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Carlsbad, NM Real Estate News

By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Safety issues outside the home. More than just a fleeting thought. At Desert Sun Home Inspections in Carlsbad New Mexico, safety is upfront and foremost. When ever I'm inspecting a home. I like to see the entire property. Especially when there is electrical involved. I have posted before of the trip hazards and the liability issues homeowners face in everyday life. But when inspecting a home for a buyer there needs to be more attention placed on the exterior and the safety issues associated with the exterior of the home and the surrounding yard areas. Take for instance this light pole at the road/ mailbox area. It is located at the end of the walkway to the road. It is only about one foot away from the walkway. Having exposed wiring is not a good thing. Even if it's in a hard to get to ...
Comments 32
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Deferred maintenance can cost you in the long run. Fix it now. When 'm inspecting homes forI Desert Sun Home Inspections In Carlsbad New Mexico, I get to travel all over the Three countys here in the great Southeastern parts of the state. I get to see all kinds of home sin all kinds of shapes and designs. Many are in O.K. to pretty good shape. But then we find from time to time the ones the owners forgot to keep up with. These are in most part always a rental. Even the rental homes need a lot of TLC if you want to keep garnering the rent money from the tenant's. On his home there were a few issues that needed to be taken care of by the seller if they wanted to sell a home at the asking price. Here we have deferred maintenance that shuld have been repaired a long time ago. Just looking a...
Comments 29
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
They are all done this way, what's the big deal? Installer say's O.K. Lets back up a little. The install of the range was posted in the Rain it was all about a home inspections and the range being listed on the report as not being connected correctly. At Desert Sun Home Inspections in Carlsbad New Mexico.  We try and address the safety issues as number one priority. Even if this issue is not immediately accessible to the home owner or the buyer. With this counter built in range I pulled it to check out if the range was connected the correct way. I then found this. When i received a call from the sellers agent yesterday I was a bit confused when she told me that the installer of the unit was the local appliance store. That's right, the local appliance store had installed the unit. Not a ...
Comments 28
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
When inspecting a home, how many pictures do you take?  One Hundred ? When I'm out and about performing home inspections in and around Carlsbad, New Mexico. I take a lot of pictures of the home being inspected. I add them to my reports in the section that the picture is relevent to. For instance, when there is an issue with the exhause vents in the attic, they are actually listed twice in the report. Once in the Attic section of the report, then in the bath or kitchen section in the report. Many homes have a exhaust fan in the utility room as well. The pictures are used to show the buyer exactly what I am listing in my reports and they get to see first hand what I am listing in the section that is pertinent . If the roof has issues there is a section for that as well. The pictures are a...
Comments 24
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Time to change out that old detector. If it's old it's probably bad. There has been a number of homes that I have inspected for Desert Sun Home Inspections in Carlsbad, New Mexico that have the old smoke detectors still in place. They don't work. they are old and in need of replacement. I test the units in place and find they either don't work at all or if they do work they only put out a very low beeping noise that you would need a safety dog in the home to hear the very low pitched sound they were emitting. What is the best smoke detector to guy and installl when installing new smoke detectors in your home? Don't worry. I have done the research for you.   Visit this site for more information about these great new products available from Kidde. http://kidde39.reachlocal.net/worry-free-...
Comments 32
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Deferred maintenance, lazy or just plain not knowing what to do. At Desert Sun Inspections, I get calls from concerned business owners who think they need to have a independent inspection of the property they own. This is an owner who lives out of town, way out of town. When they were getting several disturbing calls bout the way the facility was being ran mainly about the maintenance issues that's when I got the call. This apartment complex is in another city about an hour plus from here in Carlsbad. So it was a little drive to get there. Under the ruse of it being a insurance inspection the owner set up the appointment with the property manager. I went and met with the property manager yesterday afternoon. The maintenance manager was there as well. Did they know something was up? I do...
Comments 18
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Water heater mishap. Is yours next? Installing a water heater right. Everyday in the United states there are an average of 100,000 water heaters installed. Most go into the homes and are installed by a quality plumbing company. But a whopping 40% of them are installed by the home owners or their Uncle Bob's handy work. At Desert Sun Home Inspections I had run into a few water heaters recently that were not installed to code and were in a situation that could have caused an injury if you wanted to shut off the gas to the unit and there was a fire with the unit at the time. Lets take a look at a couple of water heaters that don't make the grade. Both were installed between 1996 and 2008. The first was a water heater that was in a closet inside a storage room off the main bedroom. Here we ...
