Community Chat

[software]

In your contract you can specify what you are willing to repair and a maxium limit you are willing to spend.

Every house is different.   I live in a small modest home, if I ever sell I would not be willing to fix anything unless there is something not up to code.    In other words, I'd be selling it "as is".   Inspect til the cows come home.   My house is very livable and everything is in good working order.

I know this would not work for everyone.    

[KathyPet]

It is a very bad idea for a seller to show any potential buyer around their home.  A arms length transaction must be maintained for the protection of the seller.  Anything a seller  says to a buyer about the condition of the house or any repairs that had to be made or any other/problems can be used against the seller should something come up in the future.  Sellers need to keep their mouth shut and stay out of the way during the selling process.

[sunshine45]

when selling our homes, we have always planned to be out for the entire day. when going through an inspection for homes we were selling. we were there with our agent AND our chosen home inspector for homes we were buying. no seller was ever there while we were there.

the home inspector we chose gave us his inspection results a couple of days later. we looked over it with our agent and asked for what we considered important repairs that needed to be done.

when selling our home, we received a copy of the buyers inspection and they made some notes as to what they wanted fixed by a licensed contractor/electrician/plumber. whatever we were NOT willing to do we went back and told them we would not do them. it did not stop the sale at all.

[kivah]

Never hire a home inspector referred to u by ur realtor. If the inspector finds problems, he/she won't tell u because they're looking for more referrals from ur realtor. Best to get an inspector from the next area over - who wouldn't know ur realtor. I know there's an organization of home inspectors - so that would be a good way to find one. Years ago, I was taken advantage of - big time.

[Financialgrl]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

when selling our homes, we have always planned to be out for the entire day. when going through an inspection for homes we were selling. we were there with our agent AND our chosen home inspector for homes we were buying. no seller was ever there while we were there.

the home inspector we chose gave us his inspection results a couple of days later. we looked over it with our agent and asked for what we considered important repairs that needed to be done.

when selling our home, we received a copy of the buyers inspection and they made some notes as to what they wanted fixed by a licensed contractor/electrician/plumber. whatever we were NOT willing to do we went back and told them we would not do them. it did not stop the sale at all.

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Your experience was the same as mine.  I was told absolutely NOT to be home for any showings, the inspection or any walk throughs.  I looked at my home as to what I'd want fixed.  I knew my furnace, A/C and water heater were very old but realtor said to wait for the inspection to see what the report said. 

Though it brought those issues up, it was not my buyer's focus.   Yes I had to fix electrical issues I'd known about but that was just replacing all the older GFI plugs which caused power to come and go in some outlets and an outbuilding shed whose roof definitely had seen better days.  My buyer's issues to help push a deal through were very different than mine would be.  His main focus was needing to find a home he liked with a homeowner who would agree to settlement in 3 weeks bc he had 2 middle schoolers who he wanted to begin the school year in a new area from day one rather than uprooting them from their former one after the new school year began.  

[novamc1]

@Snowpuppy

As a real estate broker and before that, a long-time real estate salesperson, I see your post as a sad case that should be subjected to more legal scrutiny. 

Maybe it depends on the real estate regulations and laws in your state, but  monetary kickbacks to home inspectors--or real estate licensees-- are about the most unethical types of high crimes, as far as I'm concerned.

I've had clients who have had to wage low-level legal battles to get their earnest money deposits back, but you could launch one of those battles if you're convinced you are right and the amount of your deposit justifies the time and costs to get it back.  The culprits in a case like you described are the real estate "professional"  and the inspector whom you relied upon to work FOR YOU!

State laws and  regulatory rules can be tough on unethical real estate "professsionals".  Use those laws if you can.

[CelticCrafter]

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@software wrote:

In your contract you can specify what you are willing to repair and a maxium limit you are willing to spend.

Every house is different.   I live in a small modest home, if I ever sell I would not be willing to fix anything unless there is something not up to code.    In other words, I'd be selling it "as is".   Inspect til the cows come home.   My house is very livable and everything is in good working order.

I know this would not work for everyone.    

