss of precious sleep, we are looking gratefully forward to longer days, bright sunshine and warm Texas spring weather. While you’re busy checking your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, this is also a great time for sellers in Austin’s competitive real estate market to ready their home for buyers. Although it’s still a bit early to plant flowers, here are a few tips to spring forward in your home sale:

  • A clean, sparkling home will invite buyers and direct attention to all the right spaces. Start by cleaning your windows, inside and out, and wash your blinds to make an instant eye-opening difference. While you’re poking around the eyes of your home, be sure to inspect the weather stripping and caulking, which may be in need of repair.
  • Showcase the exterior of your home by mowing the lawn. A fresh cut will help remove leaves and other debris, leaving your yard clean and fresh. This is also a great time to cut back hedges around your home to maximize bright sunshine indoors. Visit the Central Texas Gardener for specific tips and tricks that can help boost your home’s curb appeal this spring.
  • Lower your gaze and take a long, hard look at your floors. The appearance of your floors can leave a lasting impression on prospective buyers, and you want to be sure it’s the right one! Start by vacuuming and mopping, but consider a professional cleaning or refinishing if needed.

In Austin’s hot market, buyers need to be as amply prepared as sellers. Here are a few tips for those looking to move into a new home this spring:

  • Know your credit score and budget. Our friends in the mortgage lending business will tell you this is a crucial part of the process. If you need help finding a lender, give us a call – we know excellent professionals who would be delighted to help you along your home-buying journey. Be sure to factor in closing costs, property taxes and insurance.
  • Once you are committed to buying in the upcoming months, contact your lender to get preapproved for a mortgage loan. While this is not a commitment or rate guarantee, getting preapproved will speed up the process down the road (which could give you the edge in a competitive market!).
  • Know who you want to work with. The right real estate agent and mortgage lender can make the process much less stressful and more enjoyable. Be sure to work with individuals who understand your needs, wants and priorities. When you’re ready to purchase a home and need an inspector you can trust, call Randy Barfield and the Barfield Home Inspection team. We’ve been telling it like it is since 2003 and would love to help you into the home of your dreams.

For more home buying, selling, maintenance and inspection tips, follow us on Facebook and Instagram and tune into our new podcast “Under the Roof with Randy Barfield,” now streaming on Spotify and Stitcher!

Under the Roof with Randy Barfield: Podcast coming soon!

By | Home Maintenance Tips, Podcast | No Comments

We’re proud to present “Under the Roof with Randy Barfield,” streaming on a device near you in early 2020! This monthly podcast will cover home buying, home inspections, home maintenance, home selling and everything you need to know about homes, especially in the booming Austin market.

Take a listen now for more about what’s to come, and stay tuned for new monthly episodes airing soon!

How Groundhog Day Could Affect Your Pipes

By | Home Maintenance Tips, Seasonal Home Maintenance | No Comments

The fate of Central Texas’ “winter” of 2020 all comes down to one day: February 2. On Sunday, Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil will emerge from his burrow to look for his shadow. If he sees it, we can prep for six weeks of cold weather, but if he doesn’t see his shadow (due to a cloudy, shadowless day), bring on spring! While this iconic holiday is built on the pillars of American legend and lore, the team at Barfield Home Inspection want to ensure your home is prepared, just in case winter strikes!

With a careful eye on the forecast, February is generally the coldest month in our region. This is a great time to double-check the insulation on your pipes to ensure your water stays hot and your pipes stay open. Pipe insulation can help to save energy all year, and avoid plumbing catastrophes that can result in flooding and mold.

Check out this helpful guide from the folks at Home Depot for installing fiberglass pipe wrap and tubular insulation (pipe sticks):

To help ensure the highest quality of insulation, be sure to disconnect exterior garden hoses and use caulk to seal any cracks or holes near water pipes.

Have a great Groundhog Day and stay warm, regardless of what that Phil says! Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest tips, tricks and real estate news from the Austin, Texas area.

Why the GFCI?

By | Home Maintenance Tips | No Comments

If you’ve ever woken up to a coffee pot that didn’t brew to its programmed specifications after an overnight storm, you know the frustration of a tripped outlet. While you may reset your ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) outlet automatically and wait impatiently for your first cup of morning joe, ruminate on this: That GFCI may have just saved your life.

