|
Home > FREE
Home Help > Article Archive
by Wally Conway,
Host
of the Home and Garden Show on WOKV
Luxury homes are lots of fun to inspect. Sure, the pay is better
too, but mostly it's just fun to see how the other half lives! I
also get to meet those people who have reached such a level of financial
success that they are buying a home that seems like it could have
been a boarding school!
One of the fun aspects of inspecting large and expensive homes
is seeing furnishing and interior design work at the highest level.
Unfortunately, that high level does not always translate to attractive!
Good-sized decorating budgets does not always mean good taste. One
such mansion sticks always in my mind.
Among the oldest and most prestigious sections of Jacksonville
is Ortega. Situated along a wide expanse of the St. Johns River
with a fabulous view of the downtown skyline is Ortega Boulevard.
In our fair town, that address spells success!
 It
is always a thrill to inspect on Ortega Boulevard. The homes were
built during the 1920's and 30's by the business and political leaders
of the time. In a state not known for architecture, homes on Ortega
Boulevard can be compared proudly with any in America. But that
does not mean that some folks don't commit creative crimes in the
decorating department!
The listing agent was thrilled to have this home as the corner
piece of an envious listing portfolio. One point, though, kept coming
up in comments made by would-be buyers after being shown the beautiful
home. The plum-painted walls on nearly the entire first floor made
the interior look like the set from the old "Rowan and Martin's
Laugh-In" television show! This simply had to be corrected
to attract a buyer to the home.
Upon arrival at the home, I parked behind the painter's truck.
When I went into the home, a team of painters was busy working to
cover "plum" with "eggshell". Their best guess
was that three coats would do it; I was betting on five!
As is always the protocol, all the lights, appliances, and heating
were turned on for the home inspection. My company calls this our
"Super Bowl" check. Seems that the greatest stresses a
home undergoes is during the Super Bowl. There are usually dozens
of people around, all of whom are using multiple televisions, cooking,
washing, showering, and consuming every possible stitch of electricity.
And all of this is going on simultaneously! If the systems continue
to work during the Super Bowl, they will work fine during routine
family use, or so the theory goes.
So, while zipping about the house checking here and checking there,
one of the painters called out that he smelled smoke! If the home
catches on fire during the Super Bowl, that is most certainly a
penalty.
Upon my arrival to the electrical panel, I smelled heat and burning
wire. I then ran to the exterior to disconnect power at the switch
adjacent to the meter, which was on fire! I told the real estate
agent to call the fire department while I secured the power to the
home. Things were going to be fine.
To my surprise and confusion, she became upset with me for securing
power to the home. When I asked her why she is upset that I had
secured power to the burning electrical panel, she exclaimed, "Wally,
if you turn off the power, the painters won't be finished today!"
I reminded her that if the home continued to burn, it wouldn't need
paint!
The old adage "when you're surrounded by alligators, sometimes
it's hard to remember that you came here to drain the swamp"
must have been coined by a guy who was working for a real estate
agent in Florida.
Copyright © Florida HomePro, Inc. and Wallace
J. Conway. All rights in all media reserved.
About the Author: Wally Conway is your weekly Host of the Home
and Garden Show on WOKV, and author of the book "Secrets of the Happy
Home Inspector", available at GoHomePro.com.
Wally's expertise and experience has been sought after by HGTV's "House
Detective", DIY Network's "Finders Fixers", the National Association
of REALTORS®, newspapers, and corporations. As a speaker, writer, and instructor,
Wally blends the right amount of up-to-date information with just the right
amount of humor, insight, motivation, and real-world application. Visit WallyConway.com
for more information!
Reproduction of this article: Permission is granted to use this article
in any media provided that the article is reproduced in its entirety as shown
above, with the authors resource box/bio included including links to http://www.gohomepro.com
and http://www.wallyconway.com
as the original publisher.
|
|