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@software - our thoughts exactly.  Unless it would prevent a Certificate of Occupancy from being issued, it's as is.

[I am still oxox]

I have only sold one co-op we were home for when ever anyone looked at the apt, we did not have a formal inspection, I think the buyer had someone look at the apt wiht someone, we had already moved to our new location, at our closing he demanded $1000 for the repairs needed

I wish he had spoken up before the closing, we would of made sure the repairs were done

[granddi]

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@kivah wrote:

Never hire a home inspector referred to u by ur realtor. If the inspector finds problems, he/she won't tell u because they're looking for more referrals from ur realtor. Best to get an inspector from the next area over - who wouldn't know ur realtor. I know there's an organization of home inspectors - so that would be a good way to find one. Years ago, I was taken advantage of - big time.

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Agree.....

We looked at at least 6 houses that inspection was arranged by our realtor. If you want to find out about plumbing, electrical, foundation, roof, termites, and HVAC you should get specialists in these areas. 

When we came to the realization that a general inspection is just that GENERAL was when the guy said "the breaker box is kinda old." We called in electrician who said "This breaker box was recalled 20 years ago. It is a fire hazzard. and replacement will be in the $5K range!" 

The problem is the OPTION PERIOD. It takes time to arrange these inspections and most of the time the buyer has maybe 7 business days to do. 

As I said when we bought our house, we found a construction engineer to supervise and advise about the house. He said plumbing problems are always the biggest expense. General inspectors would use the phrase "normal settling" when referring to foundation issues. The construction engineer told us exactly the condition of the foundation and what to do. It was not normal settling. The house was in need of french drains to get the water away from the foundation. 

Another thing.....we were looking at 80's homes and many had older heaters, AC, water heaters. We wanted to deduct from price that some mechanical things were very old. Realtor said that you can ask but these things may be old but they still work. 

When we bought the house we felt like it was 3 against 1. The seller, the seller agent and the buyer agent had significant interest in making the sell. It's a huge expense and such a big decision that buyers just need to do as much as possible to avoid surprises after the sale. 

[LilacTree]

I bought a house in a 55+ community down in Barnegat right after I retired because at that time three of my four girls were living at the shore.  I made good money on the townhouse I sold (about year before the crash) and bought this house which was lovely but had not been kept up.  I had the money to completely renovate it, including painting, all new carpeting, building a countertop and cabinets in the laundry room, all new lighting and window shades, and made the outside patio into an enclosed sunroom.  It was perfect and I loved being so close to my girls on the Island.

Then the crash (and a diagnosis of RA).  My savings began to dwindle and my girls began moving away (only one still lives there).  I realized I had to sell in a horrible seller's market.  The house immediately lost thousands in value, it was a nightmare.  I knew I would be lucky to break even.

The realtor (supposedly the best in the area) was a total nervous wreck because nothing was selling.  If I called her, she would pretend that her phone was "breaking up" and hang up on me.  She did this all the time.

Long story shorter . . . someone wanted to buy it.  There was an inspection that showed the heating and A/C wasn't working properly and several other things outside the house.  The buyers demanded a whole new heating system.  I had never had a problem the few years I lived there and I balked.  The realtor was dealing with their attorney and trying to get me to install a new heating system.  I told her I had a lot of experience working for attorneys and had even been married to one, and I would take care of this demand which had come in a long "numbered" letter.

I wrote back addressing each demand in this way:  1) No, 2) No, 3) Yes, 4) No, etc.  In short, I had agreed to do three small things, but told him a new heating system was totally out of the question.  My realtor was freaking out . . . and I did not care, I was losing everything anyway and wasn't going to lose several thousand more.

The attorney called and threatened me that the deal would not go through, and I said "Fine with me, let them buy another house, there's plenty of them in there."  He then changed his tune after I told him how many attorneys I had worked for and was even married to one and I knew the gambit.  He called me again a few hours later and said they wanted the house and the deal went through.  I made $16,000 (nowhere near what I spent on it). 

The settlement was done by phone and fax (I had been staying with my daughter up here for several weeks).  I was already too sick to care and I guess that's how one gets the advantage . . . not to care.