Comments 24
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
  Updating your Google account? They need to know the right information.   I have been hounded, well not really hounded by Google but there have been a lot of calls over the last couple of weeks for me to verify my Google information. So finally I did wait for the next available representative to get on the phone with me. When I finally got on the phone, he was talking about my Google listing and how they wanted to verify all the information they had in their files. I did this, all was good. Then he told me that remember Google wants your SEO to be the best and they want you to be on the first page when looking for your services.   “OH BOY” I thought here comes the sales pitch. He then told me that he was looking up Desert Sun Home inspections and didn’t see me on the first line. I told...
Comments 92
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
We are sick. Can you help us. Home inspection for mold ETC. I get calls every now and then for a different kind of situation. This family called me because they are sick and tired of being sick. The lady of the home called me wanting me to come and inspect the home to see what I could find if anything that may be making the two members of the home very sick. She told me that they had been sick since they had purchased the home back in November of 2011. "There always seems to be a health issue going on all the time". Now the pressure was on for me to come up with something that may contribute to them being sick all the time. Lets take a look at the home. Here we have a mold issue in the master shower. Then there was a lot of other mold in the shower as well. Yes, these molds were alive a...
Comments 19
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
What a day in the Rain. Featured post. Linkedin calls in. Most viewed. Last Sunday was a day to remember. First off I had a Featured post on Active Rain. I get featured post from time to time. But this post was a special post. It was number fifty for me. Subscriptions:92 Subscribers: 61 Points: 419,949 Rank: New Mexico:3 Eddy County:1 Carlsbad:1 More Members Invited: 1 Blog Posts: 529 Featured Posts: 50 Comments Rcvd: 13,372 Comments Left: 13,547 Called Shots: 32 If you want to view this post follow the link at http://actvra.in/QCm The featured posts come with a little effort. I think it's all in the wording on how you present your post in the Rain. If you have an interesting TITLE the you are more apt to get the members interested in looking at the post and hopfully wanting to comment ...
Comments 26
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Flipper home. What was is no longer. The job is finished. Remember back when the fun began on this home? It has been a smooth ride for the most part. The only issues we had with the home was waiting on the plumbers and the electricians to get their jobs done so we could proceed along with the project. I had done an estimated time loss and come up with the time calculation of Two weeks. This was based on the "NO SHOW" days by the plumbing and electrical contractors. So in all actuality the home could have been completed two weeks earlier than we did complete the home. The good news is we did complete the home and now have moved on to another project of building some new interior office spaces. Enough about me, how about a look into the home that took Three months to complete. This Flippe...
Comments 26
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Safety or liability? Both need to be explored here. What if factor. When performing Home inspections for Desert Sun Home Inspections In Carlsbad New Mexico I find all kinds of issues that need to be addressed. One of these issues I have posted about in the past being the walk way or sidewalk to the home. If this is in disrepair the owner of the home could be sued for a fall by anyone. But this post is about something that is often a forgotten issue. There is a liability issue when a structure at a property is not in good repair. "What if" comes into play.   What if ? There are too many variables when talking about a liability issue. Everything could be a what if?     In this case the structure in question is a stand alone carport that looked like it was used for a motor home at one time...
Comments 16
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Attic ducting. Ducting needs preventive maintenance too. In many cases when I am inspecting homes for Desert Sun Home Inspections in Carlsbad New Mexico, I run into situations that are not a good thing for the buyers or the sellers. Many of the duct work issues are never seen by the seller, Realtors or the buyers. When was the last time you had seen a buyer go into the attic to see if there just might be anything that needs to be addressed? They just don't do this. In the attic's here in New Mexico, the temps can reach a staggering 150 degrees. This can cause all kinds of issues with any and everything in the attic's spaces. If there is any vinyl covered duct work that is in nearly every home now. This can simply put, "FALL APART". The heat causes all kinds of issues for the existing du...
Comments 18
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
I really dislike the way this is going. But it's not my call. That's right  it is not my call on how others want to do things on a home. There are so many different ideas and ways of doing things. It brings me to the point of no return when I see things I really dislike. No matter what there are "options available" for everyone who needs a solution the their dilemma of how to do something the right or better way. No matter how it was done. There always is a better way to do it. I have Posted before about how there have been duct work running on the roof. Bad Idea. Here is a look at why it's a bad idea to run the duck work exposed to the elements of the out side and Mother Nature. Here we have a look at a duct vent ran from a heat pump over the top of the roof to the back section of the ...
