Homes Built With Brick Enjoy Better Market Appeal
Posted by Hank Miller on
Once a very common sight around Greater Atlanta, brick is rapidly disappearing from the scene. Homes built with brick enjoy better market appeal, it's a recognized advantage over just about any other exterior surface. The brick is not structural, rather it's an exterior cladding independently supported and tied to the framing with "brick ties". Brick is virtually maintenance free - when properly installed. The most common issues tend to involve cracking and drainage, cracks above wide openings in particular.
Brick Cracks Above the Garage
This is a pretty common occurrence and is often due to either the lintel supporting the brick sagging or one of the support columns settling over time. Here we saw the support post settle a bit, this…
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Home buyers would do well to learn how to spot drainage issues. Water is not your friend; if it's not controlled it will bite in a number of different ways and every one will hurt. The first and most obvious tell is the position of the home; is it declined from the road? Gravity ensures that water takes the path of least resistance; will that be rushing down an expansive driveway that lets it blast into the house or garage? Will that be an area of yard that becomes a trench due to erosion?
commonly used in residential water supply systems from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. Polybutylene pipe was popular due to its low cost and ease of installation. However, it eventually fell out of favor due to concerns about its long-term durability and potential for leaks and failures. The greater Atlanta area has a significant number of homes with poly pipes and
permits lined up and trying to hold onto the wallet. Rookie investors make rookie mistakes; overpaying, underestimating repairs, poor project management, overestimating finished market value and a thousand other things. But even experienced flippers get surprised from time to time.
Water is not a home owner's friend, it is constantly looking for ways to cause trouble. But it's predictable, we know it flows downhill and that is the key to successful water control. The short clips below are a great example of proper surface water control. This builder, unlike most, did a great job in setting a predictable pattern to control surface water runoff. This is a big plus, most builders could not care less about things like this; get in and get out as fast as possible and when problems develop just say "the county approved it so...". Salute to this builder.
sales reps or calling the information lines. Seemingly innocent inquiries which often result in them being unrepresented by a buyer’s agent if they move forward. Builders love unrepresented home buyers. Not using a buyer's agent when building a home is the single biggest mistake new home buyers make and it will result in problems over the build.
“Should I rent my home if it won't sell”? Well, that question has many layers. But that off the cuff declaration by an annoyed seller might be a bit dramatic and premature. For owners unsuccessful at selling, “I’ll rent it” seems to be a knee jerk response. Best to take a step back, breathe, and examine all of the mitigating circumstances that contributed to this situation. For owners, selling a home usually has a significant emotional component; it’s unavoidable. To home buyers, it is just another home. Motivations, objectives, and personal situations are different and before anything rash is done, slow down. Start with figuring out why the home didn't sell.
are significant differences between an appraisal and a home inspection, it’s best for every home buyer to become familiar with the purpose of each. In fact, some real estate agents would also benefit from a reminder about their respective roles.