Common Property Issues Investors Overlook and How to Avoid Them

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In this power-packed episode of The BRRRR Investor Podcast, host Alex Nahle sits down with Ian Mayer and Adrianna Parra from IM Home Inspections to uncover the truth about home inspections—and what every smart investor needs to know before pulling the trigger on a deal. 

🚨 Whether you're a first-timer or scaling up, this episode will help you avoid EXPENSIVE mistakes that could drain your profits. 

💥 What you'll learn:
 ✅ How Ian turned a side hustle into one of LA’s top inspection companies
 ✅ The #1 thing most investors overlook during inspections (it’s costing you!)
 ✅ What’s included in a home inspection—and what ISN’T 👀
 ✅ When to order specialty inspections (and how they save you $$$)
 ✅ The most common (and costly) property issues in LA
 ✅ How to spot red flags before they ruin your ROI 

Need a Home Inspection? Connect with IM Home Inspections at IM@IMhomeinspection.com

👉 If you’re investing in real estate and not prioritizing inspections, you’re gambling with your future wealth. Don't let one missed detail wreck your deal. 

🧠 Drop a comment below: What’s the WORST inspection surprise you’ve ever had—or dodged just in time? 

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and comment with your questions or topics you'd like us to cover next!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! I appreciate you!
Subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://alexnahleonvideo.com
Check out our next Real Estate event here - https://shorturl.at/jEO46
Grab your FREE SOP for analyzing deals here: https://gqr.sh/QKAY
Be part of our growing real estate community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebrrrrinvestorcommunity

Transcript

Alex Nahle [00:00:00]:
Welcome back to the BRRRR Investor Podcast, where our mission is to empower aspiring real estate investors in their journey towards building generational wealth. All right, I'm here with Ian Meyer and Adrianna Parra from IM Home Inspections. Thank you both for being here.

Ian Meyer [00:00:17]:
Thank you.

Alex Nahle [00:00:18]:
Hi, I'm excited to have our conversation. I want to start off with Ian. Ian, could you let us know a little bit about yourself and how IM Home Inspections got started .

Ian Meyer [00:00:30]:
20 some odd years ago? And about 20 years ago, I got a job in a wholesale mortgage company. And from that position, that company, I became quality control. So I was basically in charge of loans we'd already funded that were having issues that, you know, Wall street investors were kicking back and going through those. And so the big part was going through the appraisals and checking the appraisals and verifying that they were good or bad and sort of arguing with people in New York about whether this house in LA met value or not, and always kind of drove me crazy. I didn't have the home inspection report because, I mean, that could tell you a lot of information about the house. But anyway, so that was a great job. And from that I made enough money that my wife and I could buy our first house, which was a complete fixer upper. It had four walls, it had a foundation, had no roof, no flooring, the plumbing was shot. It needed a lot of work. So my wife and I moved in and we would camp in one room, fix up the next room, then move her, camp and fix up the next room until we eventually got the whole house going. And that was just a lot of fun. And eventually I kind of realized, you know, it's a lot more fun being in the house physically than sitting in an office just looking at pictures of houses. But then, you know, the great crash of 2008, 2009 came. So I was kind of thinking, maybe I'll become a home inspector next, because I've got a really sharp eye for things. But then the crash came and, you know, everything in real estate fell apart. Everybody got laid off. There were no real estate jobs. And then right around that time, my mom passed away. And then a little bit later, my wife got pregnant and I was like, I talked myself out of it and so I went and got another job. It had nothing to do with anything. And after a couple years, they laid me off. And I'm like sitting there like, going, well, crap, now what? I've got a wife, I got two kids, I have a mortgage, and I have no career. And that's why I just said, you know what, I'm doing my own thing from now on. I'm not working for someone else. And my wife was very encouraging and she's like, you know, you want us do that home inspector thing? You've been talking about it for years. Just. Just go do it. So I did it and I formed the company 11 years ago, and then we've just been growing ever since.

Adriana Para [00:02:40]:
I love it.

Alex Nahle [00:02:42]:
This is great.

Ian Meyer [00:02:43]:
Yeah.

Adriana Para [00:02:44]:
What? I was at the conference yesterday and that's exactly what everybody was talking about. They were having just this worst experience in life. And that's when they decided to do something that they knew would be a pivotal point in their life, you know, so that was Ian's pivotal point. I love it, you know, it's great.

Ian Meyer [00:03:05]:
Yeah.

