What is this?

Take photos, text me.

It‘s like teachers say, “there’s no such thing as a stupid question.”

When you’re preparing to list a home and you don’t know what you’re looking at, take some photos. Realtors text me questions and send photos of things all the time when showing homes or before they list a property. I’m happy to be helpful.

Most of the time items that have been mis-identified in a listing are funny to me. They might not be funny to a buyer. Here are some really common mistakes made in a listing;

1. New Furnace - around here, furnaces are not common. When you get further inland you will see more furnaces. The mistake I see is listings claiming to have a new furnace when the home doesn’t have a furnace at all. A heat pump and a furnace are two very different heat sources. An average furnace will cost between $3,500-10,000. You can have a home with a heat pump and a furnace. Furnaces typically use oil, natural gas, or propane and would be more efficient in colder climates than a heat pump. A heat pump is going to stop being efficient or stop producing heat altogether below 30ºF without the use of the Aux heat strips. That gets pricy, which is why we do see a few furnaces from time to time.

2. LVP - houses listed as having LVP flooring when they actually have an engineered laminate floor. Maybe not a big deal to some people, but if you know laminate products you know they typically do not last as long and are much more susceptible to moisture damage or physical damage. LVP is going to be vinyl. Laminate is an engineered product, usually a wood particle or sawdust composite substance compressed to feel durable. Laminate can have a wood veneer surface or vinyl or something composite. Most laminate products are going to expand if they are exposed to water, like by an exterior doorway, under a fridge, near an ice maker, or by a dishwasher. If there’s a bad leak or water issue, the flooring will expand and deteriorate. Most of the time, the only way to resolve that is to replace the floor.

3. New Heat Pump- houses listed as having new heat pumps, but only the compressor is new. Many times I will find an air handler from 1980’s running with a compressor unit manufactured in the last five years. A heat pump split system has two coils, one outside (condensor) and one inside (evaporator). Many homeowners will replace the outside unit without replacing the inside unit, in order to save money when the inside unit is still functioning. Regardless, they will both need to be updated at some point. A mix-matching heat pump system is likely to cause problems. Older components are not compatible with new refrigerant types. The new refrigerant will cause damage to the older components/seals.

4. New Windows - A little technicality. A window is the entire window frame with sashes. A window sash is the part with the glass that slides/opens. Some people say they have new windows when they’ve only replaced the sashes. The issue I often find is having a rotten window frame with new sashes. The new sash looks great, but the rotten window frame leaks water into the home. In some cases this costs tens of thousands of dollars.

5. Fiber Cement Siding - There may be a day when we don’t see any fiber cement siding on the beach. It’s less common now than ever. Most of the time, even from a lousy photo, I can identify Fiber Cement without any problem. Fiber cement has changed over the years, but it is still fairly easy to spot. Smartside and other lap siding products also have very distinct features, making them easy to identify. In our coastal area, fiber cement is not as durable as it is inland. It does not like being exposed to excessive amounts of water. For some people, a selling point would be a home having other siding materials instead of fiber cement. Don't sell yourself short!

   
   

   
   

   I’m here to be helpful. Anytime you have questions, feel free to text me. And if I don’t have an answer I will help you get one.