Comments 71
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
I stared for a while, then simply said O.K. There are some thing when inspecting homes that can leave you baffled. Desert Sun Home Inspections in Carlsbad New Mexico had just one of those homes. I know there are a lot of movers and shakers in the world of home owners. Everyone has their ideas of what they want to do with what ever they have to work with. When making modifications or even needing to install anything. Install it the right way. Not just the quickest way possible. Remember fastest is not always best. Here we have the need for a dryer vent to be ran outside. Not a big issue  right? This home owner said "no problem" and just stuck it in the window. Now the buyer needs to change the vent if they want to use the window as intended by the builder. Here we can see what it looks l...
Comments 28
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
If it is missing, do you write it up? Yes you do. Every time. When inspecting homes for Desert Sun Home Inspections in Carlsbad New Mexico, I find all kinds of things. Plus I don't find all kinds of things. I write them up as missing. In this case the roof was installed and I won't say who installed the new metal roof on the home. But there are no less than four exhaust vents in the home. But the roof vent assemblies were removed when the new roof was installed. Look at the roof there are only two visable pipe penetrations along with the water heater and the furnace stacks and the Fire place stack. But there is nothing else on the roof. This is a major concern for the buyer. There are four exhaust vents in the home but none of them go to the exterior of the home. This is a major cause o...
Comments 25
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Gutters installed, now what? The next step after installing the gutters onto the home is to install the down spouts. This is where there are issues with the homes installation of the gutters down spouts. I think they had a call made to the "infamous Uncle Bob" to finish the job. Let's take a look at the install or not installed gutter down spouts. This angling down spout has no rhyme or reason. The next shot is of a down spout that was too long. It had to be secured some how. If the down spout is too long, then cut it off. Here we have a down spout that's simply a mess. This down spout was simply too long and never cut off to fit the home. C'mon. Uncle Bob has been busy after returning from Rogers Arkansas. Thanks James Dray. Have a great day every one.  
Comments 30
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
How do you answer the phone? Remember the client just called you. They are calling for a reason. How do you answer the phone. I find my self say what I didn't even realize I was saying. I normally answer the phone by saying “ Clint McKie, Desert Sun Home Inspections” But there are times I just say “Clint McKie” and still have the caller ask who they are talking to. Or they ask “is this the Desert Sun Home Inspections place”. I get all types of calls from all over the country. From every type of inspection possible. I even got a call from a company in Michigan that wanted me to inspect a home for occupancy. If the people were there, then leave them a late notice taped to the door. I asked “and this inspection will pay how much”? Wait for it...... A whopping $20.00. I started laughing. Sh...
Comments 23
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
Flipper home progress. Still waiting for parts. The flipper home here in Carlsbad is coming along nicely. There are still things that need to be finished up. We are still waiting on the carpet for the bedrooms. This week on Wednesday or Thursday. The appliances should be in late this week. The plumber has been MIA, so I have started to finish the plumbing my self. All done but the three sinks. The garbage disposal and the dishwasher. Let's take a look at the progress with the home. Here we have the kitchen that is about 90% complete. The breakfast bar is reall cool. I designed it and even made the brackets to support the bar. I like the way the breakfast bar came out. The flooring is in all except the carpet for the bedrooms. Things are coming along very nicely. Have a great day everyone.
Comments 13
By Clint Mckie, Desert Sun Home, Comm. Inspection 1-575-706-5586
(Desert Sun Home, commercial Inspections)
  Being found on the internet. The Active Rain way.   I have been in the Active Rain Community since August 2011 It has been a rough time at times. Not having very much to come up with when it came to “new ideas” on what to post on Active Rain. I started out with a head full of ideas that I was thinking would be just the greatest thing to do since the invention of sliced bread. This is what start up companies do everyday. I was not actually a start up company though. I had been inspecting homes for a very long time before I relocated back to Carlsbad New Mexico and started up Desert Sun Home Inspections. In a recent post on Active Rain Link here http://actvra.in/PnM as of this morning there were 31 comments. I Talked about how I was being found on the internet through the Active Rain po...
Comments 32
Carlsbad, NM Real Estate Professionals