LESSON 3: THE BASIC PROPERTY INSPECTION Flashcards
As a property inspector, you will need to develop your skill sets to help you determine if a property is occupied or vacant by observations you make visually.
*Never walk in the backyard of an occupied property!
It may be occupied if:
the doorbell is lit or porch light is on.
a water spigot near the front door when turn on has water coming out of it.
noises coming from the interior.
garbage cans set out for collection along with all the neighbors.
freshly cut and manicured lawns.
cars parked in the driveway.
personal property is seen on the exterior.
personal property is seen in the interior from the street.
holiday decorations.
flags or political signs.
pets or animals on the property.
If they do answer:
If you still cannot make a determination of occupancy you may knock on the door to see if someone answers. (As long as it is not a bankruptcy or No-Contact inspection.) If they do answer just tell them you are conducting an occupancy verification for their mortgage company.
Never mention to the homeowner, occupant or neighbors that we are there because the property is behind on the payments.
Never mention these words:
Late on Payments Delinquency Past Due Default In the rears FORECLOSURE
NEIGHBORS
If you have to, just say you are doing a “property inspection”.
*A good neighbor may call the police. If they do that is fine. We are authorized to show the police our paperwork or phone app and let them know we are inspecting the property on behalf of the mortgage company.
If no one is home and you are not sure of the occupancy status, then go to one of the neighbors and simply ask the neighbor “When did they move out next door?”
If the property is vacant, they may tell you. If it is occupied, they may say that they didn’t know they moved.
*If you ask the neighbor if the property is occupied you are going to draw undue attention to your self and your purposes for being there.
We never tell neighbors that we are representing a mortgage company.
It may be vacant if:
weeds are growing in the cracks of the driveway all utilities appear to be off tall grass or weeds no signs of personal property no window coverings excess debris newspapers and mail piled up
Determining if a property is vacant is accomplished in baby steps.
Ring the doorbell, listen for sounds. If there is an electrical outlet near the front door, use your volt stick to check for power.
If there is a water spigot near the front door, see if the water is on or off.
Listen to the AC unit.
If the electric meter is on the side of the house in public view, see if it is operating.
WHAT DOES “NO ACCESS” MEAN?
“No Access” has nothing to do with your ability to enter into the interior of a property.
“No Access” means you cannot see the property with your eyes. If you can see the property, then you DO have access.
Examples of no access would be :
A closed rural gate where you cannot see over the gate to get a view of the dwelling. If you can see the dwelling over the gate, then you have access.
(We do not open road gates.) Take a photo of the gate, and another of what is seen beyond the gate to show you cannot see the dwelling.
A gated community when you cannot get past the guard or it requires a code to open the gate. That would be No Access.
There are two general divisions within the Mortgage Field Services industry.
Property Inspections
Property Preservation
This course only teaches Property Inspections.
Property Preservation involves changing locks, mowing grass, debris removal, winterization, etc.
Disaster Inspections
Hurricane, tornado, wildfires, earthquake, floods, are all examples of disasters that might generate an inspection.
Unfortunately, the Mortgage Field Services industry may call certain property inspections with a work code of “Disaster” or even call it a “FEMA” inspection for their own clarification as to their type of work order.
NOT to be confused with a FEMA inspection.
For example, when hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area, nearly all mortgage companies sent out “Disaster” type work orders of randomly selected mortgages, to affected areas.
They do this in order to get a general consensus of the level of damages to their properties.
These type inspections are not about delinquency or foreclosure.
Disaster Inspections
Under no circumstances are you to take photos of the interior of occupied properties, even if the homeowner invites you in. This is not that type of detailed inspection.
It is a general consensus inspection. So keep that in mind. If the homeowner doesn’t want you taking photos of their property then don’t argue with them. Finish your report, make notes, and move on.
In most cases, you will not see any damages to the property and it becomes a 5-minute inspection.
In other cases, you may see that the occupants emptied out their house and put all the damaged furniture, carpets and even waterlogged sheet-rock out to the curb.
Of course, this would tell you that the property had damaged. Just take photos of the contents out on the curb and any other damages you can see from the curb.
Of course, if the property is vacant, they’re going to want you to take more extensive photos of the entire property. In most cases, these properties will not have lockboxes and your keys will not allow you to gain entrance. It is a home that may have recently became vacant due to the recent disaster.
If the property is occupied, all occupancy and letter delivery inspections require at least 2 additional photos that support that the property is occupied. (Along with the 4 core photos.)
True (Car in driveway, porch light, trash can day, personal property, lawn cut, cat in window etc.)
False
True (Car in driveway, porch light, trash can day, personal property, lawn cut, cat in window etc.)
A vehicle parked in the drive-way can be used as an occupancy indicator photo, but it may also mean a neighbor parked their car there to make a vacant property look occupied?
True
False
True
School, horses, night lights or tires.
Cats, dogs, fish or pine trees.
Delinquency, past due, foreclosure, or default.
City Managers, hotels, candles, or newspapers.
Delinquency, past due, foreclosure, or default.
