Rental Home Inspection - Not what I expected!

[Zaiida]

Your garden is very nice and neat and it's pretty obvious that you are growing in different ground covers. The inspector was going out of his way to nitpick.

[MoonCat]

We're not having to mow this year- the heat has hit the lawn with all the subtlety of a cinderblock to the skull.

Here, too. My front lawn is mostly brown. And I don't care because I want to dig it up and plant hostas and stuff instead. Can't use the outdoor spigot right now though (it has to be replaced actually) so no watering and no planting for me.

On the up side, the weeds are growng much more slowly this year...

[Andara Bledin]

The only think that I think when I see your pics are that I'd be careful about the creepers growing up the wall because of the damage they can do.

I think the complaints about weeds is because he doesn't know what the hell weeds really are, so anything that isn't grass or obvious bush equals "weed."

^-.-^

[Crossbow]

They're giving you grief for that? WTF? I didn't get any shit from the city until last weekend when the weeds/saplings, etc next to the house were well over 6 feet high! Granted, your community might have different codes, but still, that sounds like an inspector with a baseball bat shoved up his ass.

[kpzra]

I like it, in fact my yard looks worse. Nevada summer, sprinkler system broken, 100+ degree heat=only weed are growing. In Alaska we didn't have a yard, it was just various bushes that grew and we took a chainsaw to them once a year. On Ft Richardson we had the housing guy who would come around a bitch it the lawn wasn't mowed, rain be damned. Self help won't "rent" mowers if it's raining.

[LillFilly]

What we're planning on doing is the backyard in flagstone and clover, adding drainage since we're on a hill (which is why it's so dug-up). We've never gotten any notices or complaints about the property and several others were just as bad with not being able to mow from all the rain. My gardens have LOTS of ornamental grasses between stone walkways, so a passerby could get confused I suppose, but it's obvious the design is deliberate! I think he was treating us differently because we are renters and did not seem to approve of my 'do it ourselves' attitude. Does our property look THAT bad?











Oh, and there's a veggie garden in the back too, across from the rabbit pens.

[Scorpodael]

We're not having to mow this year- the heat has hit the lawn with all the subtlety of a cinderblock to the skull.

[Seshat]

I want a lawnless garden as well, but we have a very hardy grass in right now.

[Andara Bledin]

I want to put in a hardy ground cover with large stepping stones along the far side of my house.

^-.-^

[MoonCat]

Well, here's my two cents based on what happens around here:

I'd bet money that someone complained about the weeds. The town has a right to insist that property owners (or possibly renters in some cases) keep up the property according to town codes, which means lawns mowed, weeds cut down, etc. It doesn't matter if it can't be seen from the street.

The main reason people scream about weeds is that they are convinced that it encourages rodents. Try telling them that rats don't live in weeds. They won't listen.

I am very tempted to plant ornamental grasses to fill up my entire backyard, but I don't have the energy (or the money).

[Taurus52]

Yep, time to hit the library and go over copies of the ordinances. These guys can also just moan about their own pet peeves without the force of law. See if you can get a copy of his written report and the town clerk to cite you chapter and verse on the rules.

[Andara Bledin]

My city has inspectors do drive throughs of neighborhoods to check for obvious violations. And I'm sure they also schedule for complaints as well.

As for the railing, it's possible that the law changed sometime in the last two years. I have an issue in that windows that were installed in the house I'm in were done without a permit, and in the 7-months between the offer going out and the sale going through, an ordinance was passed that makes every replaced window fail code. >_<

^-.-^

[Crossbow]

It could also be that he was including a 'nuisance inspection' as well, depending on your location. I get that all the time since I'm really bad about mowing the lawn before the city tells me "Do it in 48 hours or we do it and bill you." I've seen the same thing about weeding (if they're really bad) and occasionally other yard things. The railings are usually a safety issue, and I'm kind of surprised that it wasn't brought up earlier.

The only reason they'd be doing a nuisance inspection that I would be aware of is if someone in the neighborhood complained. I don't know your specific situation, so this may not be accurate, but that's usually what I see in my neck of the woods.

[Andara Bledin]

Generally speaking, inspections of rental property are for safety issues only.

This was apparently a real estate value related inspection; thus the focus on cosmetic issues such as cracked paint and gardens that don't look like the mowed grass the inspector is expecting.

^-.-^

[strawbabies]

Huh. I've never heard of a rental home being inspected unless there was a rent subsidy involved. Weird.