01
Failure modes by construction era
What a build year predicts. None of this is a defect in itself — it is a list of what to verify.
- Pre-1950
- Galvanized supply at or past end of service life. Knob-and-tube remnants. Original plaster over lath. Crawlspace moisture. Cast iron waste lines at joint-failure age.
- 1950–1970
- Cast iron and clay sewer laterals. Original single-pane aluminum windows. Undersized 60–100A service. Slab-on-grade with no vapor barrier.
- 1970–1990
- Federal Pacific Stab-Lok and Zinsco panels. Polybutylene supply (roughly 1978–1995). Aluminum branch wiring in some 1965–1975 stock. Original evaporative cooling conversions.
- 1990–2005
- EIFS stucco where the drainage detail was omitted. First-generation Polybutylene still in service. Early low-E windows with failed seals. Original HVAC now well past design life.
- 2005–present
- Generally sound envelopes. Watch for post-2008 cost-cutting on flashing details, builder-grade water heaters undersized for hard water, and additions permitted after the fact — or not permitted at all.
02
Phoenix water chemistry
Municipal supply across the valley runs hard — roughly 12 to 18 grains per gallon depending on zone. This is a recurring cost, not a curiosity.
- What it does
- Scales heat-exchange surfaces. Shortens water heater service life materially. Scales fixtures, valves, and evaporator coils. Raises detergent and maintenance spend for as long as you own the house.
- What to look for
- Softener or whole-house treatment present and actually in service — not a bypassed unit in the garage. Scale at fixture aerators and at the water heater relief valve. Water heater age and manufacture date on the label.
- What it costs
- Whole-house softening is typically a four-figure install. If it is absent, that is a real number, and it belongs in the offer rather than in your first year of ownership.
03
Reading an HOA before you write
On attached and lock-and-leave property, the association is a material part of what you are buying. These documents are available to any buyer who requests them.
- Reserve study
- Is it current, and what is the percent funded? Under 30% funded with a major component near end of life is a special assessment waiting to be voted on.
- Meeting minutes, 12 months
- Where the actual disputes live — litigation, insurance problems, deferred projects, and assessment discussions all appear here before they appear anywhere else.
- Insurance certificate
- What the master policy covers and where your personal policy has to start. Gaps here are expensive and common.
- Rules and CC&Rs
- Rental caps, pet limits, vehicle and short-term-rental restrictions. Verify anything you are counting on rather than assuming it.
04
Monsoon and moisture
Arizona's wet season concentrates a year of water into a few weeks of intense events. The failure modes are specific and seasonal.
- Grade and drainage
- Soil should fall away from the foundation. Decades of landscaping frequently reverses this, quietly, and nobody notices until water is inside.
- Roof penetrations
- Where flashing meets vents, swamp coolers, and skylights. Nearly all roof leaks begin at a penetration rather than in the field of the roof.
- Condensate management
- HVAC condensate pans that do not fully drain are a persistent moisture source in a conditioned space, running all summer.
- Irrigation against stem walls
- A drip line run against the foundation keeps a wall wet continuously. Common, cheap to fix, expensive to ignore.
Questions I get asked.
You are new to real estate. Why would I hire you?
Because the thing that most often costs a buyer money is not an agent's tenure — it is an undiagnosed defect that nobody tested for. I spent thirty years as a chemist and microbiologist, where refusing to conclude past your data is the entire job. The diligence protocol I run is published in full on this site, so you can evaluate it directly rather than taking my word for it. And I work inside a Keller Williams market center, which means the transactional and brokerage support behind me is not new at all.
What exactly do you test that other agents do not?
Four things, before any inspection contingency is released: a sewer scope, a moisture survey of the building envelope, an HVAC load verification, and an electrical panel identification. A standard home inspection is a visual survey by a generalist — a starting point, not a finding. The four tests together typically run six hundred to twelve hundred dollars against a seven-figure purchase.
Which areas do you cover?
Central Phoenix and Scottsdale: Biltmore, Arcadia, Paradise Valley, Old Town Scottsdale, North Scottsdale, the Willo and Encanto-Palmcroft historic districts, and McCormick Ranch. Each has a written corridor guide on this site with what actually distinguishes it, including the parts that are inconvenient.
Why does a microbiology background matter for a house?
Because moisture in a building envelope is a microbial problem, and I spent three decades either culturing organisms deliberately or preventing them from growing. Monsoon intrusion, condensate pans that never fully drain, and irrigation run against a stem wall create warm, damp, undisturbed conditions. On older homes with crawlspaces that gets moisture-mapped before an offer is written, not after.
Do you have client reviews?
Not yet, and I am not going to publish testimonials I wrote myself. As real clients close, their reviews will appear here and on Google and Zillow under their own names, where you can verify them independently. Until then you have the method, published in full, to judge instead.
How is a home valuation different from what I get online?
An automated valuation averages comparable sales. In a corridor like Arcadia, where a 1954 original and a 2023 rebuild trade on the same block, averaging unlike things produces a number that describes no actual house. I screen outliers and exclude them with a stated reason, and you see the exclusions.
More of this, at length.
The field notes go deeper on most of what is summarised here — with the numbers, the reasoning, and what each item actually costs to verify.
Read the field notes