Alex Nahle [00:03:06]:
And I was chatting with him on offline as well. And, you know, it's a very cool story. And, you know, I want to, you know, I know I mentioned this multiple times to both you and Adrianna. You have a business, you know, you know, there's a lot of different inspection companies out there. However, one thing that I, you know, I feel is I give a kudos to you guys is that you guys run it like a business. It's professional. It's not like a one man or woman show. You got a team, you trust your team. I can tell by, you know, the way, you know, I feel you empower Adrianna and how, you know, she shows up. She's passionate about what she does. So that's amazing and that's very commendable as far as having it as a business. You guys are able to accommodate, you know, scheduling and, you know, how real estate is. Right. There's a lot of last minute things. There's a lot of short contingencies, especially like, you know, we're here on this podcast in the investment space. A lot of decisions have to be made quickly. We need to inspect the property and then, you know, make commit very quickly. So having someone like you guys on our side as a team, right, because it's an extension of a team, it makes me as an investor feel comfortable. It also as a realtor, it makes me as a realtor and for my clients, it makes them feel comfortable. So I just wanted to mention that I appreciate what you guys do, what you guys bring to the real estate community. And with that, I want to ask Adrianna if you can share a little bit more about your role with the team with Ian and how you've been know, how has that been for you?

Adriana Para [00:04:42]:
Yeah, it's been a quite a journey and it's, I feel like just beginning. So it's pretty interesting. But essentially our algorithms met on ZipRecruiter and I read the role. At the time I was a senior AE for a fashion company in downtown LA and I just was kind of like over sitting in a chair all day. You know, I was ready to kind of see what LA had to offer. Since I lived here, I've always just traveled for work out of state. So I was ready to plant my roots somewhere. And I had been looking for jobs for quite some time and it was interesting. I just one day I told myself, you know, what kind of job I wanted and then I got a message from, I think it was Ian or Heather.

Ian Meyer [00:05:29]:
Heather.

Adriana Para [00:05:29]:
Heather, yeah, she's the real one. She reached out and we just had a good conversation and then Ian and I went through the process and yeah, here we are and it's been pretty interesting. So essentially, you know, I like what Ian called me the other day. I'm a hunter. Yeah, I'm a hunter. I would love to continue to flourish the existing, you know, clients that we have, our agents. However, my, my job is to find new new agents and new business. So how I do that is networking, networking, networking. And that's how I was able to meet you, Alex. And here we are now. It's, it's been amazing. You know, I know we're just getting so you and Anthony have done some inspections with us and my dear friend David is part of your team. He's getting married to my girl Miriam who works for Downtown Financial. So there's definitely a lot of connections taking place and that's, you know, that's just The Nahle Group, that's Compass Pasadena. But then, you know, I go on and that's what I really like about this position is that I can dance with all the brokerages and you know, there isn't a true conflict of interest because like Ian always says, you always want and Heather, you always want a backup inspection company. And so that's essentially what I do is I, you know, just we want to get out there, Ian as well, educate people on, on what a good inspection is and you know, our one stop shop, which seems to be, you know, really interesting to a lot of agents. It doesn't seem like that' that common because there's a lot of independent inspection companies out there. So you know, make the stand out. And then what really made me want the position, I was like, hey, you know what, this company has to be good they have five stars, you know, and I'm like a Yelper and I Yelp myself. So I, you know, did my research as well, and I'm like, hey, you know, they have five stars. I could sell this. You know, I could definitely do this. This is a good, you know, time for me to get out there, get involved in my community, learn about all the different part. Parts of LA county because it is huge. And, you know, really get to know people, which, you know, I'm, I'm really enjoying.

Alex Nahle [00:07:53]:
So it sounds like, you know, you're the type that, you know, you know what you're capable of doing as long as you can. You know, you have passion for what it is you're selling or offering and so forth. And then, and then by you seeing the five stars, that's, That's a lot, you know, a lot you mentioned there, which is cool. And then, you know, another cool thing that really stuck with me. Networking. Networking. Networking, Right.

Adriana Para [00:08:15]:
Yes.

Alex Nahle [00:08:15]:
You know, you and I met in networking. I met a lot of people in networking that, you know, collaborating at some level. Right. You're supporting each other one way or the other. And that's what this community is all about, is to be able to build relationships to, to, to, to build trust and then to be able to be a resource to one another and then do business with one another. And it's truly working. And I appreciate your consistency in showing up. And it truly comes down to it, it's very evident that those that are, you know, benefiting from the magic of networking are the ones that are showing up consistently.

Adriana Para [00:08:52]:
Right.

Alex Nahle [00:08:53]:
Because people see people like yourself, you know, going to events and stuff like that, and then you're. It's, you know, you got the energy and everything and it's working and they want your results, but then they're not willing to go every single time. Right. They'll go one time and then they'll go to another event, and they'll go to another event, see what sticks versus, you know, being consistent. So I admire that about you. And, and again, you know, for Ian, you know, you're. You're very instrumental, in my opinion, for the operation, from an outsider looking in. And it's one of the reasons why, you know, we are doing business together and, And I appreciate you guys, and I'm looking forward to the journey ahead, you know.

