Infrared / Thermal Cameras

[Dominic Maricic]

Chrome and FF won't dynamically expand that left column. You just need to place it elsewhere on your site like in the main content area.

[William R. DeVries]

If your going to do the IR there is alot of training out there, Get your level one and after a  year move to level two, during the first year do the building sciences course, the building investigations Roofing and Building Investigations envelope Three Additional course that a HI should follow if your serious about applying IR to your field.
It is expensive, about 2k per course plus expenses. But you will be the Better IR operator fr it, then the most important is to get the best camera that is just beyond your reach, IE B 360  B400 at the 30k mark, these will open doors and get results.
Then you need stick time, and lots of it to properly interpret what your looking at and to properly diagnose The conditions and symptoms of what your looking for and at along with a remedy to fix, repair, modify or enhance.

[Davin Strand]

Not that I agree with the policy or want to get political, but the new Cap and Trade(tax) bill passed by the house last week would make it law that every home sold would have to pass an energy audit to be able to be sold. It has not passed the Senate yet. If the home does not pass it would have to be brought up to energy standards to be able to be sold. So I guess if you are not on the band wagon with thermal imaging..... I will be getting one soon myself. I was looking at getting one before this, but I want to be up to speed just in case.

[Dominic Maricic]

I heard this was just for new homes, not for existing home sales. Are you sure they're trying to pass it for existing homes as well?

[David A. Andersen]

Yes.

For more information check out all the complaining at "Active Rain".

[John Adrian Sopher]

Just because its on Active Rain doesn't mean its true.  I don't know first hand but I would think they would have a grandfather clause for older houses.  Also have they set standards for the energy audit?  Just shooting some pics with an IR camera isn't an energy audit.  Its a good step in the right direction though!  I'm curious to know what the standards are going to be. 

[Will Handley]

Look what the government has done to the appraisal industry.  They're mandating pricing on many forms of appraisals in the $150 range.  These guys were making mad money just a few months ago.  If energy audits become mandatory, the market will become flooded with every Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane performing cut rate $99 audits.  Good luck with the $30K camera and $10K in training....

http://www.linkedin.com/newsArticle?viewDiscussion=&articleID=47452260&gid=84809&trk=NUS_DISC_N_nd_mr&goback=%2Eanh_84809

[John Adrian Sopher]

Look what the government has done to the appraisal industry.  They're mandating pricing on many forms of appraisals in the $150 range.  These guys were making mad money just a few months ago.  If energy audits become mandatory, the market will become flooded with every Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane performing cut rate $99 audits.  Good luck with the $30K camera and $10K in training....

http://www.linkedin.com/newsArticle?viewDiscussion=&articleID=47452260&gid=84809&trk=NUS_DISC_N_nd_mr&goback=%2Eanh_84809

I dont know about your state but appraisals are about $300-400 here.

[Will Handley]

That's all changing John...  In March of this year the appraisal ordering and payment system changed on FHA, Fannie and Freddie loans, which account for an extremely large portion of the current home loan market...

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jan2009/db20090118_003174.htm

[John Adrian Sopher]

I didn't see anything on mandated pricing.  But what I did see was they in effect are forcing appraisals into the hands of larger firms that pay employees less for them.  Either way, I think appraisers are going to have a hard time trying to get in with the lenders.  Good thing I didn't try and get my appraisal license!  lol

[Davin Strand]

From what I understand, it would be on all home sales, none grandfathered in. Because the object is to lower energy use by mandating everything be brought up to a certain code.

[Davin Strand]

Link about what is proposed

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=50365

[John Adrian Sopher]

That's just wrong on so many levels.  Goberment just keeps on getting bigger.  What ever happened to the states having the power?  Yes, that a facetious question.

[Dominic Maricic]

"To help pay for the cost of these retrofits, states and localities may provide loans, utility rate rebates, tax rebates, or implement retrofit programs on their own. In fact, the government will even pay up to 50 percent of the cost of a retrofit through financial awards to individual home and building owners."

Hmm, sooo, the 50% still comes from Tax payers, and then the buyer or seller pays the rest. There are so many homes that would never be allowed to sell if something like this passes. On the other hand it could bring in more work. Quite a paradox!

[Davin Strand]

I agree, don't want it to pass in any way, shape, or form. But if it does, home inspectors are the ones who should benefit.

[John Adrian Sopher]

Unless they mandate that city inspectors must check em out.  Then were screwed.  lol

[Will Handley]

I didn't see anything on mandated pricing.  But what I did see was they in effect are forcing appraisals into the hands of larger firms that pay employees less for them.  Either way, I think appraisers are going to have a hard time trying to get in with the lenders.  Good thing I didn't try and get my appraisal license!  lol

"Appraisers feel management companies pay too little—$175 per job," said Kenneth Harney, a syndicated columnist and managing director of the National Real Estate Development Center, an industry training firm. "The turnaround times imposed are unacceptably short. Many of the most experienced appraisers feel this will drive them out of residential work to be replaced by less-experienced appraisers. That's not better from a consumer perspective."

[John Adrian Sopher]

I didn't see anything on mandated pricing.  But what I did see was they in effect are forcing appraisals into the hands of larger firms that pay employees less for them.  Either way, I think appraisers are going to have a hard time trying to get in with the lenders.  Good thing I didn't try and get my appraisal license!  lol

"Appraisers feel management companies pay too little—$175 per job," said Kenneth Harney, a syndicated columnist and managing director of the National Real Estate Development Center, an industry training firm. "The turnaround times imposed are unacceptably short. Many of the most experienced appraisers feel this will drive them out of residential work to be replaced by less-experienced appraisers. That's not better from a consumer perspective."

That's not a mandated fee.  Mandated fee is when the government set the rate.  What I did see, is what you quoted.  Not much good comes from government getting in the middle of free trade.

[Will Handley]

Hey John;

The government is controling the change.  They mandated that there be separation between lenders and appraisers.  This created the need for the appraisal management companies to be formed.  They have to profit as well, which raises the cost to the consumer and lowers the base fee to the appraiser.

Another example might be "Cap and Trade".  The government isn't going to set the final cost on anything, just establishing the program will cause higher costs to the consumer and lower profits to the provider.

Back to our original point, if the government mandates energy audits, IR scan fees will drop like a rock...

What's next, Home Inspections?  Maybe the government will think they need to provide separation between home inspectors, realtors and lenders.  So they order that a hand full of management companies be set up to handle inspection orders across the country.  They can't double the cost of our inspection fee to the client. Soooo they'll split the difference, up the price slightly and lower the fee they agree to pay us.  This is exactly what the appraisal industry is in an up roar over. The National Appraisal Associations along with NAR are already lobbying congress to stop the changes and go back to the old established appraisal system.

[John Adrian Sopher]

As much as I love this country, I get soooo frustrated how they operate and spend money!