Do home inspectors know what they're talking about when they get
up on the roof, and they're telling them - Totally legitimate question and, and no
disrespect to home inspectors, there are really good ones out there and then there are like, in
every profession, then there are some that shall we say could use a little more tutelage.
And this is our "Ask the Expert" series that we're going to do with real estate. Now
Karsten has been a realtor since, what? Since God created dirt is the joke, and I think I'm going
on year 43 Tracy. So, Karsten is like one of the uppity ups with Keller Williams Clients Choice,
is that right? Yeah, Keller Williams Clients Choice. I want to actually just turn it over to Karsten
right now, and let him give the 30-second synopsis of who he is, what he does, and why he does it. All
right, well, Tracy it's a pleasure to be with you and I'm Karsten Musaeus, I had the Karsten team
at Keller Williams realty, I've been with Keller Williams now about 21 years, prior to that RE/MAX,
etc., etc. I've been a broker for about 43 years now, which doesn't mean I know everything, but
I have a few scars that give me at least - and some gray hair that gives me at least a perspective on
talking about some of the subjects we want to talk about today. And this happens to be we're going
to talk about roofing, so Tracy lead, lead away and let's, let's see where this takes us.
Yeah, so the whole point of this is, you know, our "Ask the Expert" video series is to really
kind of, give a different perspective from somebody in a different industry that has to deal with
roofers, and has to deal with roofing situations, and has to deal with the problems that arise
with all of those, we want to give people a perspective. So, homeowners we want to give you a
perspective, but also this may, this information be - may actually become really beneficial for
other realtors, maybe those that aren't as seasoned and as experienced as Karsten is.
You're going to run into situations with roofs on transactions that you're working on, you may not
have any clue how to deal with it, and if you don't, you could end up probably in some pretty serious
trouble, so that's what we want to talk about and so, I've got a list of questions that I've sent to
Karsten, and let's start running through those. Let me ask you a reading question then because of that. Sure.
Because, you know, Homestead Roofing, we do a lot of work for real estate transactions, we see a lot of
buyers inspection reports come across our desk. I just got one today that
actually made me laugh, so here's my leading question: do do home inspectors
know what they're talking about when they get up on the roof and they're telling them -
That is a totally legitimate question and, and no disrespect to home inspectors, there are really good ones out
there, and then there are, like in every profession, then there are some that shall we say could
use a little more tutelage. Which is a nice way of saying they don't always get it right, and they can
sometimes screw up a transaction because they're trying to be so refined in what they're saying,
only it turns out that perhaps their accuracy begs the question. So, let's just take that,
hopefully the inspectors of the world who see this realize that I'm respectful of the, the, their need
but to be in a transaction, but having said that, let's say we actually had a problem okay? I get
that information as the buyer's agent, the buyer obviously gets that too, we talk it over, we write
up something called an inspection objection report which says: mr and mrs seller as the case may be, we
want you to replace the roof or repair it and or if it is not a problem then have a licensed,
local licensed bonded insured pro roofer get up there, take pictures, write a report, and say, you
know what, there's no problem with this roof, and oh by the way, I'm willing to put that in
print and I'll back it that there's no problem with this roof, because if that isn't done
that could mess up the transaction. Both in terms of the buyer going, I'm not comfortable because,
you know, I'm not going to take just anybody's word, I need to know it's somebody I can trust. And
number two, what about an insurance company that wants to ensure the, the house for the purchase.
If they have any inkling that this roof is a problem, you know, we have problems and that
can blow up a transaction. So, this sets this whole thing in motion Tracy, as you know. And so, one way
or the other we have to have a pro up on the roof looking at it and giving their professional advice.
Now, wouldn't it be wonderful if there was no problem? But, in most of the inspections I've
seen, the inspector feels obliged to point out anything that could be a problem. Their job isn't
to prove it, it's to point it out at the start and say get somebody in that field who's a pro
that everybody can trust. Yeah that's a great point. Man I'm so glad that you brought that up because,
I mean, transactions that we've worked on with you and with other realtors, that's happened
right? The home inspector gets up there and he sees something that he thinks is hail damage,
and he's not, he's not a roofing contractor right, he's a home inspector. And maybe last month, maybe
he was delivering pizzas, who knows, right? And so, he gets up there and he says, well, you know, you
got hail damage up there. So that trickles down through the buying agent, through the buyers,
you know, to the inspection objection or to - Yeah, it creates it creates a major ripple
effect, let's put it that way. And we've seen, in those reports, where the home inspector said we
recommend that the homeowners file an insurance claim to get this taken care of. Okay, boom. There's,
there's where the hammer drops, right Karsten? The home inspector says, we recommend you file a claim.
