Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Watching the economy these past months is a lot like watching a lava lamp - it’s up, it’s down, it’s sideways, it’s ever changing. Even if you think you know what you are looking at, it changes a minute later. Just for the record, I have never owned a lava lamp and I don’t smoke the Devil’s lettuce.
I have to tell a story Jeff Ranson (Ontario) shared with me. He did an inspection on a house an el-derly lady was selling. The agent handed her a copy of Jeff’s report. She read it out loud and then com-mented, “Beyond it’s design life…that sounds like me.” That was a great one. I wish I had been there. To me, a sense of humor is more important than air...almost.
Overall, there is still a lot of negativity in the news. GM made the decision to file bankruptcy, and so far, it has not affected the markets.
We are seeing and hearing more positive stories as well. Consumer confidence has jumped to 54.9 percent. That’s the highest single month’s jump in 6 years. Consumer confidence is an important number to watch. It is generally a precur-sor to consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of our economy. On the jobs front, I’m sure we all have friends who have lost their jobs. Though it took time, some of the people I know have found new jobs.
The stock market is like a yo-yo. It seems as though every other day a positive news story sends the market up, and the next day, a negative one sends it down. In any case, the trend for the stock market has been up these past few months.
Our April numbers were a little better than March’s. Based on phone calls and e-mails, we expect May to be better than April. If May holds true, that will be five months in a row where our numbers have increased (slightly). What’s encouraging is that we are doing a little bit of everything. That’s a better and safer scenario for us.
Please stay in touch. We love hearing from you.
1 ............... From the President
2 ............... The Business Edge
3,4 ............ Marketing Insight
5, 6 ........... Highlights
Roland BatesPresident
Holiday Closing
The Omaha office will be closed Friday, July 3, to allow our employees to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. The office will re-open Monday, July 6.
News and information from the franchise front l ines .
Issue # 6 - June 2009
TOPIC: Tempering Valves
TOPIC: Ecoflex and Fire Pipe
2009 Annual Meeting
The 2009 Annual Meeting is scheduled for Nov. 6 and Nov. 7. We hope to see you there!
What’s Inside From the President
Technical Bulletins
The Business Edge Page 2
Congratulations on your anniversary with National Property Inspections, Inc. One of the most important responsibilities you as-
sume for your clients is to identify and report on safety concerns, significant deficiencies and
other major problems. Many times, inspectors’ findings have saved clients from unknowingly investing in a dis-tressed property.
Although clients appreciate inspectors’ findings, reporting on every small problem is often disheartening. Your job is to deliver an honest, educated and objective opinion, and provide a professional inspection report. On the other hand, a good home inspector does not take a “doom and gloom” approach about every minor problem. Doing so is counterproductive,
unethical and will result in a loss of credibility and lack of professional service for your clients, the public and your profession.
How you communicate your observations and sugges-tions, and how your clients perceive them are important characteristics to valuable client relationships. According to ASHI, research indicates that most people would rather work with someone who is likable than with someone who is very skilled and abrasive.
Most clients are uneducated on the majority of the com-ponents in their homes; therefore, they have no way to objectively judge a home inspection. They can, however, judge on whether the inspector was truly concerned, in-
terested and devoted to helping them.
Likability is not necessarily more important than other qualities. You should also strive to be a well-rounded inspector by being more:
• Thorough • Technically knowledgeable
• Ethical • Caring
• Genuine • Sociable
You have the choice to be likable or unlikable, but if you appear arrogant, uninterested or abrasive then don’t expect clients to do business with you in the future. People like to do business with people they like. Being concerned, thoughtful, caring and willing to commu-nicate are desirable traits that can result in client satisfaction.
Source: www.ASHIReporter.org»
Jody Ray Vicksburg, MS
5 YEARS
Alan Stark Murray, UT
5 YEARS
Brian Wood Boones Mill, VA
5 YEARS
Are You Likeable? Congratulations
Page 3Marketing Insight
Rick Nelson was recently contacted to perform an energy audit for the EarthWatch Institute, the largest non-profit environmental organization worldwide. It occupies three buildings, known as the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, which are owned by the Smithsonian Institute, lo-cated on the Chesapeake Bay. Two of the buildings are conference centers with dormitory-type rooms, and the third building is a temporary building with
staff offices.
