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Washington State Approved Home Inspector Education at Bellingham Technical College

kingofthehouse — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:03:59 -0700

The class schedule for the year 2012 is being formulated at Bellingham Technical College. The next home inspector training course will begin on February 6, 2012.

The Bellingham Technical College course was the first course to be state approved after home inspector licensing became the law of the land in the state. The course also provides instruction in identifying wood destroying organisms. Students receive 40 hours of field training and 120 hours of fundamentals training.

For additional information on the course, please follow the video link below. Call 360-752-8796 or 360-676-6908.

Bellingham WA Home Inspector (King of the House) Building Safe Decks

kingofthehouse — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 10:33:25 -0700

When homeowners build their "dream" deck, that deck is likely to, instead, be a "nightmare" deck. Most homeowners, planning a quick weekend project, will buy lumber and supplies at the home store and then go home and hammer something out. More often than not, they end up with a mess. They do not know the first thing about properly flashing a deck at the exterior wall (rot to follow); anchoring a deck to the exterior wall (possible pull-away and collapse); properly installing rails (falling hazard) or maintaining clearances from earth (rot down the road).

This deck was built in the dirt and it is rotting away. Even pressure-treated lumber has a much shorter lifespan if it is in contact with soil. Any homeowner who plans to build a deck should, a week or two prior to doing so, purchase a good book on deck building. Study the book and learn about piers and posts, ledger boards, rim joists, joists, flashings, anchors and rails, maintaining clearances between wood and earth. Once the homeowner understands the subtle details, that is the time to buy the lumber and to actually build the deck. The video links below, produced by King of the House, might be helpful to new deck builders.

Expanding the Service Area -- Bellingham WA Home Inspector, King of the House Home Inspection

kingofthehouse — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:04:24 -0700

This is the second article I have written on the marketing strategy of expanding the service area of a business to fill the needs of clients or customers at a number of different communities that are located in a geographic region. In a tough real estate market, this is one way to maintain a strong business base.

The USA consists of many towns, cities and counties. In Whatcom County WA, the largest city, the hub, is Bellingham. But there are, nearby, other important cities -- Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, and Everson. There are a number of small towns or communities, such as Sumas, Nooksack, Glacier, Maple Falls, Deming, Acme, Custer, Welcome, and Wickersham. And there are residential areas at Sudden Valley, Semiahmoo, Lake Whatcom, Lake Samish and along Chuckanut Drive.

My firm, King of the House Home Inspection, serves all of these areas, including Point Roberts to the north and parts of Skagit County to the south. I have a brisk business, in part, due to my emphasis on both customer service and marketing.

To survive, and thrive in a difficult econony, flexibility -- as to what jobs one is willing to do -- and maintaining excellence in marketing and deep market penetration is essential. To view a video, customized for marketing to the Mount Baker area of Whatcom County, please click on the first link below.

At the second link, you will find a video on the dreaded anobiid beetle, which is a destructive wood destroying organism. The pest is often found in the Pacific Northwest.

Expanding the Service Area -- Bellingham, WA General Contractor, Mark Palmer

kingofthehouse — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:17:55 -0700

The United States is made up of many different municipalities -- towns, counties, small cities, medium-sized cities and large cities. In Whatcom County WA, the largest city is Bellingham. Many other cities makeup the county -- Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, and Everson would be the largest after Bellingham. Let's not leave out Sumas, Nooksack, Glacier, Maple Falls, Deming, Acme, Welcome, Wickersham and, probably, a few more that are escaping my memory so they will go unmentioned here.

Many of us, who work in the real estate industry, or the affiliated building trades, serve a large area to maintain a strong business base. One individual, who serves this area very well, is Mark Palmer, a state licensed general contractor based in Bellingham, WA. Mark will work as far south as Seattle and he often takes jobs in Skagit County. Palmer is a popular contractor all around the region and that includes the high-end neighborhoods -- Chuckanut Drive, Lake Whatcom, Lake Samish or Birch Bay in Blaine.

The photo above is a private shot, taken by his wife, of Mark working on a project, planning every detail, to make sure that it turns out just right for his client. Mark Palmer, Bellingham WA general contractor is a businessman that I am featuring here due to his commitment to serve all of Whatcom County and the outlying regions. To see a video, highlighting some of Mark's projects, please click on the first link below. The video focuses on Mark's willingness to serve Lake Whatcom residents.

Mark, as a sideline, builds outdoor kitchens as well. You can view a video on that topic at the second link.

General Contractor (Mark Palmer) Bellingham, WA

kingofthehouse — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 13:14:49 -0700

Part of being a home inspector includes seeing, and inspecting, the work of general contractors at new construction or when repairs or renovations have been performed. The subject of this article is Mark Palmer, a licensed general contractor based in Bellingham, WA.

I have, here at Real Estate Webmasters, posted information, and a video, that detailed the spectacular outdoor kitchens that are a specialty item for Mark Palmer. These are most popular at high-end and lake front homes in the region.

