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Breaking News.. well maybe not breaking news but recent news.

Thursday, August 16, 2007 -Apparently, A Good Stager Is the Buyers’ Biggest Enemy And We May Cost You $5645.  On ActiveRain Cindy Lin wrote:

“You can truly find anything on the Internet. Today I found the report How to not get tricked by staging — and potentially save $5,645 when you buy your home (PDF; 1.23 MB) published by National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. ”

This little staging tip from Cindy Lin of Staged 4 more  in San Francisco brought to the attention of the staging world and the larger real estate world the controversy for buyers and sellers.  Is staging an evil plot against buyers to make them like a house?

Most buyers are selling a home or condo too though aren’t they? Should a seller not put their best foot forward to get their home sold? 

Is it hiding windows to put “designer” window coverings  on them.  If you buy the window coverings at Target is it OK?  Or do you have to buy the window coverings at Wal-Mart or K Mart to make it OK?  If you have designer window coverings or even something cool you found at Target should you take them down so now buyers will be deceived that your cool 1920’s home has cool 1920’s windows? 

Cindy linked to the site with a report with some absurd claims that sellers whose homes are staged are trying to deceive buyers.

REALTOR® and stager (ASP) Julie Woodward-Trenker of Chicago wrote Staging Under Fire about the same NAEBA report.   Julie’s thoughtful posts last paragraph about this buyer beware says :

In conclusion, I would imagine there are plenty of other agents like myself whose biggest challenge does not lie in Buyers making offers with rose colored glasses on, but getting them past the small, insignificant items that they manage to turn into mountains out of fear.  Which by the way, is a much larger emotion behind buying decisions (or the lack of) than bliss.  I think these agents should be supportive of staging given their buyers will perceive value in the purchase than of a home that looks like a dump with a lofty price tag.

Want to buy a home?  I can keep you from overpaying for a home.  Your qualified home inspector can keep you from buying a home with a defect the seller is unaware of.  The seller’s property disclosure is going to tell you about latent defects the sellers know of.   My website says let me help you find your dream home but if you’d rather just look at the ugly houses we can do that too.

Previously on ColumbusBestBlog:

Don’t try this at home!  - staging

“Help My REALTOR® is holding me hostage!”  - staging and home insurance

“WOOD you tell a homeowner to paint the cabinets?” - staging

ColumbusBestBlog Welcomes David Tamny of Professional Property Inspection - home inspection

The best home inspector in Columbus Ohio - home inspection

 I like home inspectors with small shoulders- home inspection

David Tamny
Professional Property Inspection

Home inspector licensing is in front of the Ohio legislature again this session.  A group of home inspectors calling themselves the Joint Legislative Commission has authored HB 257 with Representative Michelle Schneider of Cincinnati as the sponsor.

Currently there are 32 states with licensing laws for home inspectors with Florida being the latest after West Virginia to join the ranks.  This is not the first attempt to get something through the legislature with previous attempts in 1999 and 2006.  Neither of the previous bills got beyond the House Commerce and Labor Committee and it remains to be seen if this bill will make it through either.

Ohio lawmakers are somewhat reluctant to enact more government regulation when there is little demonstrated need in the marketplace.  Few consumers have really been harmed in a significant way by minimally qualified inspectors.  The amount of complaints with the Ohio Attorney General is minimal and so are lawsuits in the civil courts.  The one stakeholder group which has wanted to see home inspectors licensed for a long time is the Realtors.  They are concerned that home inspectors can continue to disrupt their transactions with no disciplinary measures other than the courts.  One person told me “we just want a way to discipline home inspectors who write bad reports”.  I guess that begs the question what is a bad report?  Hopefully the requirement is not whether a deal has gone south.

A recent study was performed by the Ohio Division of Real Estate through Belmont Technical College.  The study surveyed home inspectors, Realtors and Consumers in both licensed and unlicensed states.  Their conclusion was that the level of home inspection quality was not improved by licensing laws.  HB 257 requires 8 hours education about the law, the passage of the National Home Inspector Exam (NHIE) and General Liability Insurance in the amount of 100,000.  Thirty hours of continuing education are required over a two year period.  It also requires 10 parallel inspections under a licensed inspector.

It should be no surprise that home inspectors are divided over this legislation.  Many experienced inspectors feel that the requirements are too low.  Those that want to see high professional standards feel that a law like this will decrease the quality of an inspection as consumers will believe that all licensed inspectors are competent to inspect.  Other inspectors feel that high requirements are too restrictive and create a restriction of trade forming unreasonable barriers to entry and any law no matter what the requirements is better than no law.  All in all this should make for interesting debate this fall when hearings begin in the Ohio House.  A copy of HB 257 as well as an analysis of key problems with the bill is available at www.ohioinspectorlicensing.com.