Rick said he will divide the two larger buildings into two sec-tions and run separate blower door tests to avoid overload-ing the volume on the blower door.
He also booked a commer-cial energy audit for the East-ern Shore Land Conservatory, which preserves open space by purchasing development rights to farm-land. It has two offices.
Where to Start with Energy Audits
Rick wanted to diversify his business by looking primarily into resi-dential energy inspections/audits. He said he wanted to make good use of his IR camera and generate revenue from it, rather than just using it as an enhancement tool on home inspections. He looked into the Minnesota Blower Door, found the company very helpful, and made the purchase.
He performed his first energy audit in January 2008, but the next several audits were few and far between. He did a job about every two months, but because he was learning, and other business had not de-clined drastically yet, he was satisfied.
Marketing Energy Audits
Rick foresees energy audits as a great market for NPI/GPI inspectors. There are the environmental and energy cost issues, but also two major advantages from a marketing perspective: Almost everyone needs this service and it is not driven by home sales only. From Rick’s experience, marketing for energy audits is mainly Web driven. Unlike most home inspections, which come from agent referrals, energy audits come from a different sort of marketing. For now, Rick relies on the Google Ad-Words, average $25 to $40 a month. Rick said some tweaking is always necessary and choosing prices for each keyword is important.
CONTINUED ON NExT COLUMN »
Rick Nelson Preston, MD
Rick averages three to four energy audits per month, and charges about $325 per audit. Although he said that num-ber may not sound like a lot, as the inspection market came to a halt, energy audits provided some important income to carry him along, and it continues to do so.
Marketing Tools Available to You
We have several marketing tools available to help you mar-ket energy audits/inspections. The energy inspection flyer text can be personalized and modified to fit your specific services. An energy inspection letter to home owners is also available. To view all of the energy inspection marketing materials, log into your personal Web page and click on the “Library” tab. When you are in the Library, click on “In-spections Services” in the right hand column of the page. Click on “Energy Inspections/Ratings” and click on the link “View full directory.” (* Some materials not available for GPI due to NRCan restrictions.)
Check with your state/local housing authority and local programs on energy audit opportunities. To obtain the phone, e-mail and street address of the director of the state energy office in your area, go to http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/state_energy_program/seo_contacts.cfm.
If you have any questions, contact the marketing team.
An agent recently contacted Mike Stew-art to perform two inspections for a landlord who wanted a fully document-ed inspection of the property before new tenants move in. This became part of the lease package regarding condition of the property.
Mike said these types of inspections dif-fer from a standard inspection because he documents what is “right” as well as what is “wrong.” He takes two to three photos of each room and writes a brief description, such as, “No holes in the walls or stains on the carpet. One broken outlet cover. ” Mike said that in a normal inspection, “ap-pearance” items are usually not remarked upon.
Mike performed two of these inspections in May. He is still working on how to market to landlords. The jobs he has had came from landlords who found him through the NPI Web site.
Mike Stewart Oakley, CA
Energy Audits Energy Audits (Cont’d)
Inspections for Landlords
Marketing Insight Page 4
We have a new feature available to add to your NPI/GPI Web site. You can now add prelisting inspection reports to your Web site for home buyers to view.
Ask your agent(s) if they would be interested in posting the prelisting inspec-tion report after you completed a prelisting inspection for their client. (The agent would need their client’s permission.) If interested, we would provide the agent with a button for their Web site that links to the prelisting report page. When a user/home buyer downloads a report, it will ask for their name and e-mail address. Add their contact information to your distribution list and pass the information on to your agent for their contact list, too.
To view an example of the new prelisting reports feature, go to www.npiweb.com/test and click on the “Prelisting Reports” link (the last link on the main navigation menu in the left column of the page). Your visitors would see this
page on your Web site.
To test it out as a user:
After you click on the “Prelisting Reports” link, enter your name, e-mail address and select a re-port. When you hit “submit,” it e-mails Luke Armstrong your name, e-mail address and the report of interest. (This would e-mail you, in-stead of Luke, if it were on your Web site.) You can then click to download any of the prelisting reports.