Adriana Para [00:09:33]:
Yeah, I know it's pretty exciting. And so, you know, when I started, it was a tough year, and, you know, it was just great that you even had what you. I mean, your events were so fun like as well. That's the best part of it is it was. It made you feel comfortable being there, you know, and easy to. To talk to people. And it was such a good turnout. La Descarga and you know, Laurel Tavern and Compass Pasadena. And that office is gorgeous, you know, so, yeah. Thank you for even having things like that and making people come together because it was a really tough year last year. It really was. It was my first year, you know, so building things and, and what have you was, you know, it was. I was always trying to figure out, like, what, what could I do, where can I go? You know, so.

Alex Nahle [00:10:20]:
And definitely not too much sitting down anymore, right?

Adriana Para [00:10:24]:
No, no, no. I'm a runner.

Alex Nahle [00:10:27]:
Awesome. This is very, very cool. So I, I wanted, you know, again, the, the, the, the, the. Our viewers are, you know, mainly those are getting started in real estate in one way or another. You know, newer investors, newer agents, buyers, people with different parts, you know, real estate enthusiasts in general. So with that said, can you, can you guys walk us through, like, what a typical inspection includes, like you know the basics?

Ian Meyer [00:10:54]:
Yeah, Typical inspection is basically, I mean, it's going to be the entire house, top to bottom. You know, we're going to walk around the house, figure, you know, look at from the outside, look at where all the utility connections are. Then we're going to go inside and we're going to go through the entire house. Kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, hallways, the attic, you know, crawl space, if there is one. We're going to get up on the roof, we're going to look at the roof, look at the entire house and, and look at it as a system because the house is, you know, a system of you've got the structure, you've got the electrical, you've got plumbing, you've got heating, air conditioning, the roof, attic, and everything is all tied together. So that's really what we're looking at this whole house as a. Not just, you know, four walls held up by wood, but like, is the actual structure working? And then we're primarily looking for things. Are they functional and are they safe? Those are the, those are the two big things, safety and functionality. And just so that people who are buying the property fully understand what it is they're buying.

Alex Nahle [00:11:57]:
Got it. And that sounds like the overall general inspection.

Ian Meyer [00:12:01]:
Right, Right.

Alex Nahle [00:12:02]:
Okay.

Ian Meyer [00:12:03]:
Now, yeah, I was gonna say, go back to what you were saying earlier, though. I mean, that comes from my time working quality control for a wholesale mortgage company is. I really learned quality control and I'm very strict on quality control. And what started Driving me crazy in home inspections with some of these other companies is they have no quality control. You one guy may be brilliant and the next guy they send maybe, you know, doesn't consistent. And I'm just like, no, I don't care which one of my guys comes out to do the inspection. You're going to get the same report at the end of the day. So we have a lot of quality control things in place. So that's why we have a team and that's why. Yeah, if you've got a short contingency, we can get someone out to you quickly and you're still going to get the same report, I think.

Adriana Para [00:12:48]:
Yeah, Ian, you know, really emphasizing on the report. That report is huge and you know, he made sure that that report, you're going to get the same report every time, like you know, detail by detail.

Alex Nahle [00:13:01]:
Yeah, it's good for a, you know, consumer like I consider myself a consumer in your with you guys is that we can rely on being able to one get it fast. But then also the QC that you' dimension is crucial. Right. We know somebody's overlooking it and then if you send me this particular inspector, I'm not going to worry. Oh, because another one inspected my property before and is it going to be the same? Right. These are things going through our mind. But then you take that away by what you do and by you being involved in this, the system that you set up. So that's pretty cool, right?

Ian Meyer [00:13:34]:
I'm involved in the training and my right hand man, Matt Snickel is available training and one of us is overlooking the reports at all the time. And then even the senior inspectors, you know, we still spot check their reports.

Adriana Para [00:13:45]:
Sure.

Ian Meyer [00:13:46]:
But so, but everybody is trained to a very specific standard. And then that standard, you know, has come from being in business 11 years and knowing that's why it's called inspections that matter. It's coming down to what do people really care about over 11 years of experience, what are the questions people ask? What do they care about? What do they not care about? And so we're constantly evolving and tweaking our processes over time to adapt to, you know, what people want and of course the ever changing world.

Alex Nahle [00:14:17]:
So as a, as a buyer, investor myself, I have my ways and as an agent, I have my ways. I go about things, you know, when I'm making purchases and even selling property and then how I advise my clients. One thing I do hear a lot is, you know, you know, especially first time buyers is a general inspection enough. Do I need a Foundation. Do I need a roof? I have a pool. Should I get a pool inspection right off the bat or do you feel like a general inspection is a good start? And then the general inspection may emphasize, hey, you need to look at this a little more. What, what would you say to that?