Mark Palmer's bread and butter comes from conventional carpentry and construction projects. In a competitive and sometimes challenging market, Mark prides himself on being versatile -- new construction, major renovations, outdoor structures (gazebos, decks) etc. He is willing to do the job that needs to be done for the client.

At the first link below, I have posted a recent video slide-show that highlights the versatility, and the quality, of Mark Palmer's work as a licensed general contractor. The photos were taken, over the last few years, at a number of different projects that Mark has completed here in the Pacific Northwest.

New Business Bellingham, WA -- Johnny's Donuts

kingofthehouse — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:14:26 -0700

It is always good to see a new business come to town. John and Karin Koons (I used to work with Karin when she was a realtor) have opened Johnny's Donuts at 2201 Cornwall Avenue in Bellingham. That is the very neighborhood in which I lived when I was a kid. The cute little red building that houses Johnny's Donuts is just down the street from Bellingham High School and the Assumption Church. Both of those historic buildings are landmarks in this town. John Koons is a professional when it comes to making donuts and pastries.

John opened the well-known Mount Bakery donut shops clear back in the 1980's and he first started making donuts in the 1960's. You can count on John to create old-fashioned donuts that will take you back in time to the good old days. Since I spent several years in broadcasting, for fun, I made a short video that celebrates the opening of Johnny's Donuts. Even with people talking diet and health, the good donut and ice cream shops are doing just fine. When it comes to treats, it is all about quality, not just quantity. If you make a great product, like Johnny's Donuts, the customers will hunt you down.

Washington State Home Inspector Training School -- Class Begins October 17, 2011

kingofthehouse — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:44:34 -0700

There are many people in the state of Washington who wish to obtain state approved home inspector education. One of the longest running classes in the state, for more than 15 years, is offered by Bellingham Technical College. The state approved class offers 120 hours of fundamentals training and 40 hours of field training. The student who successfully completes the course is prepared to sit for the state licensing exam. To obtain additional information, call 360-676-6908 or 360-752-8796. For a short video, describing the course, please click on link #1 below.

Home Maintenance Tips From A Bellingham, WA Home Inspector

kingofthehouse — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:31:42 -0700

As a busy home inspector in the wet Pacific Northwest, I often have prospective buyers ask me what they can do to keep the house in good shape. They want to, as much so as they can, reduce the risks of having the house rot or become infested with carpenter ants, anobiid beetles, termites, moisture ants and the various other wood destroying insects that can be found in the northwest. After some thought, I decided that the best way to describe some of the conditions that lead to such problems was to produce a video. This video, in the #1 link below, lets you see what should not be allowed to take place at a house.

Washington Approved Home Inspector Course, July 2011

kingofthehouse — Sun, 29 May 2011 14:54:15 -0700

Bellingham Technical College, which has the longest operating home inspection training course in the Pacific Northwest, will begin the next course on July 11, 2011. This state approved residential home inspection training course includes 120 hours of fundamentals of home inspection training and, also, the mandatory 40 hours of field training. The student, who completes the course successfully, is fully prepared to take the state licensing exam. All courses are taught on campus at Bellingham Technical College. Students who enroll in the course will complete both the 120 hours of state mandated fundamentals training and the 40 hours of field training in just four short weeks.

Anyone interested in upcoming courses, should contact Steven L. Smith at Bellingham Technical College at 360-752-8796. You will find a short video introduction to the course at the link below.

Outdoor Kitchen Video -- Whatcom County and Bellingham, WA

kingofthehouse — Fri, 06 May 2011 16:30:05 -0700

I was hoping that, by this time of the year in the Pacific Northwest, I could report that the weather had made a big turn for the better. Maybe it has, slightly so, but we are still having a wet spring. Back in winter, I wrote an article (second link below) on Mark Palmer a Bellingham-based general contractor. I first met Mark, years ago, when I was on-site conducting a home inspection. My clients had worked with Mark before and they had asked him for a bid on a future remodel at the house they were buying.

We talked that day and, later, I became familiar with his high quality work and I started referring him to clients. I always heard good reviews back from those clients. Since that time, Mark has done some projects for me at my house. So I know, first hand, that he is good. Mark has extensive experience in building -- new construction, kitchens, remodels, historical restoration, even building ordinary decks or way fancy decks.

The building business is down some right now, due to the economy, and Mark branched-out to become a local expert, designer and builder of outdoor kitchens. He is, also, the state-wide distributor for Bull Outdoor Products. They make barbecue equipment. A photo of one of Mark's kitchens is below.

Recently, I was able to help Mark put together a video on his outdoor kitchens. There is not a word in it, simply photos of Mark's high quality work, backed with classical music all the way from Venice. It is a brief video, but I think that it is effective and does a good job of showcasing Mark's talents. I hope that you will take a look at it -- the first link below.