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Location: Mokelumne Hill, CA & El Pescadero, BCS MX.
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This was a reply in another thread, but I think it deserves it's own topic.
What kills me is that people make offers below asking price and then want a perfect home delivered to them. Guess what kids. Your home wasn't perfect from the first day they started building it! Your home hasn't gotten any better over the years either.
Imagine buying a used car and insisting that all the nicks and dents are fixed, a new engine installed, don't forget new tires and of course the interior coffee stains on the seat need to be fixed also.
I bought my home "as is" and got a great deal on it. 6 years later, I've replaced the roof, demolished the old rotting deck and replaced it, I just finished installing 7 new windows to replace the ones that the seals broke on.
I truly believe that a home inspection is only for the buyer to know exactly what he might want to start fixing and/or decide that there is too much for him to do. The whole concept of asking the seller to pay for repairs is something I think is wrong.
BTW we recently closed a transaction where we ended up having 3 different home inspections. All 3 inspections were different with different problems discovered and different solutions proposed. As a seller, (or even as the seller's agent) I'd tell the buyer to inspect away and then act like an adult, Mommy is not here to hold your hand.
To a certain extent I agree with you. When there are major problems that wouldn't be recognized by the average person, is when the negotiations might begin.
I just received a list of about 15 minor maintenance things (ie missing caulk in a gutter) on one of my listings. On top it it the buyer wants $1200 for a new AC/furnace, and water heater that MIGHT need to be replaced in the next few years. (He knew it was a 12 year old house with 12 year old mechanicals) To put it in perspective this is listed at $145,000. He prorated the cost using cost estimates that were about double the actual cost of a furnace, etc. because that's what a friend told him it cost.
I'm not a big fan of nitpicking, but I believe the buyer has a right to get a home in good condition. I want to make sure the major stuff is taken care of. If it's a clean inspection, might as well get a few of the minor things done so the "honey-do" list is shorter.
To a certain extent I agree with you. When there are major problems that wouldn't be recognized by the average person, is when the negotiations might begin.
I just received a list of about 15 minor maintenance things (ie missing caulk in a gutter) on one of my listings. On top it it the buyer wants $1200 for a new AC/furnace, and water heater that MIGHT need to be replaced in the next few years. (He knew it was a 12 year old house with 12 year old mechanicals) To put it in perspective this is listed at $145,000. He prorated the cost using cost estimates that were about double the actual cost of a furnace, etc. because that's what a friend told him it cost.
A 12 year old house is not perfect---argh---
a 12 year old house and the furnace and a/c needs to be replaced. WHAT! My god my house is 50plus years old and I still have the original furnace. It still runs and it runs well and I have no intention of replacing it until the thing dies on me. Why does it run well, it's MAINTAINED on a regular basis. Sorry.
FYI, I do agree inspections are basically done for two reasons. to see if there is anything structurally wrong with the house and to help the new buyers determine what over time should be fixed/replaced. Unless there is something structurally wrong with the house I see no reason to go back to negotiations.
FYI, I do agree inspections are basically done for two reasons. to see if there is anything structurally wrong with the house and to help the new buyers determine what over time should be fixed/replaced. Unless there is something structurally wrong with the house I see no reason to go back to negotiations.
This is how I view it also. I would never buy a home without having it inspected (my offer is always phrased "$xxx,xxx contingent on a satisfactory home inspection"), but the only thing I think is a valid deal-breaker is if there are structural problems, mold/water intrusion problems, substandard electrical wiring, or a termite problem .... and if the seller refuses to either have these things repaired at their own expense and reinspected before closing, or to lower the price to accommodate the cost of the buyer having them fixed after the sale.
However, I myself would never want a house that had structural (foundation) problems or mold/water intrusion under any circumstances. So for that reason I consider an inspection absolutely vital.
Other inspection results are just "cosmetic" IMO ... in the same category of the buyer not liking the paint colors or the kind of flooring or the tiles in the bathroom or the kitchen cabinets. If Buyer A doesn't like these things, Buyer B or Buyer C or Buyer D may well absolutely love them.
Something that would be a valid renegotiation point would be if the inspection found issues with the plumbing or anything else that does not meet the local building, sanitary, or safety code. This is sometimes seen when a seller has redone a kitchen or baths DIY. Obviously something like that would to have to be addressed no matter who the house ends up being sold to, so it's more than just 'cosmetic' but less than 'structural'.
We just purchased a home and did end up having to ask for a few repairs to be made. The oven was broken and was not repairable, so we asked for an allowance for that since we wouldn't have the money to replace it. The HVAC system was WAY behind on servicing and wasn't working correctly at all, so they handled that, and the dryer vent wasn't attached and was causing a fire hazard. There was also a leaky toilet. We had a fast close so they handled the HVAC system (which went out again last night the day after we moved in) and the dryer vent. We were given a Lowe's gift card to cover the rest of the repairs that were needed and they were happy with that solution. I think for some of these things (especially older HVAC systems that will need to be replaced shortly) the buyer should just ask for a home warranty. We did that, which is a good thing because they're coming tonight to fix the heater.
Regarding the 12 year old house in question: the report indicated that the typical lifespan of these particular mechanicals is 15-20 years--just about another 1% of the contract price for something that may or may not need to be replaced anytime soon.
To further clarify: our offers state that inspections are for major defects and defines such defects. It specifically excludes maintenance items.
Luckily I live in a market that's not hurting. If my seller has to put it back on the market so be it.
I would absolutely never buy a house without an inspection.
Some issues could be deal breakers, others I would want repaired, but on a re-sale: the little stuff I would view as informational and things we might want to look at down the road.
But this buyers' market mentality can be a killer!
We accepted a low-ish offer, paid money toward the buyers' closing costs, and purchased a home warranty.
Their inspector told us, and them, that our house was the absolute cleanest inspection he had done in weeks; but I guess he felt the need to earn his money somehow, so he found some really nit-picky things IMO.
The buyers still asked for every single item the inspector found to be repaired before they took possession.
We're talking things like:
a little bit of peeling caulk in the bathroom
a cracked switchplate in the attic crawl space
a noisy fan in the laundry room
(umm, nothing wrong with it - it's a fan, it makes a noise when turned on)
a leaky shower head
(except he just put that it was in the secondary bathroom... we had two secondary bathrooms and neither we, nor the handyman we hired, could figure out which one he meant... some huge leak, eh?)
The kicker was that the inspector jotted down that since we had a 3 car garage but only had an automatic opener on the 2 car section they might want to have one installed on the single car section.
They actually asked us to take care of that.
GET REAL! That's not a repair, it's an improvement.
No, we did NOT do it!
Oh well, we sold quickly, moved on, and from what I can tell the market in the old neighborhood is still dropping, so maybe at least they'll loose a little equity.
Cruel, I know... but hey, sometimes what goes around comes around
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