David Tamny
Professional Property Inspection
www.worryfreeinspections.com

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Previous ColumbusBestBlog ‘Home Inspection’ Posts

ColumbusBestBlog Welcomes David Tamny of Professional Property Inspection 

A Columbus Home Inspector Who Blogs?

The best home inspector in Columbus Ohio

I like home inspectors with small shoulders 

Monday is the second birthday of my other blog.  The blog that started life on RealTownBlogs.com known as Columbus Best Blog on August 27, 2005 is two years old.  That blog is now known as Discover Columbus. 

The first entry was called “Columbus Best Blog”

I shop at Kroger’s no wonder I had never heard of ‘Americone Dream’ ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s when Florida’s Chris Elizabeth Griffith gave us the scoop about  the ice cream locator  on ActiveRain a real estate network (and so much more.)

Ice Cream flavors are computerized.  The Ice Cream Locator for Ben & Jerry’s flavors.

Locally if you want to try ’Americone Dream’ from Ben & Jerry’s it looks like you have to go to Giant Eagle or Meijers.   Kroger carries other flavors of Ben & Jerry’s ice creams of course. 

Above table is from the Ben and Jerry ice cream locator, consider it a quote.  

I am a fan of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey but I gotta confess I don’t like the chunks of chocolate really.  I think they are just too big and too hard (because they are frozen? The chunks of chocolate in Graeter’s Ice Cream don’t get so hard…)    I love the pecans though and the banana flavor is wonderful, but who asked me, anyway?

The full name of ‘Americone Dream’ is … Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream so even after the tip from Chris  I had trouble with the ice cream locator (if I had read Chris’s entry carefully I would see where she mentions Stephen Colbert but I skim when I read blogs. )

You can search for ice cream flavors by zip code.  There are closer locations for me to find the ‘Americone Dream’ ice cream in Central Ohio, the Meijers on High Street north of 270, the Giant Eagle right across the street or the Giant Eagle on 161.  Lotsa options. 

I used to write about ice cream a lot on my old blog…  Discover Columbus (which used to be called Columbus Best Blog … just to make everything really confused)  but I had to put Discover Columbus on a diet because the majority of searches there were food.  I’m living dangerous here blogging about ice cream.

Discover ice cream in Central Ohio …   great ice cream:

Jan. 25, 2007 - Columbus Ice Cream

Sep. 3, 2006 - Ice Cream Sunday - ”Columbus, Ohio, is ice cream heaven”

Aug. 22, 2006 - Road Trip from Columbus

Jul. 20, 2006 - The Ice Cream Diet

Jul. 16, 2006 - Ice Cream Sunday National Ice Cream Day

Sep. 19, 2005 - The Winner of the Vote for the Best Ice Cream in Columbus is…

Sep. 14, 2005 - What is the Best Ice Cream in Columbus

I got Yelped on Tuesday.  Or I became a member of Yelp.

I am on Linked-In

I am on Facebook

I Twitter when absolutely necessary.  I even have followers on Twitter. It makes me paranoid.

I keep saying I am going to say no…. I am not going to join the next thing a friend sends me an invitation to.  Everytime I say I am going to say NO to the next invite , say NO to all the social networking, say NO to more web 2.0 but I did it again I filled out the bare minimum so now I am on Yelp too.

I guess on Yelp you do reviews of businesses.  I’ve known about Yelp for a few months.

I met a couple who own a small Central Ohio business  on Sunday at an Open House in Minerva Park.  They rode  up on their bikes.  The name of their business is Squeaky Clean of Westerville.

I was talking to someone earlier in the day Sunday who wondered how much it would be to have a house and deck power washed.  That is their business.   Or part of it.  They also paint and do handy man type stuff I believe…

Blaine and Lindsey Allen, Squeaky Clean, phone 614-835-9632  Squeaky Clean of Westerville, their website tells all the stuff they do.  Bath tub re-glazing… I’ve never used them obviously but they do free estimates.

I think I thought Columbus Best Blog, the first Columbus Best Blog  would become a bloggy Angie’s List or something like that  when I first started it.  The original Columbsu Best Blog is now known as  Discover Columbus oh my goodness, oh my soul the delusions of Angie’s List was the first Columbus Best Blog entry on August 27, 2005!)  It did not turn out that way…It still could  or not…

Friday evening I went looking to see Angie’s List online, see how it worked but their server is down.  So I visited a Knaddison.com a blog in Denver with a post called “Why Angies List Sucks” which has been very popular with Angie’s List Supporters.

The Knaddison’s Greg and wife have a list :

“Best Service Providers
These are the best service providers according to me.
The Best of Denver and the Baker Neighborhood”

Then Knaddison.com has a list… of who they recommend in Denver. Gosh I wonder what rain pants are?

A list of the best in town… that was the plan for Columbus Best Blog.

After the list it says:

“You can get more of my thoughts by trusting my lijit profile.”

Oh my…. I am a member of lijit too….