Luke Fredericks's (inspectorluke) Blog

I have noticed lately that many historical buildings are either not being maintained and in worst cases torn down completely.  A main concern I have in my area is the neglect of the buildings in historic downtown Woodstock, Il.  Everybody else may remember it as the setting of the movie Groundhog...

Now that warm weather is here to stay (we hope), we all have a good opportunity to have our furnaces get some much needed service, especially if you're having your AC checked anyway.  Another good idea is to get your chimney and fireplace looked at.  If you don't have your heat source looked at n...

Happy Father Day to all of you fathers out there.  As the father of a two year old little girl, I understand the difficulties of being a father and appreciate a day dedicated to fathers.  Remember today to thank all of the dads in your life.  It's not about the gifts; it's about telling them that...

The recent influx of rain we've had in Northern Illinois has caused a lot of flooding.  If anybody has a house in that area that has been affected by this flooding I would recommend immediate remediation.  Delaying remediation will cause larger, more costly repair to be done.  Immediate removal o...

The Cubs are doing great, I'm not ready to get excited yet though.  Their long history of choking at the last minute has me skeptical.  But the reason I brought this up is because I was told by a real estate agent a theory  that if the Cubs win the World Series it will bring Chicagoland real esta...

I know most people don't see the need for a pre-sale inspection.  In my opinion though it can possibly save the seller time and money.  Most people think they know their home and are reluctant to have it inspected before putting it up for sale and consider it to be a waste of money.  But there ar...

It would seem to me that most people think that if they're buying a newly constructed home that a home inspection is not necessary.  That could not be farther from the truth.  There are many mistakes that can happen in the construction process, therefore a home inspector should be brought in for ...

This doesn't have anything to do with real estate, but I just wanted to post this to let everybody know.  Somebody emailed this story to me today.  A woman's son came home and said that the license plate on his car was missing.  The boy called the police to report the license plate stolen.  The c...

The time is nearing for renewal of my home inspector's license.  In Illinois a home inspector has to renew their license every other year.  In order to renew the license a home inspector has to have a certain number of hours of continuing education.  Well I have been thinking about what class to ...

I was told about active rain from a real estate agent by the name of Staci Wolff.  I'd never heard of it before. but after checking out the site I thought it sounded like a good idea.  Any free advertising on the web is okay by me.  Who doesn't like free?  I hope that I'll be making some new cont...