Ian Meyer [00:14:53]:
A little. Well, you should always get a pool inspection. That's a big thing I'm also passionate about because I grew up in a city that had no swimming pools. And it was my dream to move to LA and get a swimming pool. And I made it happen. And then I went, whoa. Pools are a lot of, a lot of work. And very interesting is there were no codes or safety rules about pools before the late 70s, early 80s. And a lot of the pools in Los Angeles were built in the 50s and 60s. So a lot of pools have significant electrical issues. You know, a lot of people think, oh, ports is coal in the ground with some water and what can go wrong? A lot can go wrong because you've got lights, you've got pumps, you've got heater, you've got all these electrical components. And if they're not installed correctly, it's, it's, it's a potential shock hazard. So, yeah, always get a pool inspection as foundation inspections kind of depend on the age of the home. You know, an owner home, especially built in the 20s, 30s, even up to 40s, a lot of these homes were built before there were any earthquake codes. And then earthquake codes are forever changing and getting more strict. So you get an older home, it may not be designed to withstand seismic activity. It may be still standing, but that doesn't mean it's going to survive the next earthquake. So that's definitely one of, but we were going to look, of course we're going to do a pretty thorough foundation check at the time. You know, I wouldn't necessarily bring a specialist in on a 1990 or 2000 era home that's on a slab. Those are bolted pretty well.

Alex Nahle [00:16:27]:
Got it. So, yeah, that makes sense. So looking at the age and other factors of the home could determine whether it is a good idea to get extra inspections or not. And in your opinion, a pool inspection is, is important. So that's cool. Okay.

Ian Meyer [00:16:41]:
I really cannot tell you how many times even our, even on a nice luxury home, we see significant electrical issues with the pool.

Adriana Para [00:16:51]:
I mean, some of those pool, some of that pool equipment is intense. I mean there, it's like a whole closet. It's crazy. So I can, I can imagine what could be under there.

Ian Meyer [00:17:04]:
I, I, I, we were at A nine million dollar house in Malibu last year. And it had a dedicated pool room and there was loose wiring everywhere, wires just hanging. And it was just like, I wouldn't, I didn't even want to touch the water with my hand because I was just like this, this is such an incredible safety hazard and people were living there. So, yeah, even, even if it's a really nice home, you need a pool inspection.

Adriana Para [00:17:34]:
That's what I meant. Like a walk in closet.

Alex Nahle [00:17:37]:
And you guys do all of the above?

Ian Meyer [00:17:40]:
Yeah, all of my guys are trained on pools because it's just something I'm very passionate about. And, and one of my guys on my team, actually, his dad built pools, so he's been around swimming pools since he was, you know, in diapers. Yeah, we train all our guys to do pool inspections. Got it.

Alex Nahle [00:17:56]:
Are you guys seeing any, you know, mainly like in the valley, the San Fernando Valley, or the foothills? Are you guys seeing like any common issues with properties or investment properties that, you know, that maybe a first time buyer or investor should look out for or be cautious about?

Ian Meyer [00:18:14]:
I think if you're, if you're buying a house as an investment and you're intending to, you know, fix it up and resell it or fix it up and rent it, you know, the most common things that tend to go wrong are electrical, roof and heating, air conditioning. Because your average person who's, you know, deciding they want to be an investor and they watch some TV shows about investing, watching podcasts, it always has to focus on very cosmetic issues. So someone can go in and go, all right, we're going to take out this wall and we're going to put the counter over here, and we're going to get this kind of tile and this kind of marble and, you know, and all these things, and we'll get this paint. And meanwhile, you're, you're looking at a really old house with an electrical system that was originally designed before there were television. So, you know, you get a house built in the 40s. At the time people only had lamps and radios. That's the only thing they ever plugged in. And now you want to bring that house up to date where everyone's gonna put in their big screen TV and surround sound and their computers and all this stuff. So it's amazing how many people don't pay attention to that. Heating, air conditioning is another one, because it's not something particularly sexy. You don't really look at it. I mean, I was just at a house the other day, everything was brand new, but the Heater was, like, from the 80s, and it was completely rusted. Significant safety hazard. And then the roof, because nobody, I mean, unless you're trained, you should not be going up on roofs on a ladder anyway. But even a lot of people who, you know, go up on roof, they don't necessarily know what to look for. And that's where we start seeing issues, is, you know, an investor will go in and they'll do a really nice job on the inside, but you have all these electrical issues. You've got a heater that's rusted, and you've got a roof that, you know, has issues. So those are the, like, the three. The three biggest things.

Adriana Para [00:20:06]:
Alex, let me ask you. So as an investor and flipper, like, do you see that those are. Would you buy a house? You already know, like, those are some things that you would have to replace when flipping a home.