What do you tell your client to do? You're the listing agent. Now I'm on, now I'm on the listing
side? Yes. All right, my first words of advice is, do not call your insurance company first. Get a
professional out there who's local bonded licensed insured to get up on the roof and look at it, and
with no holds barred, not, not going whispering in their ear, hey make it the way I want it to
be, which a good roofer would never do that anyway. I mean, you would never do that, you'd go, hey I'm
here to tell the whole truth and nothing but, I know you. So, we want somebody like you up there,
if I'm representing the seller, so that we can know for sure
if we have a problem. In order for this house to get sold and everybody to be a happy camper,
if there's a problem, doesn't do anybody any good to deny, delay, distract,
you know, on the subject. Let's face it, that's why we have insurance. If we have you up there first
and you can give some assurance, I'm the listing agent now, and, and with my clients the sellers,
and you go, listen there really is a problem, you guys have a legitimate claim. That actually, while
it's oh that's unfortunate, that's a sigh of relief, because we have a pro already behind us right now
who can stand up to whatever insurance company is coming there and say, you know, to quote a very old,
old phrase from "I Love Lucy" which is dating me, "Lucy, we have a problem". And when I've got that,
that is golden to me representing my client. Let's talk about a real world example that
we had, you and I. Yeah. This would have been back in 2013, 2014 if I remember correct. Yeah.
It was on a house kind of on that North slope of pulpit rock area. Yeah, I remember that. And, and it
was the exact same thing that we were talking about right now. A home inspector got up there
and found what he thought was storm damage, and actually put in his report
that the homeowners had storm damage and that they should file an insurance plan. So they did.
The adjuster came out there and rightly said there is no storm damage on this roof, we're not, we're
not paying for anything for this roof. So that put a big kink in your transaction. Yeah it did. Because
now what happens, now the buyers are afraid of buying this roof because there's something
happening on the roof. Right. But the insurance company won't take care of it, well, so, it wasn't
storm damage, it was actually, you know, what we call thermal cracking thermal problems.
It was just worn out, that's all that it was. So, your, your client, the home seller
had to pay out of pocket to replace the roof. And here's, here's an insight about that because
if my client hadn't done that and said, you know, let's say took a bad attitude; to heck with you
guys I'll sell it to somebody else. Do you think for one minute the same issue isn't going to arise?
Because the next inspector is rightly going to go up there and go, Lucy we got a problem here. Yeah,
well here's the bigger problem for your client in that situation. Okay yeah, he needed to take care of
the roof to sell the house we all know that right? But the fact that he filed an insurance claim
there wasn't any damage meant that now he's got an actual claim on his record called a claim without
pay. That still counts against him. So because, because a home inspector told the, not even his
home inspector ,the home inspector from the buyers told him to file an insurance claim and he did, he
didn't have, he didn't have insurable damage so he ends up with a claim with no benefit. So, so let me,
let me go back on that because I - yes this was like crystal clear, it was one of our fun times
wasn't it? Anyway, for those of you watching, if you're a consumer, or if you're a realtor,
there is an order to this that makes rational sense. You do not want to go filing a claim,
the sad news is, if you file a claim it's held against you even if it doesn't work out.
Which seems unfair admittedly, but regardless, the order would be, get somebody up there who's
a pro who can look at it and go, no this is not the result of hail damage or, or anything else this is
just an old roof and it is worn out. And either your insurance will cover something related
to that or not, but don't you go filing the claim until you at least have had kind of just a basic
little conversation to start with, with your insurance agent about that, because otherwise
not only will you get turned down, but now it's held against you like a black mark against your,
your insurance standing. So that seems unfair, I know it does folks, but that's how it plays
out. Hey everybody, I hope this has been helpful for you. Remember this is just video number one
in a series that we did with Karsten, because we've got so much information about roofing and real
estate transactions that we couldn't fit it all in one nice concise video. So this is actually
going to be the first part of a multi-part series, where we're talking on our "ask an expert" video, but
in the meantime if you've got any questions about this particular video, about this particular topic,
please feel free to give us a call right up here our office phone number 719-433-6991 you can also
visit our website as always that's right down here homesteadroofingcolorado.com we've got a
ton of information out there lots of other videos with lots of educational information.
If you like this video, please consider giving us the big thumbs up, we'd love to see that.
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feel free to leave those in the comment section down below. We read and respond to all questions
that we get on our videos. Now be sure to check in on our next "ask an expert" video because
we're going to pick right back up with Karsten, continuing to talk about roofing and real estate
transactions. Again if you're a homeowner, if you're a real estate agent, it's going to be information
that you're going to want to have so until that next video, I'm Tracy Bookman owner of Homestead
Roofing.