Licensed, professional home inspectors serving the Kew Gardens Hills Queens neighborhood, offering a broad range of services for our residential customers.
If you have been around for a while, then you’ll understand the need for home inspections. A detailed home inspection in Kew Garden Hills protects you the prospective homeowner against the obvious problems that every home has. While the inspection is not fool proof, an inspector worth his/her weight in gold should be able to identify the major systems that could be ready to break on you as a new buyer. A decent inspector will narrow down the likelihood of system failure greatly.
Simply put, a home inspection is a formal professional evaluation of the accessible and visible systems and components within a house (roofing, electrical, plumbing, structure, cooling and heating, etc.) and is meant to give the customer a better understanding of the house’s overall state. Phone today to schedule an inspection at 332-334-7701 or Request a Quote. You’ll be glad you made the call.
Most often, the inspection is a homebuyer who requests an inspection of the home they are serious about purchasing. An inspection of the home delivers data so that decision makers can question or confirm details about the home questioned or confirmed, and can uncover serious and/or expensive-to-repair defects that the owner/seller may not be aware of. A home inspection is not a property’s appraisal value. The inspection does not point out repair costs for defects the inspector finds. Similarly, an inspection of the home makes not claim that the home and its systems complies with local building codes or protects a customer in the event an item inspected fails in the future.
[Note]: You can buy warranties for many items in the home.
Don’t consider an inspection of the home as a final evaluation, but rather an evaluation of the property on the day it is inspected, considering normal wear and tear of the home based on age and location. An inspection of the property can also include pool inspections, water testing, Radon gas testing, pest inspections, energy audits, and many other specific items that may be location-specific.
Home inspections are also paid for (less often) by a homeseller prior to putting the property on the market to see if there are any hidden problems that they are unaware of, and also by owners simply wanting to care for their homes, prevent surprises, and keep the home investment value as high as possible
The following are areas that inspectors pay close attention to when inspecting your property:
1. Major defects, such as large differential cracks in the foundation; building out of plumb or level; decks not installed or supported correctly, and others. These are items that are expensive to repair, which are entire systems needing more than 2% of the buy price to repair.
2. Items that could lead to major defects – a beam that was not tied in to the structure properly, a roof leak that could grow larger, or damaged downspouts that could cause backup and water intrusion.
3. Safety hazards, such as bare wiring in kitchens and bathrooms, lack of safety railing on decks more than 30 inches off the ground, lack of GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters), etc.
Your inspector will advise you on what you should do about these issues. He/she may recommend a formal evaluation on more issues – by certified and/or licensed professionals who are specialists in the problem areas. For example, your inspector will advise you phone a licensed structural or building engineer if he/she finds areas of the property that are out of alignment, as this could indicate a major structural problem.
Home Inspections are always paid for by a buyer when they sign an agreement, right?
This isn’t true! As you will discover when you read on, a home inspection can be used for interim inspections in new construction projects, as a maintenance tool with a current homeowner, a proactive technique by home owners to make their home more sellable, and by buyers wanting to find out the situation of the potential home.
Homeowners, specifically, can take advantage of finding a home inspection before listing the home. Here are just a some of the advantages for the home owner:
· The home owner will soon be alerted to any safety issues found in the house before they open it down for open house tours.
· A home inspection may help the home owner become more objective as it pertains to setting a fair price on the home.
· The home owner may make repairs leisurely instead of being in a rush following the contract is signed.
· The home owner can take the report and ensure it is into a marketing piece for the home.
Sure, you could do it yourself. Unfortunately, most buyers lack the objectivity, skill, and knowledge necessary to inspect a home themselves. In other words, they think they know their homes inside and out, but they really don’t. Using the services of an expert home inspector, they gain an improved comprehension of the situation of the property; especially whether any items don’t “abjectly affect the home’s living space” or “work as intended” or “warrant more attention” with a qualified specialist. Understand that the home inspector is just a generalist and has broad training in most of the major home systems.
It’s a good idea for you to personally be present during the inspection – whether you are a home buyer, seller, or homeowner. With you there, the inspector can show you any defects and explain their importance as well as mention maintenance features that would be helpful in the future. In the event that you can’t be there, it is no problem because the report you get will soon be very detailed. If you’re not present, then you need to be sure to ask your inspector to describe anything that’s unclear in the report. Also see the inspection agreement carefully which means you know what is covered and what is not covered in the inspection. If there is a problem with the inspection or the report, you need to raise the issues quickly by calling the inspector, usually within 24 hours. If you want the inspector to go back following the inspection to show you things, this is arranged and is recommended, however, the inspector could charge you extra since it’s not part of the inspection, unless, of course, you make that a part of your home inspection agreement
However, it’s very important for you to let the inspector do the work you’re paying for. We love our customers, but we also know that constant interruptions and interference make the process painfully slow. Jot down your questions and ask them after the inspector has presented you with a report.