Alex Nahle [00:20:18]:
Would I buy it? Yeah, if the numbers make sense, obviously. But I wouldn't overlook those things like Ian mentioned, because I feel they're crucial and. And perfect example, one recent flip in Mission Hills. You know, we did the inspection and everything. Everything was just need an electric panel. Come to find out, when we opened up walls and stuff, maybe somebody overlooked it. It wasn't you guys that did the inspection. Let's just put it that way. There's no ground. Right. You know, the. The. You know, some people would be like, oh, it's okay. We'll just, you know, add the ground or figure something out. No, I. I went ahead and rewired it. It wasn't within my budget. I had to take it. But I'd rather give a good product and not have any issue because, you know, I've done it multiple times, and I know, you know, the pros and cons. I don't want to get, you know, one. My conscious. Right. I want to be able to sleep at night. I have my family, my kids involved in my business in a sense of, like, exposure and letting them know what I do. I wouldn't want my kids to know that, you know, I should have done this, but I didn't do it just to get a little bit more profit. It's not the way I run my business. However, if I do find these components that are in good condition.

Ian Meyer [00:21:20]:
Wow.

Alex Nahle [00:21:21]:
I start, you know, drooling, and I'm like, okay, great. I know the main components I don't need to worry about then. Yes. I can focus on the cosmetics. Two properties that you guys inspected, right? We closed on them. One this. This Wednesday. The other one, last Week actually Monday and Wednesday, Monday this week, Wednesday last week. You guys inspected both brand new air, like fairly new air conditioning. The roofs were great, the electric was so. So I went into it knowing that I did my numbers knowing that. Right. And I know now I can just focus on cosmetic upgrade panels, do some cosmetics and I'm golden. Why? Because AC foundation roof are in good shape. So I hope that answers your question. That's the way I look at it.

Adriana Para [00:22:04]:
Okay. No, that definitely does make sense.

Alex Nahle [00:22:06]:
So single family in general, you know, obviously, as you know, it's four units and below. Right. Single family duplex, triplex and so forth. So one of the strategies that I feel is very popular, especially with clients that I'm working with, it's something I really enjoy as well. It's called house hack. Right, house hacking. You know, you, you live in the house, you benefit from purchasing it as a primary residence. You live in the house as long as it's under four units, you're able to purchase it, you know, with a conventional residential loan. So people starting off tend to use that method a lot. My question to you is, you know, that tends to be. Sometimes they rent out the room, but mostly like a duplex, they'll live in one and they rent out the other one or triplex and so forth. So for someone looking to house hack such a property, what can you share with us as far as the process or pricing of an inspection, as far as more or less, no need for specific numbers between a single family home and like a duplex, triplex quadplex. You guys do do that as well?

Ian Meyer [00:23:08]:
We do, yeah.

Adriana Para [00:23:10]:
We just did a 17. What was it, Ian?

Ian Meyer [00:23:12]:
Yeah, we've done 1720 unit buildings with detail and we can do bigger ones. Really. For us, it's not a huge difference. You know, we, we basically just chart, look at the square footage of the home and decide, well, that's the size of the home and then there's like a small little add on fee just for, you know, because it's going to have an extra kitchen, extra HVAC unit for us. What we do though, if it is depending on the size, you know, we'll send more than one inspector so that you don't have to sit there all day because you know, if you've got this big property or just a property with a lot of complex things, you know, it's going to take your average inspector, you know, five, six, eight hours. Might even have to come back the next day. We'll send two guys, maybe three guys, maybe even more, depending on the size of the property and get it all done in three to four hours. So that's one of the things that we pride ourselves on is getting the inspections done thoroughly, but within a quick time period.

Adriana Para [00:24:13]:
But it's based off of square footage.

Ian Meyer [00:24:15]:
Yeah, right, Ian, like, but everything. Yeah, the pricing is still based off of square footage. And then it's a small nominal fee for just, you know, for an extra door. But it doesn't really change our overall approach. Got it.

Alex Nahle [00:24:29]:
Same approach, you're able to do it. Same experience, just, you know, multiple people attacking it at once. To be able to accommodate the client's timeline. Possibly as well.

Ian Meyer [00:24:38]:
Yeah. I mean, that's one of the things we found. The real estate agents love their time back.

Alex Nahle [00:24:43]:
I'm sorry?

Ian Meyer [00:24:44]:
Real estate agents like their time. They don't want to say five, six, eight hours, you know, like we might do a 10,000 square foot mansion in Encino or Beverly Hills and, you know, we'll send a team. And you see the listing agents are there, they're camped out, they've got their lunch, their coffee, their laptop, and they're thinking they're going to be there all day. And then, you know, after three, four hours, like, we're done. And they're like, really? I'm like, yeah, no, we're done because we're off to the next property. And then because of the software we use it all just all the inspectors findings merged together. And it makes one report and you. It reads just like if one guy had done it.

Adriana Para [00:25:21]:
I've only seen what. What time did you guys finish Weston's listing? It was like a three story lot. And what you guys maybe got out at like, you guys got out before 5:00pm and started at 9, right, Ian?

Ian Meyer [00:25:38]:
Oh, well, that was. Yeah, that was.