An electrical system can experience a number of different faults. Simply put, a fault is any abnormal flow of electricity. A ground-fault occurs when there is a break in the low-resistance grounding path from a tool or electrical system and the electrical current takes an alternative path to the ground. The danger comes in when a person enters the path of least resistance from the electrical current to the ground. Unfortunately, this can result in a serious shock or in extreme cases, death.

Before we get too grim, push pause on the panic and turn your attention to the GFCI. The GFCI, commonly found in residences, is a fast-acting circuit breaker designed to shut off electric power in the event of a ground-fault within as little as 1/40 of a second. It works by comparing the amount of current going to and returning from equipment along the circuit conductors. When the amount going differs from the amount returning by approximately 5 milliamperes, the GFCI interrupts the current.

According to OSHA,
“The GFCI is rated to trip quickly enough to prevent an electrical incident. If it is properly installed and maintained, this will happen as soon as the faulty tool is plugged in. If the grounding conductor is not intact or of low-impedance, the GFCI may not trip until a person provides a path. In this case, the person will receive a shock, but the GFCI should trip so quickly that the shock will not be harmful.”

Additionally, the GFCI protects against fires, overheating and destruction of wire insulation. Here are a few tips to help ensure you GFCI outlets stay in good working order:

  • Check the operation of all ground-fault circuit interrupter outlets by pushing the “test” button. The “reset” button should pop out indicating the receptacle is operating properly.
  • Check the GFCI safety breaker in your electrical panel. The buttons are typically white, yellow, or purple. Once the breaker has been tripped, move the breaker all the way to the “Off” position and then flip to the “On” position. If any breakers or outlets do not reset, contact a licensed electrical contractor to further evaluate.

While you may be shocked to learn the importance of your GFCI outlets, we hope this information is helpful and keeps you from experiencing an actual electrical charge. For more tips and tricks, follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Happy circuit testing!

Join us for our Fall Homebuying Happy Hour

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Believe it or not, fall has begun! Although temperatures are still above average, so is performance in the local real estate market. Randy and the team at Barfield Home Inspection have just the answer to help you cool off and wrap your head around the biggest questions facing Austin home buyers and real estate agents alike: happy hour!

Mark your calendars and join us for our FREE Fall Homebuying Happy Hour, Thursday, October 3 from 4–6 p.m. You’ll hear from local real estate industry experts Randy Barfield of Barfield Home Inspection, Joani Ferris of Movement Mortgage, and Phillip Gunter of Farmer’s Insurance as we cover the latest trends and challenges in the marketplace, and what not to do when buying a home.

This is a great opportunity to network with Austin’s leading experts who can guide you through the home buying process, and the best part is that the advice, food and drinks are completely free! Enjoy delicious food, courtesy of grill master Randy Barfield, and drinks while our expert panel walks you through the what, when, how and whys of home buying. We will also hold a raffle to help get your home in tip-top shape for fall.

Realtors and home buyers are welcome to attend. Reserve your seat now. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and  Instagram for more events and year-round home maintenance tips. We hope to see you next Thursday!

VA Loan Rules for Termite Inspections

By | Real Estate News | No Comments

Contributor, VAloans.com
(Originally published on December 5, 2018 on VAloans.com)

Termites and what the VA labels “wood-destroying pests” can be a serious problem for homeowners, buyers and sellers. House hunters often worry about the condition of older homes when it comes to these pests, and in some cases rightfully so.

To the untrained observer, termite infestations are very difficult to spot unless there is obvious damage. Fortunately, VA loan rules are designed to protect the buyer and the property the VA borrower wants to purchase.

Do I have to get a pest inspection with a VA loan?

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, “Termite inspections are required on existing properties if they are located in an area where the probability of termite infestation is ‘very heavy’ or ‘moderate to heavy’ according to the Termite Infestation Probability Map published in the International Residential Code.”

Use the Termite Infestation Probability Map or check with a lender or your VA Regional Loan Center to see if a pest inspection is required where you plan to purchase a home. Look for a place where you can get quick reliable loans

If a borrower wants to buy a home in a region where termite problems are considered light or where such problems rarely occur, there is no requirement to have a termite inspection performed. Borrowers concerned about the home they want to buy would have to schedule a home inspection, or contact the VA for assistance.

