This article is not intended to scare the witts out of someone looking to buy or sell a home. My goal is to hopefully prevent someone from being injured at home whether it is a prospective buyer, seller or current homeowner. My comments are based on extensive experience in home and building inspections.
I find safety hazards in many homes that I inspect, new and old. Here are some of them:
Plumbing: Hot and cold water lines reversed are more common than you think. So are water faucet temperatures exceeding 130 degrees, which is an extreme scalding hazard especially for children. Lower the heat setting on your water heater if needed.
Shower Door: If the door is made of glass that is non-tempered material, you have an extremely serious safety issue that you need to correct immediately.
Electric: GFCI outlets in bathrooms, kitchens, exterior outlets and garages. These grounded outlets help protect against electric shock should someone come into contact with water when operating an electrical appliance. Do you know if your outlets are grounded? Is your service equipment capacity adequate? If you don't know, forget about adding any more electric appliances until you find out.
Furnace: Nice looking two year old furnace in your new home? Good for you. However the furnace filter may also be two years old, which is a potential carbon monoxide issue. Don't assume that the current homeowner changed the filters as required.
Exterior: Uneven patio slabs. I often find that portions of concrete patio slabs have settled while other portions stay intact. This a serious trip hazard that often goes unnoticed until someone gets hurt. Window well covers provide additional security for your home. But if you have a well that is not covered, it is a serious safety issue you need to correct immediately. If someone fell in because you failed to cover it, injuries are likely to occur. When a well cover is in place it locks from the inside near the basement window with a pin type mechanism. If you needed to escape your home from the basement window, would the window and well cover mechanisms release as intended? How do you know? Did you ever test them?
Roof: Feel like cleaning tree branches off the roof of your new home? Before you placed the metal ladder against the side of the home, would you have checked to make sure that overhead electrical wiring is not in contact with any portion of the gutters?
Attics: If for some reason you must venture into this area of your home, one bad step may send you crashing to the ground. The attic floor (which is your living space ceiling) is usually nothing more than a thin sheet of drywall.
Clothes Dryer: Did you know that in many homes the dryer exhaust vent is made of vinyl that can melt and cause a fire? The vent material should be flexible metal.
Exterior Doors: Do you have a nice secure deadbolt installed that you lock from the inside before going to sleep? How are you going to get out of the home should there be a fire and you can't find your door keys? Even if it's during the day, don't leave your keys in the lock. That's what burglars look for if you have a small window next to the door.
Garage Door: Your door may open and close just fine. But would it reverse if it came into contact with someone who might be underneath when closing it? Reverse features sometimes fail and cause severe, even fatal injuries. Test regularly. If you don't have optical motion sensors they would be a very worthwhile investment.
Deck/Balcony Balusters: Are you aware that a very young child can squeeze between balusters that are more than four inches a part?
Stairs: Any stairway with four or more steps without a handrail is considered a trip hazard and depending on the municipality, may also be a code violation.
Stair Railings: They always look safe and secure from a distance. Once I barely touched a railing and it fell off. Are yours firm and securely fastened?
Crawl Space: Besides the long list of maintenance issues that are common especially in unconditioned crawl spaces, many have wires strewn across the ground or dangling overhead. Add a wet ground and you have a recipe for a disaster. Possibly live wires in direct contact with water. Would you have known to stay out of the crawl space? Same goes for the basement. Don't eve go into a basement that's flooded. A fatal charge may await you. Call an electrician and your utility company immediately.
Please let me share some straightforward advice. Don't even think about buying a home without a thorough inspection by an experienced inspection professional. Secondly, if you are thinking of selling you should strongly consider a pre-listing inspection before placing the home on the market.
Being a long time resident of the home, you may have become so used to your surroundings "as they are", that you may not recognize an issue even if you were looking right at it. Not buying or selling? Then if you're a homeowner who has no plans on moving, a safety/maintenance inspection would be the best home investment you can make.
As a prospective homeowner there are a couple of items that you need to pay attention to that a lot of real estate buyers often overlook. As a prospective homeowner it is important that you perform a little homework to find out info on some little things that if not looked at could become some bigger things to worry about later.
1. Child Day-Care, Preschool: Are they licensed? Have background checks been performed on the employees? How many children were the licensed to manage? Where are the nearby day-care and preschool facilities? What types of programs do they offer? Will there be a place for your child? Which days and what times are available? What are the costs?
2. Public Transportation: The Fort Lauderdale real estate market has very good mass transportation but you should know the bus routes if you will be relying on public transportation. Find out the fees, discounts for monthly passes and hours of service.