Since condominiums are individual units within a condo building, owners pay an assessment fee to a also is responsible for maintaining the community boilder or HVAC. In smaller condo buildings, many home owners have their own mini-boiler that acts as the HVAC that a building would normally provide. Home owners are responsible for everything inside the condominium including plumbing, electrical, porches, balconies, walls, and appliances. There are fewer items to inspect, but getting an inspection from someone who knows what they’re doing is still a must. As you know well, HOAs are a fickle bunch to be brutally honest. And they’re all so very different, even within a neighborhood. Ask us about our policy and we’ll be honest with you. If we can inspect your unit, we’ll do it; if we can’t, we’ll also let you know. We believe honesty is always the best policy and we live by it.
The following list is not exhaustive. Not all of these may be in the inspection you get, but the inspector will follow a standard checklist for the property:
· Distribution systems and ducts
· Fireplaces
· Air Conditioning and controls
· Heat controls and pumps
· Safety items such as railings, TPR valves, egress, etc.
· Ceilings, walls, floors
· Kitchen cabinets, counters, and floors
· Window systems
· Walls, patios, doors, walkways, windows
· Basement, foundation, and crawl spaces
· Garage doors, walls, and floors
· Electrical system and panels
· Fire detectors
· Indoor doors and hardware
· Kitchen appliances (microwave, range/oven/stovetop/hoods, dishwasher, trash compactor, disposal)
· Laundry appliances (washer and dryer) if being sold with the house
· Insulation and ventilation systems
· Site drainage and grading
· Driveway
· Decks
· Bricks, masonry
· Shrubs, trees, bushes, lawn
· Retaining walls
· Roofing, flashings, chimneys, and attic
· Eaves, soffits, and fascias
Other tests which aren’t a part of the original inspection typically require an extra charge.
· Radon Gas Test
· Water Quality Test
· Termites
· Sprinkler System Test
· Swimming Pool and Spa Inspection
· Mold Screening
· Septic systems
· Alarm System
Your new home has lots of systems and more than 9800 moving parts – from cooling and heating to ventilation systems and to appliances. When these systems and appliances interact with each another seamlessly, all is right with the world. Weak links in the device, however, can produce a myriad of problems leading to a loss in value and shortened component lifecycle. Would you buy a used car with out a reputable mechanic looking at it? Your home is far more complicated, and to really have a thorough inspection that’s documented in a written report arms you with substantial information which to make informed decisions.
Many people think that everything is inspected comprehensive on inspection day. This misunderstanding is mainly responsible for many a homebuyer to be upset with their inspector. The inspections we do are certainly not exhaustive and there’s a valid reason for this.
For those who hire individual licensed experts in air conditioning, plumbing, electrical, engineering, etc. to examine your own home, it may well take about thirteen hours and cost you about two grand! It is a lot more practical to hire a reliable inspector who’s got a general knowledge of home systems, knows what to consider, and can suggest further inspection by an experienced if needed. Your inspector is likewise following very specific guidelines issued by state or national organizations as he/she inspects your home. The guidelines are meticulously written in order to protect both the home as well as the inspector.
Here are some examples, we are told to not turn systems on if these were off before the inspection (for safety reasons); we aren’t capable to move furniture (might harm something); prohibited to turn on water if it is off (possible flooding), and prohibited to interrupt by way of a sealed attic hatch (possible damage). The down-side on this practice is that often by not operating a control, by not seeing in the furniture, and not receiving in to the crawlspace or attic, we’re going to might miss identifying a problem. However, placed in perspective, the prospect of missing something serious for this reason is rather low. There are additional products that 95% of inspectors consider outside a regular inspection, including inspecting most things aren’t bolted down (installed within the home) such as electronics, reduced voltage lighting, space heaters, portable air conditioning, or specialized systems such as water purifiers, security systems, etc.