To test it out as an administrator:
Either refresh the page or click on the “Prelisting Reports” link again. Click on the words “Add a Report” on the right side of the page. When the login screen appears, enter the user name “admin” and the password “password.” From this screen, you can add reports in a PDF format and delete reports that already exist. If you choose to provide this tool, you would be the only one who would have access to the reports.
Customizing this Application
Tell your agent that we can also create short URL re-directions if your agent wants something short for a prelisting yard sign.
If you have any questions or are interested in this application, contact Luke ext. 12.
Roland Bates x18 [email protected]
Bill Erickson x19 [email protected]
Connie Carlson x21 [email protected]
Debbie Fibich x16 [email protected]
Dee Little x10 [email protected]
Julie Erickson x24 [email protected]
Kenn Garder x30 [email protected]
Kim Gatson x23 [email protected]
Luke Armstrong x12 [email protected]
Meghan Murphy x15 [email protected]
Molly Johnson x25 [email protected]
Nancy Resset x11 [email protected]
Randy Yates x33 [email protected]
Terry Wilson x31 [email protected]
Builder’s Warranty Invoices
If you are signed up for Builder’s Warranty mailings, please check your e-mail. Invoices are now sent via e-mail.
Prelisting Reports on Your Web Site Your Corporate Contacts
Page 5Highlights
We have come across several products that may be of interest to you.
Note: These products are not specific recommendations, rather informative tidbits on product finds.
Cougar Paws™ offers a line of roofing boots and replaceable pads are designed for anyone who works on hazardous in-clines or roof surfaces. Cougar Paws™ boot soles are made of industrial Velcro. It allows a replaceable traction-grip pad to be attached to the sole. When the pad
wears down, it can be peeled off and replaced with a new one. For more information on this product, go to www.cougarpaws.com.
Another type of shoe is the ASTM Dielectric Overshoe. It claims to be designed to provide workers addition-
al protection from electrical hazards. The shoe claims to be 100 percent waterproof, and is made from ozone resistant rubber. It conforms with ASTM F1117 and is said to be 100 percent tested to ASTM F1116 at 20,000 volts. For more information, go to www.arcsafety.com.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in coop-eration with Louisiana-Pacific (LP) Corp., recently recalled about 48 million linear feet (decks vary in size) of their composite deck prod-uct.
The recall includes outdoor deck board and railings sold under the brand names LP WeatherBest®, ABTCo. and Veranda®. They are com-posite products that look similar to natural wood and were sold in various colors including Tuscan Walnut/Chestnut, Driftwood Grey/Greystone, Pacific Cedar and Western Redwood.
Veranda® decking products were manufactured by mul-tiple firms, but only prod-ucts manufactured by LP are included in this recall. The recalled items were sold at The Home Depot (Veranda® brand) and building product dealers (LP WeatherBest® and ABTCo. brands) nationwide from January 2005 to August 2008.
The recalled decking can prematurely deteriorate and unexpectedly break. Consumers can fall through broken decking and suffer serious injuries. Consumers with the recalled decking should immediately contact LP for a free inspection. If the decking is affected by prema-ture deterioration, LP will arrange for a free replacement.
A new NPI and GPI Home Maintenance Guide is available. The publisher for the former Home Maintenance Guide stopped printing the product, so we re-wrote and re-designed a new ver-sion.
The new version arranges main-tenance issues according to monthly, annual and seasonal is-sues. It includes a list of “Things to Do” for each section and an area to write the date each item was checked. On the back page of the Home Maintenance Guide, home owners have a section to keep track of important contact numbers for local businesses. There is also a chart to keep a re-cord of home maintenance.
To see a sample of the Home Maintenance Guide, click on the link included in the e-mail.
The corporate office has entered into an arrangement to perform commercial inspections for MainStreet Lender. MainStreet is a large SBA preferred lender and operates nationwide. They were recently searching for a commercial inspection company and found NPI on the Web. We held discussions with them concerning NPI’s capabili-ties and the scope of inspections they require. After reviewing our sample property condition assessment report, they agreed to work with us.
