The Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Home inspection stress could easily be avoided through timely maintenance. 

Deferred maintenance is what costs sellers. 

Buyers can't be expected to buy a "pig in a poke" as sellers and listing agents often expect. 

 

Even in house in mint condition there is usually enough unnoticed deferred maintance(to be corrected by Seller) to offset the cost of the Home Inspection. Our team insists that we get one on every resale property. 

The only thing that is bothersome on a home inspection is when the buyer expects perfection and wants to seller to deliver that. Come on folks,,,,a home inspection is to make sure a home is structurally and mechanically sound, not to replace the living room carpet because there is a stain you already knew about!!!

Great advise - I would like to see the home inspections done before the offer to purchase and have it done upfront.  Bill's right - it is a safety net for major issues - not a cosmetic make over list.  We use a fantastic inspector who puts together a very thorough report for the buyers to use as they care for their new home...

Lenn - So true !  Sellers sometimes think their house is perfect and "new" when it has not been updated in 5 years or the roof has not been coated in 10 years but their cousin looked at it and said "that the roof is good" !   Is critical to do that deferred maintenance work (maybe that is a subject of another blog post ! )

Michael - It is so important to get one done.  Buyers that do not get home inspections are rolling the dice to save a minimum amount of money.  And agents are more vulnerable about buyer remorse after the fact when the buyer may say "this was not disclosed !" when there is a plumbing or roof leak a few weeks after they move in ! 

Bill- Agree completely. We've negotiated many of carpet stains that have nearly blown up an otherwise incredible deal. Perspective!

Lee and Pamela- When we helped my mother sell her home last year, we insisted on her getting her own home inspection. We corrected what we thought was needed and disclosed the rest. When the buyer did their home inspection, we were prepared. We highly recommend it.

The biggest problems with home inspections Ive seen come up when the buyer hasn't negotiated in good faith when writing the contract and wants to use the inspection to renegotiate a deal, as in Bill Gasset's example above  " a home inspection is to make sure a home is structurally and mechanically sound, not to replace the living room carpet because there is a stain you already knew about!!!

Thats why I like to use an as-is contract, subject to inspection. My buyer then has the choice to accept or reject the deal, but not renegotiate. All parties know in just a few days (I like to set a 10 day inspection period) whether or not the inspection has uncovered a deal killer. And the contract is either dead or not. ......no muss-no fuss and most of all no freak outs.

This very issue (along with some others) is what prompted me to write Negating the Twin Evils of Appraisals and Home Inspections - if the inspection is done pre-listing, then the seller (and the buyer) will know what to expect ahead of time. It just makes sense to me.

I also find it's incredibly helpful, if you have prepared your buyer for the inspection.  Told them what to expect, and how it might be handled.  Once they're "informed", they're far less likely to be "surprised" and panic.

Inspections before you list the home is a good idea. Nip it before it bites you.

Christopher & Stephanie, great post, thank you. I have been dreading a home inspection on my one property because I have had these people fix so much already, I can only imagine what NEEDS to be fixed that I couldn't see and THEY don't know about! Crikey!

I have been trying to get them to get the house pre-inspected before or at listing so there are no surprises. Is anyone else having good results with that?

In addition to the great remarks above, I've also found that having a buyer present at the home inspection is a great opportunity for the Inspector to educate the buyer on home maintenance best-practices.  The better Inspectors we work with are happy to take on the educational role, and are also the same ones that help our buyers make rational choices.  Thanks!  John

Very good blog!  Thanks for taking the time to write it.  I'm going through a little dilemma right now.  I am representing the sellers.  This house is only 12 years old.  And the sellers are the original owners and have taken impeccible care of the home.  In addition to that, I have known them for two years now.  And over those two years, they were getting their home ready because they knew they were going to retire, downsize and move to Florida.  And so I helped them make good choices in updating their 12 year old home w/new flooring, fresh paint, new lights, new kitchen faucet, new front door hardware, etc. so it would be marketable when they were ready.  Sure enough, we put it on the market and we got an offer!  Yay!  They were very thrilled and we thought we had everything anticipated in the home.  Well...believe it or not, we had a roof issue!  One big expense we never would have dreamed we would have!  So, three roofers later, they confirmed what the inspector said.  It needs a new roof!  Defective shingles were the problem!  Who knew!  Well, to make a long story short.  Buyer and seller came to a mutual splitting it agreement.  It was very stressful for both the buyer and seller.  No one had any clue this issue (which was an expensive issue) would have come up.  We're closing in a week, though.  So, all's well that ends well.