Adriana Para [00:25:40]:
That's like a, you know, that was.

Ian Meyer [00:25:41]:
A very big Bel Air home. It was 16, 000 square feet, plus a guest house, plus a separate theater, plus a pool. So we sent five, six, seven people and we were done in six and a half hours.

Adriana Para [00:25:55]:
Yeah, it wasn't. That was crazy.

Ian Meyer [00:25:57]:
But Adrianna brought us lunch, so I brought lunch.

Adriana Para [00:25:59]:
Yeah, I was gonna say. But yeah, you know, so I can. So, Ian, for the. But the 17 room home that we just did, how that was your four hours with the guys.

Ian Meyer [00:26:11]:
Yeah, I think. Because everything else, we've always gotten done in three, four hours.

Adriana Para [00:26:15]:
Yeah. Yeah. So that's pretty standard. Or earlier, depending if it's smaller.

Alex Nahle [00:26:19]:
But so it sounds like we can, you know, audience can count on you guys for inspection. Single Family, multi family, any type of specialty and still get the same exact experience. And maybe if they're lucky, Adrianna brings lunch.

Adriana Para [00:26:35]:
Yeah, exactly.

Ian Meyer [00:26:36]:
Yeah. We do office buildings. We've done car lots, we've done, you know, retail stores, restaurants.

Alex Nahle [00:26:43]:
So when. When it comes to, like, specialized inspections, like, you know, sewer scopes, mold tests, things of that nature, from your perspective, how important is it to have a specialist inspect those components versus just like some people like to do themselves, or they get somebody just to look at it. How do you feel like, is that something you feel a specialist that knows what they're doing should be looking at those components?

Ian Meyer [00:27:10]:
Well, we all, we do sewer inspections. All our guys are trained to do sewer inspections. And this goes back to buying my own house that I live in currently. You know, great house, great neighborhood. And then all the toilets backed up after six months, had someone snake it out, happened again six months later, and this kept happening. And, you know, my real estate agent hadn't mentioned sewer scopes. And I'm not even sure the sewer scope cameras were invented yet, but eventually had someone found someone who had a camera. And they scoped my line and it was full of roots. And my pipe was something called Orangeburg, which is a material that was very popular in the 50s and 60s that only lasts 50 years and then completely just disintegrates. So I had to get a new sewer pipe installed in my property. So I became very passionate, like, okay, I don't want other people going through this. And so I had some clients who were like, you know, had the same experience as I did. We moved into the property. Now the toilets are backing up after a couple months. You know, at that time it was like, well, you know, you need our reports do recommend getting a sewer inspection. So I was like, no, I need to do this myself. And I took a class, bought a camera, learned all about it, and then I'm just like, okay. Then as we started growing the team, I was like, you know what? Everybody needs to learn how to do this. And I think at this point, we're pretty much about 80% of all houses order a sewer scope with us. So all my guys know how to do it. It's very important because a lot of homes, even if they're newer homes, they're usually built on older lots and they're not digging up all the pipes and re changing them. And sometimes even on newer homes, they can have issues too. But, you know, in LA, a lot of these houses were built in the 20s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and these sewer Pipes were not really designed to last that long. And they've got roots and they've got issues. People love palm trees. Palm tree roots love sewer pipes.

Alex Nahle [00:29:01]:
They pull, they get, they're attracted. Like it kind of goes into it, right? Yeah, no matter.

Ian Meyer [00:29:05]:
I mean, all trees are attracted to sewer pipes. But you know, palm trees in particular are one of the. Not that I'm an arborist, but I've just. One of my observations is there's palm trees in your yard. They will, they will go for that water.

Adriana Para [00:29:18]:
The olive trees too, the worst.

