A4HB Homebuyer's Blog

Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 6, Termites

Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 6, Termites By Lindsey Wolf Lunney Last May, my husband and I unintentionally bought a major fixer-upper. In earlier posts, I talked about some of the problems we uncovered during our routine and not-so-routine inspections of the home. I hope my story will make the process easier for others who are thinking of taking on a big project like this one. Termites! It’s a common belief that there are no termites in Colorado, right? Wrong. We have found throughout our remodeling process that inspections can only uncover so much. For example, the family room had

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Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 5, The Kitchen

Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 5, The Kitchen By Lindsey Wolf Lunney Last May, my husband and I unintentionally bought a major fixer-upper. In earlier posts, I talked about some of the problems we uncovered during our routine and not-so-routine inspections of the home. I hope my story will make the process easier for others who are thinking of taking on a big project like this one. The Kitchen Once we closed on the house, I started going through the kitchen. The cabinets and appliances, while functional, were in much worse shape than I thought. The stove was the original

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Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 4, Flooring

Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 4, Flooring By Lindsey Wolf Lunney Last May, my husband and I unintentionally bought a major fixer-upper. In earlier posts, I talked about some of the problems we uncovered during our routine and not-so-routine inspections of the home. I hope my story will make the process easier for others who are thinking of taking on a big project like this one. Replacing the Flooring We knew from the start that we were going to replace all the flooring in the house except for the bathrooms and laundry room. As with many things during this remodel,

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Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 3, Water Everywhere!

Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 3, Water Everywhere! By Lindsey Wolf Lunney Last May, my husband and I unintentionally bought a major fixer-upper. In earlier posts, I talked about some of the problems we uncovered during our routine and not-so-routine inspections of the home. I hope my story will make the process easier for others who are thinking of taking on a big project like this one. Goodbye Swamp Cooler, Hello A/C We bought our home knowing the previous home owners did not have A/C and used a swamp cooler instead. The swamp cooler was full of mold and had

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Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 2, Mold and Asbestos

Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 2, Mold and Asbestos By Lindsey Wolf Lunney Last May, my husband and I unintentionally bought a major fixer-upper. In part one of this blog I talked about some of the problems we uncovered during our routine and not-so-routine inspections of the home. I hope my story will make the process easier for others who are thinking of taking on a big project like this one. Mold Mitigation We ordered a simple air quality test for mold in the house. When it came back positive, I knew we needed to do more extensive testing and

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Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 1, Landscaping

Lindsey Buys a Fixer-Upper: Part 1, Landscaping By Lindsey Wolf Lunney Last May, my husband and I bought an older home, built in 1966. We had not been looking for a fixer-upper, but because we loved the location, we bought it anyway. As those of you who have renovated a home know, taking on a fixer-upper is a challenging process. I wrote this blog in hopes that it might make the process easier for others who are thinking of taking on a big project like this one. Understand the Scope of Work Before You Buy When we initially bought the

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Methamphetamine and Real Estate

Methamphetamine and Real Estate Several years ago we discovered that methamphetamine had been smoked in a home one of our clients had under contract. The house was immaculate, but the testing and cleanup costs were over $35,000. This was the result of the previous owner’s son smoking a few times with his friends. Had there been someone living in the house at the time, they could have lost all of their personal property as well (as it is all considered contaminated). Following this experience, we began recommending meth screening tests to each client and paying 1/2 of their $375 cost.

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Insure Your Condo for Fire & Flood

Why should I get fire and flood insurance for my condo/townhome? One of the eternal mysteries in real estate is the fact that lenders don’t always require condo and townhome buyers to show proof of home insurance before they close.  Nor do they generally require that the property be insured after closing.  In contrast, when you buy a single family home, the lender insists on both. This is because if the house burns down they know they will lose the collateral they have for their loan.  They also know that most home buyers won’t be making $2000 a month payments

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Energy Audit Deal for Boulder County

For $120, Boulder County’s Energy Smart program will send both an energy auditor and an energy advisor to your home.  While the auditor is conducting depressurization tests, infared scans and other inspections, the advisor will install high efficiency light bulbs and low flow shower heads if you want and insulate your water heater pipes.  They’ll even install a programmable thermostat for a $20 co-pay. When the energy audit report is completed and delivered, the energy advisor can return for a follow-up meeting to help you review the results and prioritize home improvements based on the cost effectiveness of recommended upgrades.  The advisor can also help

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