You should get to know Brad Sterling

“For your protection, get a home inspection!”

In the real estate world, there’s a little extra form that comes with the FHA/VA Financing Addendum that admonishes folks to get their house inspected.  I don’t care what kind of financing you’re getting, if you don’t get a home inspection, you’re flying blind.  Home inspections are…well, why don’t I let a professional tell you what they are.  Brad Sterling is the owner, operator, and principal inspector at Sterling Amerispec Home Inspections.  I caught up with him at Young Avenue Deli last week.  You know what I like most about this guy?  His enthusiasm and honesty.  You see, I’d never been around Brad except when he’d been performing home inspections for my buyers, so it was refreshing to see that the same things that make him so enjoyable to work with carry over into his downtime.  He was eager to jump right into the Q&A session, talking so fast that my pen was practically smokin’!  You can tell he’s excited about what he does and cares a lot about doing it right.  He was kind enough to give me an hour or so of his time to fill me in on what really goes on in the life and times of a home inspector:

Me:  I would HATE to invite you over for dinner.  Do you make mental notes of your friends’ homes’ flaws?

Brad:  No!  I completely understand that there are little projects we all want to tackle and we all live with the random quirkiness in our houses.  I don’t really pay any attention.  The only time I say anything is if there’s a serious fire, safety, or health hazard.  Otherwise, I’m not running around putting stickers on all your rotten wood.  I’m not judging you.

Sterling.  Brad Sterling.

 Me:  Alright Brad, what do you do?

Brad:  Well, the short answer is I assess the condition of homes; I disclose to the buyer the condition of the property they’re interested in buying.  More specifically, I cover the major components:  structure, roof, electrical, plumbing, heating and air components, attic insulation and ventilation, fireplaces, built-in appliances, windows…Gosh, it’d almost be easier for me to tell you what I don’t cover.  I don’t do phone lines or security systems or audio/video equipment or satellites.

Me:  Sounds like a lot of responsibility.  I’m guessing, just like in any other profession, all inspectors are not created equally.  What should folks look for in a home inspector?

Brad:  It’s really important to know how long an inspector has lived in an area.  I’m a life-long Memphian and I’ve been doing this for 14 years in West Tennessee and North Mississippi; I know the area’s standard practices, I’m familiar with local code, and I can almost pre-diagnose a home based on it’s age.  Midtown homes are especially tricky and quirky and already having a base of knowledge to pull from is an advantage.  Make sure your inspector has plenty of insurance coverage.  I carry E&O [Errors & Omissions] insurance of $1 million.  There’s a lot of liability with what I do and lawsuits aren’t uncommon (or cheap).  Also, I know some inspectors feel like they have to earn their fee, making mountains out of molehills to make you feel like the inspection was worth it.  To me, the best thing I can say is, “This is a great house!”

Me:  What should folks expect from their inspector?

Brad:  After they write an acceptable offer, buyers should schedule a home inspection.  On the appointed day, I’ll take a few hours to go through the house, check on the major components, make note of any defects, and take pictures.  Afterwards, I write up a report noting all the findings and attach pictures of the items in question.  Often, the buyers will meet me at the house as I finish up the inspection and I’ll go over what I’ve found.  I’ll verbally highlight the big things (any fire, health, or safety hazards should be addressed by a licensed professional) and go over things that should be attended to with either maintenance or repair (these aren’t usually big deals, just the stuff of homeownership) but because of liability, there really is no differentiation made on the written copy.  The verbal wrap-up is really important here: the written report can often make the house look like a mess when in reality it’s just a bunch of squeaky doors, rotten wood, and some missing insulation.  None of those things are big deals and they can all be fixed, cheaply and easily.  If buyers and their agents don’t take time to be there for the wrap-up, they miss the point, freak out, and may even walk away from the house.  Either way, my report is not meant as a laundry list of everything that must be done before the buyer should close.  It’s just a disclosure on the condition; it’s up to the buyer and seller to agree on what repairs will be handled.