Ian Meyer [00:29:20]:
Oh yeah. And yeah, we get into all sorts of tree problems, but you know, a lot of houses have roots and even if they don't have roots. I did a home, it was a brand new house in Simi Valley, but it was built on an older lot. The client really wanted a sewer scope. The agent was a little resistant. But I sent the camera down there and what did I find? We found all the paint was congealing because the painters were washing their, their brushes. So while that paint's going down the line, well then if they didn't flush it all the way down, it stops and it congealed and you had this giant paintball in, in the sewer line. So if the client had moved in, went to flush the toilet, you know, it would have immediately just clogged up. And sometimes, you know, and going back to, you know, investors, we'll find hammers, nails, pieces of wood, leftover tools that somehow, I don't even know how they do it, but somehow they got down the sewer line cloths and they're sitting there. So yeah, sewer lines are very, very, very important and I recommend everybody getting one. You know, if you're buying, buying a single family home or a multi family home, as far as mold inspections go, it really comes down to how sensitive you are to mold. So my right hand man, his sister is very allergic mold. So his first question when I interviewed him, like, can we create a mold department? And I was like, well, you know, we live in la, it's very dry. We don't have a lot of mold issues compared to like Florida or Georgia or somewhere. It's very humid. But you know, the thing about mold is, you know, if I were, if we were sitting next to each other and, and I put a big piece of mold down, you know, one of us is going to sneeze and get teary eyed and one of us is not even going to notice because mold is very, really depends on your algae levels. So there are no standards for mold. The government has no standards for mold because it affects different people in different ways. So if you're concerned about it, get a mold inspection. If you are, get a mold inspection. What I will say is if, and you should know this, Alex. It says in the California residential purchase contract in all those documents that you sign, it says, real estate agents are not mold specialists. Your home inspector is not a mold specialist. If you were concerned about mold, getting mold inspection from someone who's certified to do so, and that is basically to protect you and to protect us from someone moving in going, well, now I found mold. Nobody told me, well, you're not a mold expert. As a general home inspector, we're not mold experts. It only becomes mold when we come in, test, send it to the lab and the lab determines it's mold. So if you don't do that process, a client has no repercussions against anybody for mold. And that's built into the purchase contract. That's what car put in there, like I said, to protect agents and anybody else from negligent claims. So if you have any concerns about mold, you do have to get a mold inspection because legally there are no repercussions if mold is in a home and not noticed without a mold inspection.

Adriana Para [00:32:34]:
Interesting.

Alex Nahle [00:32:35]:
Yeah, very interesting. I want to go back to the sewer you mentioned. I, I've had, you know, very, you know, various experiences and, and I can't agree with you more, I think people shouldn't get distracted by the condition of the house or, you know, whether it's been remodeled or been rebuilt. Because like you said, I've had situations where the, the sewer line the, is original, but then the connection to it and to the house is all brand new. I'm a big fan of a sewer inspection as well. One time on one of the properties I was purchasing, we found out we couldn't have noticed it unless we did a sewer inspection. It turns out the cleanout of the neighbors is encroaching on our lot. And the inspector came and put it in there because it's on our lot. So I was thinking that it was ours, but sure enough, it goes to the neighbors. And then we found out that because it was, you know, a property that needed to be fixed up, they didn't have a clean out outside. So they went through and we determined that it was somebody else's and the neighbor didn't even know. So if we didn't do a sewer inspection, we wouldn't have known that and that would have been a big surprise at some point.

Adriana Para [00:33:36]:
You know, how interesting yeah.

Ian Meyer [00:33:39]:
And you know where the cleanouts are. Like my house when I bought it, you know, it had a newer clean out. So if you just look at the clean out, you're thinking, it's nice, yes. Well, trouble is, it was only a clean out attached to an old pipe, so the cleanup really meant nothing. And yet, even if they run a new pipe to the sidewalk, you're still responsible for them to. It reaches the city connection. Sure. Which may be another 20, 30, 50, 90ft, depending on, you know, the lot. I mean, you're responsible for that even if it's under the sidewalk. And a lot of people think, oh, I'm not responsible for that. Well, technically, you are, and those are very hard to fix. So you definitely want to get all that checked out along.

Alex Nahle [00:34:21]:
Otherwise it's too late.

Ian Meyer [00:34:22]:
You know, you.

Alex Nahle [00:34:23]:
You buy the property. You can't renegotiate, so.

Ian Meyer [00:34:26]:
Exactly.

Alex Nahle [00:34:27]:
It's very, very cool. I'm really enjoying this conversation. I. I want to ask you one last thing for those listening, you know, again, getting started, wanting to make their purchase, but they're nervous about what they don't know. What words of advice would you give them based on what you've seen?

Ian Meyer [00:34:45]:
Yeah, well, you know, there's always that. What you know, you don't know, and what you don't know, you don't know. But this is why it's very important that you. You get a thorough home inspection from a. From a quality company before you close so you can fully understand what you're getting. You know, a house may look pretty, but it may have foundation issues, it may have electrical issues, it may have roof issues. And if you're not prepared for that, I can think of two stories. I remember one house I inspected, an investor had bought it, had started to fix it up, abandoned the project. The bank had foreclosed on it. So now the investor's out, lost all his money, and got a D. Rog on his credit now. And so now the bank is trying to resell it. And so that's when I was brought in for the buyers. And yeah, it had some nice cabinets and some nice countertops. But then I went underneath the house and the foundation was basically completely deteriorated. And that's why the investor had abandoned it and let the bank foreclose on it. So, you know, these are kind of the stories of, yeah, it may look nice, but you need to understand what you're getting. I did another one not too long ago. It was a perfect house for an investor. It had been a rental. The renters had trashed it. The seller was like, I can't deal with this anymore. I'm not going to re rent it. I'm just going to sell it. And, you know, the investors were, you know, they're sitting there planning out where they're going to move things and do things. And then I noticed, you know, the water heater is running despite the fact there's no hot water on. Like, all the faucets are turned off yet the water heaters running. And the water heater only runs if there's water. You have hot water on. I started investigating and, well, there's a warm spot in the floor and it's a slab foundation, so you can't go underneath. Well, now we've got hot water running underneath the house loose. And that had led to a big crack in the foundation. Oh, boy. And the investors wisely took that into consideration. You can see on their face, they were thinking, well, we were prepared to spend this much to rehab the property. We weren't prepared for that much. And so now they've got a decision to make, if they still want to go forward or not. So that is. That is why, you know, you always need a good inspection. I mean, when you watch HGTV, they never have inspections. And there's always that dramatic. We didn't realize that this house had this condition. And I'm always yelling at the tv, if you'd had a whole inspection, you would have known that. My wife is like, we got to stop watching these shows because you got to go to the TV about this.