Kew Gardens in New York is a neighborhood in Queens, New York that is different from the nearby KEW Gardens. The district, which is separated from the nearby Flushing, Queens and Queens Heights, is the predominantly middle-class area that was originally part of Flushing and was called Queens Valley in the early 20th century. This area was later called Queens Village, a name that was renamed Queens in 1909, and later Queens. Today, Kews Gardens Hills is an area full of single-family homes, apartments, condominiums, shops, restaurants, hotels and other businesses in and around the neighborhood.
Like Kew Gardens, this neighborhood is an important center of Orthodox Jewish life, but it also forms an ethnically rich part of Queens. Jewish leaders in the neighborhood estimate that there are 40,000 and will be more, and members of the Bukharian Jewish community say that 70,000 Bukharians and Jews live in Kews Gardens Hills and other parts of New York. This survey does not distinguish between the area bordering Queens Valley, Flushing and Queens Heights, and the neighboring boroughs of Brooklyn.
In the neighbourhood there is also a large Muslim and Sikh population for whom there are several shops. Muslim restaurants such as the Kew Gardens Cafe and Kews Gardens Bakery now attract customers from across the region.
Kew Gardens Hills never had to advertise to bring Jews to the area, and several members of my family have moved there with their families. Despite this diversification, Jewish and Israeli culture is the dominant culture found in Kew Gardens Hills today.
What was once a territory of Germans, Irish and Italians has become a territory heavily influenced by Jews, both immigrants and locals. The grocery store and bakery serving unique culinary needs of the Old World are not yet as visible as in Forest Hills, but it is said that there is a “bukharian” community there. Ukrainian residents of Kew Gardens Hills tend to be better educated and wealthier than those who stay in Forest Hills and Rego Park, Meirov said. Many of the people I know who currently live in the hills of KEW Gardens chose this city because housing was cheaper there, because there were no Bukharian communities there, or because it was close to Manhattan.
A friend of Meirow, who asked not to be named, gave me an insight into his life in Kew Gardens Hills. He said that sooner or later he and other family members will probably move into the KEW gardens, but for me it’s for the sake of my school – my children in old age.
If you’re nervous about moving to New York, if you want to leave your quiet suburban life, consider buying a house in east Queens. Queens is one of the best places to live in the city, with great views of Manhattan, the Hudson River and the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as many parks.
Kew Gardens Hills has several highways, and the roads lead to Mauro Playground. The attraction of the area, he said, also includes the “suburban feel” that is made possible by the Queens “central location. Highways in the neighborhood include the intersection of KEW Gardens Interchange and Queens – Manhattan Expressway, Queens Boulevard and Queens Parkway.
Highways in the neighborhood include the intersection of the Kew Gardens Interchange, which intersects with Queens – Manhattan Expressway, Queens Boulevard and Queens Parkway. Highways within the neighborhood include the KEW Gardens intersection, which intersects with the intersections of Queens Avenue, Manhattan Avenue and Manhattan Parkway, and Queens Blvd.
Jewel Avenue is also home to Cord Meyer Forest Hills, named after the founder of Kew Gardens Hills Golf Club and owner of Jewel Park, which stretches from Flushing Meadows to KEW Gardens Hill and Hillcrest from 73rd Avenue to 179th Street. Kews Gardens in the Hills grew when a subway line to Queens Boulevard was established in 1936 and the Queens Borough of Queens, Queens City Council, Queens County Board of Supervisors, and the city’s first public school system in Queens hosted the 1939 New York World’s Fair. It was built on the site of a former railway station at the intersection of 71st and 72nd Streets south of Manhattan Avenue and Manhattan Parkway, near the corner of Broadway and Broadway, between the Hudson River and Park Slope. When Kowalski Park and its neighboring neighborhoods in Flush Hills in Manhattan and Flushed Meadows in Brooklyn got the subway lines on Queens Boulevard in the 1950s and 1960s, the New York World’s Fair was hosted in 1939.
The area was hilly, so the developers changed its name from Queens Valley to Kew Gardens Hills and it was known as a prestigious neighborhood of Queens. In the 1950s and 1960s, a branch for the New York City Department of Construction and the Queens County Board of Supervisors was established there. In 1961, the first public school system in Queens, Queens Borough of Queens School District, moved into Kews Gardens in the Hills.
If you are looking for a professional, reliable, and affordable home, condo, or town home inspection in Kew Gardens Hills, look no further. We understand you have choices and we’d be honored to send one of our inspectors to inspect your property. We are committed to getting the job done right and making you happy. Call or email one of our staff members today (332-334-7701 or Request a Quote) to book an appointment.
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