Before making that down payment on the house, US News & World Report said there are many things to check in, around and about the house before committing to purchasing.
The report said homebuyers should be doing things such as checking the foundation and HVAC equipment, looking for water damage and checking all electrical outlets for problems.
US News said homebuyers often look for the wrong things when buying a house and ultimately believe they can easily fix whatever problems already exist.
Regarding water damage, the article notes that "what happened once (like a leaking basement) can easily happen again," and that homebuyers should also check the bathroom and under the sink for plumbing leaks or issues.
According to GovTrack, a public research website which focuses on Congress, the Home Inspection Act of 2010 was introduced this year. If passed, the law would require any home inspection that involves a federally related mortgage loan to be conducted by a State-licensed or State-certified home inspector to determine any structural, mechanical and electrical safety defects.
Archive for December, 2010
House-checking tips for future first-time homebuy
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010Underwater sewage pipe in Oregon leaks into river
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010A log rammed into a sewage pipe causing a massive sewage leak in the Umpqua River near Gardiner, Oregon, the Umpqua Post reports.
Gardiner Sanitary District secretary Shelley Cox told the paper the water leak from the ruptured pipe occurred between the Gardiner and Reedsport wastewater treatment plant.
The Post said Cox told the Gardiner Sanitary District board there was a log jammed under the pipe and immediately knew there was a problem.
The money used to fix the leak reportedly cost the district $10,000, $7,000 of which was used to rent a truck to carry wastewater from Gardiner into the Reedsport treatment facility.
"It cost us $10,000 for this 'little break,'" Jackie Degman, chairman of the sanitary district board, told the paper, adding "next time, we might not have the money to pay" for leak repair.
According to American Rivers, an organization which promotes keeping national rivers clean, states more than 200 million people have water provided by water treatment plants which provide secondary or more advanced treatment, up from 140 million served by wastewater treatment in the late 1960s.
Some Arizona residents to pay higher water rates in 2011
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010The Arizona Republic reports the Arizona Corporation Commission recently approved a vote to increase water rates for residents of the community of Anthem and Sun City between an estimated 20 to 40 percent.
According to the article, the new rates will take effect in January. Anthem's water rates reportedly will go up 100 percent, while Sun City's will rise 28 percent. Both residents of the communities and the Arizona American Water, the water supplier of the area, agreed to terms of payment after the vote.
AAW spokeswoman Joni McGlothlin told the Arizona Republic she was "glad that everyone was able to negotiate a settlement." The company cited its increased rate request based on losses of $30 million since it bought the utility serving Anthem in 2002.
Based on water rates on the official website for Phoenix, Arizona, as of July 1, 2010, the most residents living outside the city can be charged for basic water rates is $42.77 per month, while the most residents living in the city can be charged is $28.51. These charges include monthly service, volume and environmental charges.
Large sinkhole shuts down Vancouver street
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010On Sunday afternoon, a sinkhole opened up across three lanes of a busy street in Vancouver, British Columbia, causing a gas leak that has forced city officials to close the street until Tuesday.
The sinkhole is 30 feet long, 15 feet wide and 20 feet deep, says the paper. On top of repairing the hole, a 3-inch gas line and a 12-inch water line need to be repaired as well. In addition, the City of Vancouver recently sent out a notice to low-rise apartment residents and businesses in the area that their water service had been cut off, but repair crews hoped to have temporary water service to residents by 10 p.m. Sunday.
City spokeswoman, Wendy Stewart, declared that the cause of the sinkhole is unknown at this point, but she noted a faulty water main may be one of the possible reasons. She added that nearby residents told the Vancouver Sun that there was turbid tap water soon before the hole appeared.
There are numerous reasons why sinkholes are created, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. In this case, some of the blame may be due to the high volume of traffic on the street as well as a possible leak in one of the pipes.
Water main breaks shutter shopping mall
Monday, December 20th, 2010A series of water leaks in Pittsburgh closed down access to a local mall for more than an hour during one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.
A total of five water mains let loose on Friday morning in many parts of the city. The largest of the five breaks occurred at McKnight road just past 2 a.m., near the entrance to the Ross Park Mall. Roughly 2.5 million gallons of water poured onto the roadway, with much of it freezing and making the road impassable.
While access to the mall was restored relatively quickly, business owners said they lost about an hour and a half of business because of the incident.
"It was very bad," Ross police Sergeant Ben Dripps told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "There was a heavy flow of water in the road, several feet of water."
In addition to shuttering the mall, the disruption also prevented school buses from reaching a pair of large stops with nearly 70 students.
Officials told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that despite the number of water main breaks, they weren't related in any way. The incidents were blamed on old pipes and fluctuating temperatures in the region.