3. Recreational Facilities: Fort Lauderdale and South Florida in general have great recreational facilities. Of course there's the beach.
Did you know that although public there are certain area of the beach areas that have somehow been known to attract a certain segment of the population?
I encourage you to visit the beaches in the South Florida area to find your favorite spot.
When not at the beach there are so many parks. Even parks for dogs! Some facilities are open to the general public and some are for members only. Will you be allowed to use recreational facilities in the area?
Is your new home in a public or private recreation district? Are special memberships required? Where are parks located and what facilities do they have? Are the parks used by recreation organizations on specific days? Who takes care of park maintenance and security?
4. Hospital and Medical Services: There are many fine hospitals and clinics in the Fort Lauderdale real estate area. Where is the nearest hospital? Are emergency medical facilities closer? Make sure you know this information
5. Police and Fire Protection: Here in South Florida, depending upon where you live you may have different first responders. Find out who handles police and fire coverage for your neighborhood.
Will your home be protected by a neighborhood watch program? If you live in a gated community find out if the neighborhood has a patrol and what time the gates are manned.
6. Television Reception: Most of the Fort Lauderdale real estate market and a majority of South Florida is covered and serviced by major cable television providers. find out who your provider is and determine if the have any ongoing specials.
Here's a hint, most will have an installation special especially for a new account so be sure to ask.
Often the will bundle cable service with other offers. It's best to take a look at all of your options. If you are the satellite tv type, be sure you are allowed to have one. Some complexes and neighborhoods do not allow them.
7. Telephone And Internet Service: Will telephone service be available as soon as you move in? Most of the phone service in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market is provided by Bellsouth.
Will a private line be available? What other telephone services are available? The cable companies and phone companies are both vying for your Internet service account so be sure to get the best deal.
8. Postal Service: Find your closest post office. Understand in South Florida we have a lot of snowbirds and tourists and our post office traffic is quite heavy at times.
9. Trash Collection: South Florida's trash collection service is operated by municipality which may have contracts with private companies. Make sure you know when your trash pick-up days is and when bulk-trash pick up occurs.
10. Parking: If you live in a single family house, find out from the local police if off street parking is allowed and make sure you find out what times you or your guests may park there.
If you live in a complex, it is even more important that you find out where you and your guests can park. Also, find out the zoning ordinances about parking your boat or trailer.
Lastly, if you are buying a condominium or townhouse in the Fort Lauderdale real estate market, make sure you find out if you can even have a pick up truck or commercial vehicle at all.
Some don't even allow motorcycles. This is very important information to know. Don't take it lightly.
11. Water and Sewer: Most municipalities provide water utility service. Lately we have been under severe dry conditions and we have had restrictions on water use. Call your local municipality for further details.
12. Property Taxes:In Broward County the real estate taxes can be a shocker to many prospective homebuyers. Don't be surprised, find out what the estimated taxes are BEFORE you buy. You can find out more information by going to the tax assessor's office at http://www.bcpa.net.
13. Special Assessments: Are special assessments anticipated? These could be made for any number of reasons - paving projects, water and/or sewer improvements, drainage improvements, schools, parks, sidewalks. Are you expected to pay for special assessments approved or anticipated?
14. Zoning Changes and New Construction: Have there been any recent zoning changes? Are zoning changes anticipated? Is new construction planned that will change the appearance of or the traffic flow through the neighborhood?
This may seem like a lot of work but knowing this information can make the difference from having a happy home buying experience and a lousy one.
The good news is you should not have to do this on your own. If you are working with a Realtor, make he or she work!
Tell them to provide you with a report on all of this information. If they won't do it or won't do it in timely fashion you may want to move on.
If you are buying a home a real estate agent stands to make a lot of money on the transaction (paid by the seller) so make sure you have them provide a service that you are satisfied with.
Both Erol Kartal & Barry Cunningham are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Erol Kartal has sinced written about articles on various topics from Real Estate. Erol Kartal is a veteran home and building inspector in the Chicagoland area who is certified in the use of infrared thermal imaging technology that helps identify deficiencies in home and buildings.. Erol Kartal's top article generates over 720 views. to your Favourites.
Barry Cunningham has sinced written about articles on various topics from Real Estate, Medical Malpractice and Real Estate. Robin Sing-Cunningham. Is a real estate agent serving Broward County, Florida. I live in Fort Lauderdale with my husband and I specialize in .. Barry Cunningham's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.