Me:  How much do inspections cost?

Brad:  The pricing is based on the square footage of the house.  There’s an additional fee if there’s a crawlspace.  Also, there are extra expenses for pools, hot tubs, and synthetic stucco.  When you call to schedule an inspection we clarify what will be inspected and let you know what the price will be then.  Some folks think this is an expense that’s a part of closing costs; however, unless otherwise specified, payment is due at the time of inspection.



No homes were harmed during the production
of this blogpost.

Me:  What’s the biggest misconception about what you do?

Brad:  I don’t do aesthetics.  So you don’t like the wallpaper in the kitchen?  That’s no going on my report.  I’m not here to help you re-negotiate your contract.  I’m just doing my due diligence to produce an assessment of the condition of the house.  I’ve also heard some agents call me a “deal-killer”.  I didn’t do it!  The house did!

Me:  What’s the best part of your job?

Brad:  I love first-time home buyers.  Whether everything’s still in soft-focus and I have to bring them down to reality or they’re getting antsy and I reassure them that, for the most part, everything’s okay, it’s great helping people realize their dreams and calming their fears.  People understand that I’m there to protect their investment and inform them on the biggest purchase they’ve ever made.  It’s a nice feeling.

Me:  What’s the worst part?

Brad:  Unrealistic clients and agents.  Some folks think I can – want me to – come in and say nothing’s wrong, to justify their purchase decision.  Others think that just because it’s in my report a seller will agree to everything on it.  Neither of these things ever really happen.

Me:  Any great horror stories?

Brad:  I could write a book!  Let’s see…  Oh, here’s a creepy one.  I was inspecting what was essentially a glorified trailer out in the county.  It was positioned on a sloped lot and it had a skirt around the crawl space so that you could walk upright into the crawlspace, but as you moved further in you had to stoop and eventually crawl.  I’m moving deeper into the crawlspace and I’ve got my flashlight out and I’m looking around and I see what looks like…well, I didn’t know.  It was a circle of stones around an area about the size of teenage body.  It was a gravesite!  I lost it.  I came scrambling out from under the house, grabbed the agent and the buyer and said, “you gotta come and see this!  Tell me what you think this is!”  The other problem was that the house was fed by well water – if it was indeed a gravesite, you’re dealing with water contamination.  I wrote it up as, “Circle of stones observed in crawlspace that appears to be a gravesite.  Requires further review.  Potential safety issue.”  Turns out the folks who lived there buried their Great Dane under the house!  Who does that?  And yeah, definite water contamination issue there.

Me:  What else should folks know about working with a home inspector?

Brad:  Sellers can use inspectors, too.  They can get what’s called a Listing Inspection.  I perform the same inspection of all the major components and write up a report.  The sellers can use that in all sorts of ways:  they can go ahead and tackle the repairs, keep the receipts from the work performed, and show it to all potential buyers as a clean bill of health.  It’s also a good thing to have to honestly fill out the Property Condition Disclosure Form that all sellers have to provide their buyers.  Either way, it’s a nice selling point and a lot of buyers seem to appreciate the extra time the seller put in.

~

Brad and I chatted the afternoon away over a couple of cold beverages and some of the best fries in town.  I did ask him about his own house and it turns out this guy has vision.  The house he bought was, as he described it, a dump.  Pink carpet, green toilet, dropped-tile ceiling, hideous wallpaper, that kind of stuff.  But the woodwork.  Oh, the woodwork.  He waxed poetic about how the trim work and the cabinets had never been touched and they were beautiful and he knew he could make the rest of it work as long as he had that marvelous woodwork as a base for everything else.  And that’s probably what makes him a great home inspector:  he’s able to see through the inconsequential crap to what really makes a home worthwhile.

Are you interested in booking Brad for your home inspection?  Please do!  You can make an appointment through Harold Sterling at (901) 725-9988.  Just remember, whoever you get to give your house the once-over, "for your protection, get a home inspection!"