Here’s how to keep home inspections from dooming your sale.
How do you prevent a home inspection from derailing your sale as a buyer’s agent?
While it’s important to have a home inspection during a home sale, you don’t want the home inspector to be a deal-killer. There are good inspectors, and there are others. For example, I had a home inspector once write the following in their report: “We recommend the buyer ask the seller for a two-year roof certificate.”
First of all, that’s not the inspector’s job. Their job is to inspect the home and give a report on what they find. If they do recommend that the buyer ask the seller for anything, they’re essentially telling them to renegotiate the contract.
“The bottom line is that every sale is different and has its own nuances.”
To avoid this kind of thing, it’s best to address these items before they come up. Meet with your buyer and let them know that the home inspection is to inform them about what they’re buying—what’s working, what’s not working, and the home’s overall condition. Also, let your buyer know that the inspection is not a laundry list of things for the seller to fix because, technically, they’re not obligated to fix anything that wasn’t already addressed in the RPA. I’m not saying don’t ask for anything. Do ask for repairs that need to be made and for any items concerning health and safety to be addressed.
Additionally, be mindful of what kind of market you’re in. Is it a seller’s market or a buyer’s market? In a seller’s market, the seller has the upper hand. In a buyer’s market, the opposite is true. The bottom line is that every sale is different and has nuances.
If you have questions about this or any real estate-related matter, feel free to reach out to me. If you’d like to schedule a one-on-one business-planning strategy meeting, give my office a call today. I’d love to hear from you.
