🔎 Initial Site Inspection Guide

These are instructions for conducting an initial site inspection. This is generally the first tour or showing of a property to gather information to make a decision or not to proceed.

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💡 Initial Site Inspection - Basics

This article serves as a set of instructions for conducting an initial property inspection

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Goals of the initial inspection

The goal for the initial property inspection is to assess the property's condition, layout, and suitability for sober living. This type of an inspection can be done by anyone, we do not need an inspection expert or any specialized skills or training. Just common sense and a smartphone!

Conduct the site inspection

1. Get videos and photos of the site, inside and out
2. Create a floor plan: Create a floor plan using Cubi.Casa or another tool. This will be used to determine a bed count.
3. Upload deliverables to VSL.

Analyze results of the inspection

1. Total number of beds: How many beds will be able to comfortably and responsibly be offered by this home?
2. Scope of work: A moderately detailed scope of work should be prepared to meet Facility Standards and give an idea of what level of renovation and furnishing will be required.
   
   1. How can we maximize space in the home?
   2. Do we need to add bathrooms based on the total beds?
   3. Can we finish additional space to increase occupancy or common area?
   4. What work is needed to meet safety and reasonable comfort standards?
   5. What furnishings would be needed?
   6. Should we improve storage or other features?
3. Cost of work: A rough cost estimate should be calculated.
4. Timeline: How long will the work take under reasonable circumstances?

Read More: 📋 Facility Standards

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Inspection Prep

Prior to your inspection, please make sure you have all available information. At a minimum, make sure you have:

1. A smartphone or camera with enough storage capacity for several videos
2. A tape measure
3. A printed floor plan (if available - if not, please create one during the inspection)
   1. If not, a smartphone with Cubi.Casa mobile application installed (see details below)

Read more: 📏 Preparing a Floor Plan for a Home

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✔️ Perform the Inspection

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Part 1: 🎞️ Photos and Videos 

Please try to get well-lit full-size videos of all accessible areas of the building. These videos will need to be uploaded or emailed to our real estate analysis team. Please take a separate video for each of sections below. Then, take photos of mechanicals and other elements.

▶️ Setting video: let's see the way the home sits from the street

Standing outside and in front of the building, take a short panoramic video of the front of the building, and simply turn to get a full 360-degree view of the front of the building, up the street, across the street, down the street, and then back to the front of the building.

▶️ Exterior video: let's see how the site looks from the outside

Stand in front of the building facing the building. Begin taking a video of the front of the building, slowly walk around the entire building to get a video of each are of the exterior of the building, including:

• All sides of the building
• Siding, doors, decks, windows, etc.
• Roof, soffit, facia, chimneys, other roof penetrations
• Meters, oil fill, anything attached to the outside of the house
• Grounds, driveways, pathways, porches, railings, etc.
• Foundation, basement windows, drainage devices
• Parking areas and any outbuildings or structures
• Any issues which need to be addressed

▶️ Interior floor videos: create a separate video for each floor

Inside the building, starting from just inside the front door, take a slow and thorough video of the first floor of the building, going slowly from room to room. Focus on any damage or areas that could be finished in order for us to assess costs of repair. Repeat this step for each floor of the building.

▶️ Basement video and mechanical elements

Similar to the other videos, take a full well-lit video of the basement, showing all areas of the basement, including foundation, basement windows, structure, and all mechanical devices (heating system, water heater, oil/gas/water/drain pipes and devices, etc.).

📸 Photos of mechanicals, damage, and other areas

In the basement (or wherever they are located), we need to have photos of the mechanical elements of the building, in addition to the videos. This will help us determine age and condition of these devices.

1. Foundation, especially if there is damage
2. Heating system (one of each side), fuel source, etc.
3. Drain system and area drain leaves building
4. Water meter and water main line coming in
5. Electrical boxes and wiring, evidence of any wiring issues
6. Any issues that need to be addressed
   
   

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Part 2: 📐 Create a floor plan (if we don't have one already)

If a full to-scale floor plan with room dimensions is available for the property, this step can be skipped. If we do not have a full to-scale floor plan already, we will want to create one using the Cubi.Casa mobile application. This is a smartphone application to produce a floor plan using a video of the interior of the property. Download the Cubi.Casa mobile application and follow instructions to produce a full to-scale floor plan of the property.

➕ Is there additional finishable space?

Are there spaces in the attic, basement, or elsewhere that may be able to be finished? This is important to know up front. If so, indicate this accordingly on the plans and/or provide a narrative. Make sure the video and/or photos show the space as well.

1. Living space to be added - see if we can find extra space to add rooms or finished space
2. Basement finishing - can we finish the basement for additional common space?
3. Adding bathrooms – indicate if you see any space where another bathroom could be added
4. Modifying any other layout stuff - possibility to add a wall or door, remove a wall, etc.

Read more: 📏 Preparing a Floor Plan for a Home

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Part 3: 📤 Upload the deliverables

If you are working with VSL in your real estate search, this is the step where you upload your inspection deliverables to our team to review. With videos, photos, and a floor plan sketch, please provide these to our real estate analysis team. Please be sure to include all of the items above!

📤 Upload here: Site Candidate Upload

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Inspection Analysis

This is a guide for analyzing a potential sober living home business. This step is done as a part of a site search. The steps involved in analyzing the inspection data or described in the related article.

Read more: 📊 Potential Site Analysis

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✏️ Floor Plan Sketch [optional]

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The Cubi.Casa floor plan is relatively accurate, but we sometimes need accurate measurements of current and potential bedrooms just to be safe.

If a floor plan is already available (with interior layout, rooms, etc.): Go through the floor plan when you are at the property. Indicate location of kitchens/bathrooms/utility rooms. For remaining rooms (bedrooms, living rooms, etc.), take a quick measurement of length and width of the room and write this on the plans. Do this to the best of your ability, don’t worry about being very detailed or accurate, just a quick length and width inside these rooms is all that we need.

If a floor plan is not available, we need to have a sketch of each floor created. Simply draw a box for each room and indicate the room use (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom). Be sure to indicate full v. half bathrooms. For bedrooms and living rooms, please measure length and width and mark this on the sketch. A sample floor plan sketch is on the final page. Each sketch must include

1. One sketch for each floor
2. All bedrooms to have length and width measurements
3. Measure ceiling height in basement and attic and write it down on the plans

Sample Sketch

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