Spent $600 on a home inspection prep course thinking it would give me an edge for real estate. Turned out half the material was about furnaces and foundations, nothing about Edmonton's specific frost heave issues. Anyone else find a better resource for local building quirks?
I just closed on a cute bungalow in the Hazeldean area and the inspector said everything was fine... turns out there's a hairline crack in the basement wall that's letting in water every time it rains hard. Has anyone else had luck getting their money back from an inspector who missed something obvious?
I was at an open house in Londonderry last Saturday and watched two home buyers get opposite advice from their realtors about a vertical hairline crack in the basement wall, so which type of specialist do you actually trust for foundation issues before making an offer?
Ran into a guy who's been inspecting homes in Edmonton for 30 years. He told me most buyers skip the sewer scope. Said he's seen 15 grand in repairs on houses that looked perfect. Hit me hard because I was about to recommend waiving that on a 1970s bungalow. Now I'm telling every client to budget $300 for a scope. Has anyone else dodged a bullet by adding this to your prep checklist?
I ran the hose at full blast into the sump pit to see if the weeping tile could handle a heavy rain, and it backed up into the basement floor drain in about 20 seconds flat. Guess that old clay tile around the foundation is more cracked than I thought - anyone had luck with retrofitting a new system in an older Edmonton house?
I ran into my real estate instructor from 8 years ago at a coffee shop on Whyte Ave last weekend. We got talking about how I do my market comparisons now compared to back then. She asked me if I still use the same rule of thumb for older homes in neighborhoods like Glenora. I said yeah, pretty much. She laughed and told me I was probably leaving 10-15% on the table by not accounting for updated plumbing and electrical in a different way than the textbook teaches. It hit me different because she was right. I had been treating a 50 year old reno'd house the same as a newer build in a different area. Has anyone else had a mentor call them out on something they thought they had nailed for years?
Was at a coffee shop near Whyte Ave last Tuesday. Chatted with this broker named Diane. She said most people get pre-approved but never ask about rate holds. Told me she had a client lose a 40k difference because they didn't lock in for 130 days. Hit me different because I always thought pre-approval was just one simple step. Now I wonder how many other layers I'm missing. Anyone else get caught off guard by a detail like that?
We are flipping a bungalow in Sherwood Park and need to hire out the painting to speed things up. Can anyone recommend a good Edmonton painting contractor? Need someone who can handle popcorn ceiling removal and full interior walls without taking weeks to finish.