I'm not sure if waiting for the inspection report is all that stressful.  This is a normal part of the selling process and sellers who maintain their home know the report will not be that bad and we all know you cannot account for those unforeseen issues such as structural, roof, etc.

The best thing you can do for both buyers & sellers is to educate them about the process.  I have yet to see anything that cannot be fixed or replaced.  Buyers want to buy and sellers want to sell so that makes this an equal proposition that both parties want to see close.

The most stressful part of the inspection process really tends to be the inspectors themselves.  They either have no bedside manners and end up scaring clients where it was not necessary or the reports are written in a way that it takes the dude from Good Will Hunting to interpret.  After 11 years in the business I still see this, particularly from the newer inspectors probably fresh out of school.

Best advice?  Remain calm and use common sense......................

I agree with bill's comment above.

Evern newer homes have flaws, if the house is lived in, it is going to get used to some degree.

There are people that will "knit pick" over just about anything if they think they can shave some $ off the sellers.

 

Patricia Aulson/portsmouth nh real esate

I tell my Buyers "there's no such thing as a perfect house".  I encourage my Buyers to be at the inspection towards the end so that the inspector can go over the inspection with them.

For the most part everyone in Miami uses the "As is with Right to Inspect" addendum.  In this addendum we put a figure like *$500.00 which means that if an inspector find less than $500.00 worth of issues the transaction moves forward, the Buyer is accepting the house "as is".  If there are more that $500.00 worth of issues the Buyer may ask for his earnest money back or negotiate the repairs with the sellers.

*This figure is negotiated between Buyer and Seller.

Christopher & Stephanie... huh?  What?  Money isn't free?  That gov't has been lying to me again... lol  Seriously, you have some good tips in here and some clarification on the process and the stress that goes with it.  Nice job on this one.

I like when my sellers do an inspection before listing- then no surprises and everything is disclosed. This is part of our certified pre-owned home offering.

I am wondering how many people got the "Dave and Busters" part of your blog-  I know I did.  But I have never been there.  Hardley ever make it over the bridge even though it is only 15 minutes away!  Hope you are enjoying your summer.

The Pre-Inspection is a good idea.  We encourage sellers to get "Seller Inspections." In the current market we see less back and forth between buyers and sellers.  The buyers seem to "trust" the seller more.  It seems odd when the buyer brings in their own inspector and they find less or miss things that the seller chose not to fix from our report.

In many cases agents are telling us that deals go through smoother with the pre-inspections.

you're right. i always reiterate that we have choices. the seller can accept, reject, or counter. i let my buyers and my sellers know. but let's not forget that shady inspectors can throw a wrench  in the deal when they are hungry for money by making a mountain out of molehill. kill the deal and then they'll pay him for another. not worth it. before an inspection, i advise my buyers that while i am not an inspector, i am pretty well versed on the typical issues that they may see since mostly all of these homes here are around the same age and somethings jsut come up in every house. when they know what they are going to get, then they dont freak out.

Pre-Inspections are the best. Prepare your sellers and your buyers. Its not that difficult to be frank with them. The biggest problem is home buyers develop what I call ownership prior to actually owning the home. Its important to stress "significant" and "non-functional" as to being the most important issues at hand when dealing with buyers. Every-one wants the perfect home!

Some Good Points. It is stressful when buyer expects absolute perfection in condition when buying older homes. I do agree with another response, that deferred maintenance is the real stress!