Adriana Para [00:37:27]:
Yeah. If you're investing in, you know, property, I would invest in a home inspection because it's the way of you getting to know your home.

Ian Meyer [00:37:35]:
But. But, you know, I'll put it this way. Like, if you were going to go buy a really nice car, you know, BMW, Mercedes, Lamborghini, Ferrari, whatever, and someone said, hey, you know what? This car has an oil leak. You demand the oil leak be fixed before you brought it home. And yet it. So. So if you're gonna go buy a house and it's gonna be half a million, 2 million, 10 million, whatever, don't you want to know if it's got a leak in it? And don't you want to get that leak fixed before you buy it? You know, so that's. That's kind of how I look at it.

Alex Nahle [00:38:04]:
So cool. So moral of the story is, get a home inspection. You know, the right people on your team, the right inspection company, the right realtor, allows you to take action, not let fear hold you back. However, you can take action, discover anything, possibly renegotiate, and if it doesn't work out, you back out of the deal. So I totally agree with you guys on that. Get a home inspection. You'll find, one, make sure that you're within the budget, and two, there may be opportunities for other price reductions. Any last words you'd like to share with everyone before we bring this to an end?

Ian Meyer [00:38:41]:
You know, the other thing I've seen, I mean, I think as an investor, you will definitely want the inspection before you buy because you want to understand how bad the property is. If there's foundation issues or roof issue that you're not budgeting for, you need to be prepared for that. But sometimes I even see investors come back afterwards. All right, did the guys who I hired, did they do the right work? Did they do the right things? Did they do that? And, you know, sometimes things go wrong. You know, I remember being underneath the house and it just been the investor still owned it. He was actually living there at the time, waiting to sell it. And yeah, it was brand new plumbing, but one of the welds hadn't held and it was dripping water underneath the foundation. Good thing to discover before you resell it. You know, I discovered that the roofer you hired had done a very poor job with the roofing. The material was new, but it wasn't installed properly. So you may want to consider even a second inspection before you bring it to market.

Alex Nahle [00:39:39]:
You know me, right, Adrianna? Oh, yeah, That's. It's. I'm a big believer that on it as a realtor, I always encourage my sellers to do that. As a seller as well, I always do that for myself. Right. To know and to be able to disclose and then, you know, it helps to negotiate. But also more importantly, as an investor, I like to do that for that reason, but exactly for the reason you mentioned, too, is just to make sure. If we did make a mistake, let's get it corrected before, you know, we put it on the market. So. And then also allows you to, you know, inspect what you expect. Right. You know, it allows you to know who your team is and where areas of opportunities are and what things you need to fix because it's a reflection of you at the end of the day, as an investor, that's the way I look at it. So good point there. Well, thank you both so much again for taking the time. We'll make sure. We'll add your information in the description below. If anybody has any more questions how they can reach out to you how they can schedule, you know, inspections. We'll make sure we add that information and otherwise we'll see you out there on the field on the next inspection.

Adriana Para [00:40:40]:
Yeah. And see you at your next networking event next week.

Alex Nahle [00:40:44]:
That's right. Next week. I hope. I hope you invited Ian.

Adriana Para [00:40:48]:
Yeah, I did. I'm still. It's still a question mark.

Alex Nahle [00:40:52]:
Well, you guys have an awesome day. And again, thank you guys so much for being here. I truly appreciate the support.

Adriana Para [00:40:57]:
Thank you, Alex, so much. And I'll be seeing you soon. Ian, thank you.

Ian Meyer [00:41:02]:
Thank you, Alex.

Alex Nahle [00:41:03]:
Thank you all for joining us on the BRRRR Investor Podcast. If you found today's episode helpful, please hit like and subscribe to our channel for more real estate insights. We love hearing from from you, so please leave your thoughts, questions or topics you'd like us to cover in the comments section below. Be sure to check out our website, thebrrrrinvestor.com and follow us on social media at @thebrrrrinvestor. Keep learning and investing and we'll see you in the next episode. I'm your host, Alex Nale. Stay invested.