We’ve all heard that home is where the heart is, and where our story begins. Home means pretty things to the makers of inspirational signs, bumper stickers, and fuzzy blankets. But hire a licensed home inspector to survey the property before listing it for sale and you’ll realize there’s plenty going on beneath the surface of your picture-perfect home sweet home. Brian Ross and the team at Vancouver’s Details Home Inspections offer pre-listing inspections to keep costly surprises at bay and bring in those top dollar offers.

Bankrate explains that during a pre-listing inspection “a professional home inspector examines your property to identify any potential problems or repairs that need to be made. Think of it as an opportunity to know what the buyer might request before an offer is made or a purchase agreement is signed.”

At Details Home Inspection, interior examinations include heating, plumbing, electrical, visible piping, faucets and fixtures, attic/crawl/basement areas, kitchen, walls, floors, ceilings, and windows. Outside they’ll look over your roof, chimney, flashing, valleys, siding, trim, windows and storm windows, driveways, patios, decks, porches, and any exterior air conditioning units or heat pumps.

While a pre-listing inspection isn’t always required, it’s always a good idea. Potential buyers will use even the smallest issues to drive down price or wrangle adjustments to closing costs and fees. Inspecting things beforehand streamlines the process and in today’s red-hot market, that can be the difference between getting top dollar and scrambling to make repairs before the contract expires.

Pre-listing inspections can also expedite closing schedules. Having that inspection in hand lets the buyer know what to expect and shows that the seller has nothing to hide when it comes to their listing. In real estate, time is always money.

“Let’s say your pre-listing inspection turns up some issues with the home’s plumbing,” say Bankrate’s industry experts. “If a buyer finds those same issues and asks for a $3,000 credit or concession, you’d ultimately be making less on the sale. With a pre-listing inspection, you can fix it yourself and potentially build those repair costs into your list price.”

With Details Home Inspections, pricing is based on square footage and the age of the home. You can also choose to add on or arrange for stand-alone services like radon testing, sewer scoping, water quality testing, and energy score rating. They provide quality home inspections across Southwest Washington, the greater Portland Oregon area, and surrounding cities.

In some ways real estate has its own language. When buying or selling, it may seem like home inspection and home appraisal are interchangeable terms. But, says Bankrate, “It’s important to note that neither type of inspection [pre-listing versus standard home inspection] is a substitute for an appraisal. An appraisal is an assessment of the fair market value of your home, which includes external factors such as the neighborhood and local real estate market. In most cases, a mortgage lender will require one in order for the buyer to obtain a mortgage.”

When you’re ready to take the next step, contact Brian Ross and his team or schedule an appointment online for current availability and pricing. They’re happy to answer questions, explain common terminology, or provide a sample report to look over in advance. Still unsure? Read through the many positive reviews and recommendations from families like yours then book your home inspection today.

You’ve decided to sell, that’s the hardest part. Now let Details Home Inspections do the dirty work so you can move on to your next—or forever—home. Big or small, vintage or new construction, condo or manufactured home, they’ll tackle it all.

Do you own a home that was built before 1990? If so, you may not be aware of the outdated main electric panels/boxes that could be hiding in your home.

The scary thing about these outdated electrical panels is that they can be very unsafe. The major difference between these and your more modern electrical panels is that the old-fashioned ones don’t contain safety devices like fuses or circuit breakers that will trip and shut off the power when too much electricity flows through them. This fail-safe was added in new models to help prevent fires caused by overheating wires.

Now that we have your attention about the fact that your home may have old, outdated panels inside, here are 4 types of unsafe panels you should look out for:

Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) Panels: From the 1950’s to the 1980s, Federal Pacific Electric was one of the most popular manufacturers of electrical panels in the United States. For this reason, they were routinely installed in millions of homes. It’s very common to see these during a home inspection Portland, Oregon.

Residents during that time didn’t know that these panels are extremely unsafe because FPE electric panels’ circuit breakers fail to trip when there’s a short circuit or circuit overload. This problem has caused thousands of fires. These panels have also been known to send power to the circuit, even when in the off position causing electrocution even when the circuit should be dead.

Zinsco Panels: These panels were popular electrical panels and were installed in homes throughout the 1970s. Nearly 50 years later the company is now out of business, but many homes are still equipped with these panels. Our Vancouver, Washington home inspectors are trained to spot these and their issues.

These panels are unsafe because the circuit breakers inside have been known to melt to the main ‘bus bar.’ Leading to a breaker that can’t ever trip, even when there’s a short or overloaded circuit. So if there ever is a short or other problem, the surge of power melts wires and starts a fire in your home.

Fuse Box: These are old electrical panels that use fuses instead of circuit breakers to protect your wires from becoming overloaded. In the event that the circuit draws too much electricity, the fuse will burn out and need to be replaced.

Fuses are not actually inherently unsafe. They work just like circuit breakers, but can’t be reset, and instead must be replaced. However, they are considered unsafe in homes today because they have been modified over time to try to keep up with today’s energy demands.

Here are a few ways that we as homeowners may create problems with fuse boxes that make them unsafe:

• Placing too many things on a single circuit

• Replacing a fuse with a bigger fuse

• Replacing the fuse with something metal

What should you do if you have one of these panels?

If you have one of these 3 unsafe and outdated electrical panels, or any other outdated panels, your trusted home inspectors at Details Home Inspections highly recommends replacing them. If you're not sure what type of electrical panel is in your home, contact us today at Details Home Inspections. We'd be happy to take a look and give you some recommendations.

If replacing the unsafe panel is not an option, you should have an electrician inspect the panel regularly to make sure that there are not any signs of problems that could cause fires or electrical issues in your home.

Contact us or visit our Facebook page with any questions about these panels. Safety is top priority with Details Home Inspections, your professional home inspector in Vancouver Washington and Portland Oregon.