Some Good Points. It is stressful when buyer expects absolute perfection in condition when buying older homes. I do agree with another response, that deferred maintenance is the real stress!

Great post, although there is no formal inspection process in Manhattan New York Real Estate, it is good to keep our buyers informed on what is going on with the property and keep their expectation in checked! Thanks

I like the tone of your article.  I've recently been both a buyer and a seller.  As a buyer, we did the usual inspection eventhough the home was 2006 and hardly lived in.  But we also paid an additional $425 to have a creek expert come out and assure my husband that our fantastic new house wasn't going to fall into the creek anytime soon.  Our inspector gave us a list of items to correct, but we signed off on the inspection without any requests because we appreciated the good deal we were getting.

Later, as sellers, we put over $13k into sprucing up master & bath (we never even lived in the improved space), new front door, and painting home and deck for sale.  Our house shows newer than any other in the area with high profile base boards, satin nickel finishes everywhere and custom wood blinds and roman shades to name a few upgrades.  And we were upfront and offered a new roof during escrow for any buyer. They even got to pick the color.  We also entered the market $10k less than our competition.  When we finally got a buyer and their offer was l-o-w, we didn't get offended. We offered them a very attractive counter that they jumped at, coming off our list price and paying sizeable closing costs.

So you can imagine how LIVID I was to get the inspection back with a request to upgrade the new roof's tar paper and fix piddly stuff like a garage door hinge.  No plumbing, HVAC, winsow, electrical, moisture, bug, structural problems, etc...just a handful of piddly items like insulation fluffiness that they requested we fix.  I was so ready to let them walk.  Thank goodness for 3 day counter periods.  I was able to cool off and come to a consensus with my husband and realtor.  But there were no additional dollar concessions and they can fork the insulation...to increase the fluffiness, I mean.  ;)

Too many buyers think the inspection is a negotiating tool.  It's not.  Unless there is a VALID structural problem, there is no reason to reopen negotiations.  If something can be "repaired" that does not mean the buyer can demand it be replaced.  I ran into that recently and its infuriating.  Something wasn't working - they didn't want it fixed, they wanted it replaced.  Sorry, that's not what an inspection is about.

Ruthmarie- Right on! Replacement requests are valid when a system is completely no-functional.

Traci- Thanks for sharing that real life experience. I am a bit of a hot-head myself and the best thing you did was "cool off". Chris is much calmer than I am but I am learning :)

Ellen- We ar all jealous! A world with no Home Inspections... unimaginable!

No Name Commenter- Your comment  is so true. If we would just keep up with the maintenance of our homes.

Bill- We do want a perfect home. It is nice to dream.

Dee- Right! Sellers and Buyers have a choice in the process.

Brian- I am a huge fan of pre-inspections too.

Bridget- What? You aren't a Gamer? I have never been to Dave and Busters either.

Jeff- Umm... Noooo, money is not for free and there is no such thing as the Mortgage Fairy either : )

 

 

 I just wrote about home inspectors this morning! Thanks for the tips!

Hi, Chris & Steph,  Love the blogs, lots of great, fun to read, information! 

Tina - Will have to check out your blog post as well !

Monica - Thanks for the comment !  Great to see you here : )

Thanks for the great tips. I had a buyer who was buyinng a two year old house and freaked out because of nail pops. He wanted the house painted.

I'm with the group that home inspections PRIOR to listing the property would take out alot of hassle. Good points!

So I have a question.  I am buying an old home and I am going to hire an inspector.  I am reluctant to use the realtor's suggested inspector because I wonder if the inspector's judgement may be compromised by a relationship with the realtor.  Am I being paranoid or smart?

Sheryl- Is the inspector being recommended by your agent ?  And is that agent also representing the seller ?  When we represent a buyer, we have a preferred list of home inspectors that we suggest the buyer pick one because we know each of them does excellent work.  You can also ask around or dome some research on the Internet.  You just want to make sure, especially on an older home, that you get someone who really is a professional home inspector, one who communicates well and is a consummate professional.  Hope that helps !

 

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