When there is evidence of an actual problem, the VA rules state, “If there is a question about the location of an infestation probability boundary line in relation to the subject property, contact the Construction and Valuation Section at the VA Regional Loan Center of jurisdiction to determine if this requirement is applicable.”

Who pays for the termite inspection on a VA loan?

VA borrowers will often have to provide an invoice for the termite inspection to their lender. VA loan rules state that borrowers are not allowed to pay the pest inspection on a home purchase in all but nine states:

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Florida
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • Oklahoma
  • Texas

VA borrowers can pay this fee on any VA refinance loan type.

Termite Inspections for Condos

VA loan rules for termite inspections are different for condo projects. According to the VA, “A wood destroying insect inspection is required in low-rise and high-rise units only when the fee appraiser observes a potential problem.”

There are some situations that allow the termite inspection to be waived in second-story or higher condo units. Before starting your house hunt, speak with your nearest VA Regional Loan Center to learn if your area requires termite inspections.

On a VA purchase loan, borrowers in all but nine states are not allowed to pay the pest inspection fee. VA borrowers can pay this fee on any VA refinance loan.

Happy National Small Business Week!

By | Just for Fun | No Comments

Just as we are thankful for a healthy housing market across central Texas, we also celebrate the growth of small businesses across the nation. National Small Business Week is May 5 – 11, 2019, and we are proud to share that nearly half of all Americans own or work for a small business, including our team at Barfield Home Inspection.

Small businesses help to develop local economy and increase connections within a community. Additionally, small businesses like ours account for two out of three new jobs in the U.S. each year. That’s nothing to sneeze at! In addition to running our business, we partner with Austin-area realtors and vendors who help homeowners in the process of buying, selling and maintaining homes. Many of these partners also represent the small business population, and to them, we say hats off for a job well done.

Here are just a few of the reasons we choose to operate and work with small businesses:

  • Master of all trades. Small businesses rely on fewer people to accomplish tasks and meet deadlines. That means team members usually have expertise in a variety of areas and wear many hats.
  • Personal touch. Working with small businesses means you are more likely to develop one-on-one relationships and have a personal connection. Your business really matters to us.
  • Well managed. Small businesses understand the value of customers, and generally are quick to correspond. Additionally, smaller teams may be more flexible when it comes to timelines and budget line items than larger enterprises that are unable to negotiate.

In short, small is mighty! We value your business and are happy to serve you with honesty and integrity, just like we’ve been doing since 2003. For more tips and helpful information from our home to yours, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @barfieldhomeinspection.

 

Why Barfield Home Inspection?

By | Home Inspection Reality Show, Home Maintenance Tips | No Comments

If you are new to the Austin area or new to the homebuying process, you may not know much about local home inspectors. You might get recommendations from friends and family or look through hundreds of home inspection companies online. To make your home inspector search easier, let us tell you why Barfield Home Inspection is so unique:

  1. We are in the business of helping people. We do not simply check the boxes and leave. Our goal is to help our clients as much as possible. It is not our decision whether you should by a house or not, but it is up to us to prepare you with information to make an informed and confident decision.
  2. Randy Barfield, owner and founder of Barfield Home Inspection, has worked in every aspect of home building from construction to repair. With a lifetime of experience, he knows houses from the inside out. That means, our home inspectors are trained by the best. We deliver thorough home inspection reporting and provide an in-depth explanation of our reports.
  3. In addition to expert reporting, our team is available for follow-up questions. We go above and beyond to ensure all question have been answered and clients feel confident.
  4. We are home inspectors who take the time to care about you as a homeowner. When you work with Barfield Home Inspection, you not only get experienced inspectors, you also get a personable and friendly real estate partner you can trust for every home transaction.
  5. We are always up to date on the latest tools and techniques in the housing industry. Whether you are looking at an older home or a piece of new construction, we have the knowledge and devices to deliver a thorough and accurate report.

When it comes to buying a home, Barfield home inspectors understand that this is one of the most important and expensive decisions you will ever make. That is why we take the time, care and effort to make each client experience as helpful and reassuring as possible.

If you are in need of an honest, reliable home inspector, look no further than Barfield Home Inspection. Let us help with your home. Schedule your home inspection today!