Your House As Seen By:
Yourself… 
Your Buyer… 
Your Lender… 
Your Appraiser… 
And….
Your County’s Tax Assessor…
Drainage
Damp soil in the vicinity of a foundation wall will increase in volume once the temperature goes bellow the freezing point, due to the formation of ice. This creates pressure that can eventually damage the wall. To ensure water is not present and to avoid the problem mentioned above, there are four precautions that should be taken:
– Slop the ground surface around the building to force surface water away from the building;
– A course grain backfill material around the foundation wall will ensure a fast downward movement of water in the vicinity of the foundation wall;
– Place weeping tiles alongside the building footings and link them to the municipal rainwater leader thereby evacuating water reaching this point of the foundation assembly;
– Install gutters along the perimeter of a sloped roof.
Fences
The evaluation criteria for fences are the same as for a deck (see Decks), i.e. esthetically, good and strong construction and good quality finish. Also checking zoning regulations is a must. As an example, it is generally not permitted in Montreal to build a fence directly adjacent to a sidewalk; in such a case he city could force the owner to relocate it.
Gift certificates offered to all clients and all referral resulting in a closed real estate transaction. There is no limit on the number of referral appreciation gifts that we will give to you, so please feel free to refer as many friends/family/coworkers as you wish and we promise to give them great service and meet all of their Real Estate needs.
Catalin Ivan – Quebec Real Estate Broker
Decks
The deck, a place where the owner goes to relax and eat during a good part of the summer, is one of the most interesting additions to consider when buying mainly because the sale price is usually slightly affected by such construction. Here the most important element to consider is not only the construction, but also the design of the installation, i.e. location of the trees, planters and hard surfaces. What characterizes a good construction is:
– Well anchored posts, no less than 1.50m (4`6”) into the ground, covered with tar for its hidden portion;
– Pressure-treated wood, not just covered with creosote or paint;
– Planks fixed with heat-galvanized nails that do not rust;
– A structure member properly bolted supporting a deck that does not vibrate when one jumps on it;
– A stone deck must lay on a stone dust bed of 50 mm covering 250 mm of crushed stones (0-20 mm diameter)
Planters are frequently used to beatify the surroundings of a building; insulated planters are the best because they allow plants and trees to survive in winter time.
Catalin Ivan -Quebec Real Estate Broker-
If you are buying a house whit a swimming pool you should take on consideration the following facts:
Abouve ground or in-ground pools need to be properly inspected. Whem inspecting the in-ground pool, look for cracks and check the proper operation of the pump and filter. Damages to the filtration system may involve large amounts of money for repairs.
With above ground pools it is equally important to inspect them properly. Should the structure of such a pool fail, the thousands of liters of water it contains frequently finds its way into the basement through a window located nearby.
See also: http://realestateqc.ca/latent-defects/
Catalin Ivan-Quebec Real Estate Broker
You should be aware of this VERY IMPORTANT issue, since it could save you thousands of dollars and headache later on. That`s why I strongly suggest to always hire good realtors and home inspectors.
Example of a true story from last year:
Family X sold a house in good faith following all the guidance, instructions of the Real Estate Broker. After 3 months on the market and too many visits, they decided to reduce the price of the house by 25 000$ due to the feedback of the visitors (Asking price too high: basement needed to be renovated).
Couple of days after the price was changed, there was already a buyer making an offer. Everything went smooth EXCEPT of two major mistakes.
First: The Real Estate Broker didn`t mention in the documents that the price was reduced due to the work needed in the basement;
Second: the buyer hired a “discount inspector“.
One week after the new home owners moved to the house they discovered that one of the basement wall wasn`t isolated which lead to mould, therefor a LATENT DEFECT!
Facts: by all means any responsible inspector couldn’t miss such a big factor, especially when it was very accessible to carry on the verification.
Conclusion: Due to the omission from the realtor part, aggravated by an amateur inspector(or maybe working together with the buyers and abusing a questionable law in regards to LATENT DEFFECTS), 1 year later full of stress and 8 000$ shorter the seller finally put a closer on this case.
None the less, Buyers got a new, upgraded basement (which increase the value of the house) for less than half price (with the seller money)!
Catalin Ivan – Real Estate Broker