They have already ordered their first inspection on a 5,700 square foot building south of Ft. Worth, Tx, that Paul Biesiadny will com-plete. The corporate office will negotiate fees based on a per building basis, but fees will remain very competitive based on the national scope of MainStreet.
The inspections are general property condition reports to satisfy the lending underwriter at MainStreet. No cost estimates on repairs are required and nothing is required regarding ADA compliance.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6»
New Home Maintenance Guide Important Recall
Interesting Products
MainStreet Lender Inspections
Highlights Page 6
A production ofNational Property Inspections, Inc
9375 Burt Street, Suite 201Omaha, NE 68114
Phone (800) 333-9807
TM
The inspections are visual inspections and will use the general accordance tem-plate for reporting. They will follow our normal type of scope of performing a visual inspection and operating the basic systems to determine if they appear to be operating correctly or not.
MainStreet will coordinate inspections through the corporate office only to obtain standardized pricing, report format and coordination with each inspec-tion. The inspector will send the report directly to MainStreet and will be paid directly from MainStreet.
If you are offered an opportunity to perform a commercial inspection for MainStreet, we ask that you follow our standard commercial report as closely as possible because that is preferred by the client. Contact Kenn Garder or Bill Erickson if you have any questions.
U.S. Housing Market
Existing-home sales rose in April with strong buyer ac-tivity in lower price ranges, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Existing-home sales, including single-family, townhomes, condos and co-ops, increased 2.9 percent in April.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said first-time home buyers continue to influence the market, but there is also a seasonal rise of repeat buyers.
A NAR survey in April showed first-time home buyers declined to 40 percent of transactions, implying that more repeat buyers are entering the traditional spring home-buying season. It also showed the number of buyers looking at homes has increased 14 percent from a year ago.
Canadian Housing Market
MLS® home sales activity increased for the third time in as many months in April, according to The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The national average price also rose in April, to within short reach of the record levels reached one year ago.
Seasonally adjusted national home sales activity rose 11.2 percent in April compared to March. This was the largest month-to-month increase in more than five years.
Send us your stories!
Do you have a story you would like in the next Insider? Whether it is about marketing, a funny inspection experience, etc., we would love to hear your story!
If you have a story, ideas or suggestions for the Insider, contact Meghan at [email protected].
MainStreet Lender Inspections (Cont’d)April’s Housing Market Stats
NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS, INC.®
______________________________________________________________________________
TECHNICAL BULLETIN
June 2009 TOPIC: Tempering Valves for Domestic Hot Water When a heating boiler uses a tankless coil to produce domestic hot water, a single-function control may be installed for that purpose. In this photo, a Honeywell limit control switch is being used to monitor the hot water temperature at the tankless coil, which is in turn mounted on a steam boiler of an older home. In the photo on the right, you can see the black-handled mixing valve, sometimes known as a tempering or anti-scald valve. Cold water from the building is entering the tankless coil via the bottom pipe (green corrosion). Hot water, heated by the coil, is leaving the upper part of the tankless coil, where it turns downwards to enter the left side of the mixing valve. Additional cold water is permitted to enter the bottom of the mixing valve, and tempered (non-scalding) hot water exits at the right side of the mixing valve in this photo.
The diagram on the left explains how a tempering valve works. A tempering valve mixes cold water with the outgoing hot water to assure that hot water ra building fixture is at a temperature low enough to besafe.
eaching
The tempering valve in the diagram is installed at the hot water piping and tankless coil on a heating boiler. The diagram shows that hot water leaving the tankless coil has been heated to 180 degrees Fahrenheit by the coil, which is itself immersed in hot boiler water. The 180 degrees Fahrenheit
water leaving the tankless coil is mixed with 55 degrees Fahrenheit water inside the
Courtesy of Carson Dunlap
This technical bulletin has been drafted to be general in nature and not technically exhaustive.
NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS, INC.®
______________________________________________________________________________
tempering valve. This produces outgoing hot water from the valve cooled down to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. In the U.S., most authorities consider hot water at or below 120 degrees Fahrenheit to be safe from scalding. Some facilities limit water temperatures to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Tempering valves are not capable or precise water temperature control and much depends on the length of pipe run between the hot water source and the building faucet or fixture. For more information, go to http://www.inspect-ny.com/heat/MixingValves.htm.
This technical bulletin has been drafted to be general in nature and not technically exhaustive.
NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS, INC.®
______________________________________________________________________________
COMMERCIAL TECHNICAL BULLETIN June 2009
TOPIC: Ecoflex and Fire Pipe Ecoflex is a flexible, insulated plastic distribution piping system used for a variety of hydronic heating, cooling and hot water applications, predominately in large scale complexes. The most common applications are in schools, colleges, resorts, hotels, hospitals, correctional facilities and housing developments. The piping is also used for radiant heating and snow and ice melting systems. One of the newer applications for this product is transferring the heated water from an outdoor boiler to the interior of a building for distribution, and returning to the boiler for re-heating. The insulated tubing system consists of service pipes made from either cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) or a high density polyethylene (HDPE). This tubing is surrounded by closed cell multi-layered insulation and covered by a waterproof corrugated HDPE jacket, making it ideal for direct burial applications. Ecoflex is available in single and twin configurations (the twin is shown in the illustration above), with one or two plastic service tubes. The tubing is sold in lengths up to 656 feet to eliminate most buried connections and pipe joints, saving time and money while also reducing the risk of potential leak points. The tubing is manufactured with service tube sizes of 1 inch, 1 ¼ inch and 1 ½ inch sizes. This pre-insulated pipe system is nearly maintenance-free and is recognized for its ability to resist aggressive water and soil conditions. It is very durable, fairly easy to install and is becoming popular in the industry. Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) Fire Sprinkler Pipe CPVC fire sprinkler pipe, popular in new and retrofitted fire sprinkler systems, is ideally suited for these applications due to its outstanding corrosion resistance. CPVC fire sprinkler products resist attack from a wide range of chemicals that are corrosive to metallic pipe. If properly designed, installed and cared for, CPVC piping systems will perform without issues for many years. According to Harvel® product specifications, the piping is available from ¾ inch through 3 inches in size and can be used in conjunction with metal pipes. The orange CPVC manufactured by Harvel® (shown in the picture on the following page) is commonly referred to in the industry as fire pipe. CPVC piping used for fire sprinkler systems shall meet the requirements of ASTM 442. The systems are calculated using a Hazen-Williams C factor of 150 and shall comply with The Standard for Installation of Sprinkler Systems and other applicable NFPA standards.
This technical bulletin has been drafted to be general in nature and not technically exhaustive.
NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS, INC.®
______________________________________________________________________________
Some of the limitations of this and other CPVC products used in fire suppression systems include but are not limited to:
• A maximum working pressure of 175 psi and ambient temperature of 150 degree F.
• Sprinkler heads having a maximum
temperature rating of 225 degree F.
• Shall be installed in wet pipe systems only.
• Only Teflon tape or a thread sealant, specifically approved for use with the CPVC product, shall be used in making threaded connections.
• Where freeze protection is required, only glycerin based anti-freeze solutions
shall be used and installed. Glycol based anti-freeze solutions or contaminated glycerin solutions can cause deterioration in the pipe and are not to be used.
• Not approved for use in combustible concealed spaces where sprinklers are
required, unless certain specific application sprinklers and proper minimum protection are installed. This protection can consist of drywall, plywood or suspended ceiling panels, and must meet the NFPA standards for such application.
Properly installed CPVC piping is listed by Underwriters Laboratories for applications such as: Light Hazard Occupancies as defined in the Standard for Installation of Sprinkler systems (NFPA 13); Residential Occupancies up to and including four stories in height and Residential Occupancies as defined in the Standard for Sprinkler Systems in One and Two Family Dwellings and Mobile Homes. They are also rated for exposed installations (garages) and for use as Underground Fire Service Mains (NFPA24). For more information on Ecoflex piping, go to http://www.ebuild.com/articles/printarticle.hwx/Q/articleId.849644, or for information on CPVC fire sprinkler pipes, go to http://www.harvelblazemaster.com/specifications/index.asp.
This technical bulletin has been drafted to be general in nature and not technically exhaustive.
