Selling your Home? How did you deal with the home inspectors list of house problems? (disclosure, appraiser)
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We are in the process of selling our home and a few weeks ago the home inspector came by and within a few days came up with a long list of problems with the house.
I was shocked by the long list because I was proud of the fact that we spent so much time and money maintaining our home during the last five years. I thought the house was in nearly perfect shape. The home inspector hired by the new buyer disagreed.
Our real estate agent told me it is all part of a silly game buyers and inspectors use to get money from the seller towards closing costs. It is easier to try to pay them off with a lump sum than hire contractors to try to fix the defects and then be concerned things were not fixed to everyone's standards.
If you sold a house recently, what did you do about the list of things on the home inspector report? Did you fix everything or pay money to the buyer to waive inspection? Tell us how you came up with your decision about what to do.
There are many fixes that need to be addressed and many that should be addressed and many that if addressed can improve the sale potential of your home.
If it NEEDS to be addressed, leaky roof, for example. Fix it. Don't try to pass those problems to the next person as it will turn them off completely.
If is SHOULD be addressed, like 20 year old windows with bad seals, that may or may not have to be replaced, I would weigh out whether it's going to be a problem when the buyer's hire their home inspection and whether or not they will be fighting you over getting it fixed. If this is the case, fix it. If you can get by without spending the money then do so, but it's always best to try and fix these issues.
If the issue HELPS the sale of the home, like upgrading light fixtures, neutral paint, sodding the yard or adding colorful landscaping, modernization of the bathrooms, etc, these items typically will give you the highest rate of return on your investment as these are the feel good items that buyers crave and pay more to have in their homes at time of purchase.
So, pick and choose wisely, speak to a professional and have them work out a budget and act with you as a project manager.
Other things I always recommend when selling your home. 1) Get a storage unit and put most of your personal belongings in the unit. Your job when selling is to appeal to the masses, not to appeal to people who might like the same style furniture or deer heads that you like. 2) Always stage your home for the exact same reason. Staging appeals to many not just to those with your tastes. 3) Take all the yellow bulbs out of your fixtures and replace them with a bright daytime bulb. Yellow lighting makes your home look jaundiced. 4) Add color to the exterior of your home with colorful (and cheap) flowers you can buy at Walmart or Lowe's and make sure your grass is green for photos and open houses.
Always think like a buyer would walking through your house. They are not emotionally attached until they are attracted to something they like in your home. Look for items that would turn them off (ugly carpet, Univ of Texas flags, that giant bear rug, etc) and remove those from your home. If you're debating if someone might not like it, then I assure you they won't...
I agree with staging to a point especially decluttering, thinning, getting rid of personal stuff etc. But many can't turn the selling of the home into a production because they live there which means life goes on as usual for many. Also many with limited budgets and manpower can't afford storage or moving. I definately agree houses should be staged a little anyway. Definitely depersonalize.
To me it depends on the goals and motives of the seller and buyer. Is the seller just looking for 'a' profit to cover their costs and pay for their new place or do they have dollar signs in their eyes attempting an hgtv flip. Even many buyers are looking for a bargain. They won't admit or might even 'look' at something at the realtors suggestion but it could be a go through the motions viewing to appease and get some perspective.
Here’s the thing. If you are a person who does not delay maintenance, like we don’t go a day with a burned out lightbulb, and someone wants to buy my house and make up imaginary issues that nobody cares about, then they can go buy another house. I don’t care.
This especially comes to mind, if you watch the HGTV shows, where people spend $500k on a 1200sq ft hovel with un permitted additions, which has been trashed by vandals.
I think there is a regional issue at play in everyone’s attitude.
Our buyer "self-inspected" and submitted a rather vague list of 10K of repairs (none were necessary other than GFIs in 2 bathrooms). 10K happened to be the difference between his original offer and the final contract price. We had a backup verbal offer for same price, with no inspection clause. We got his "report" as we were literally flying back to get to house for quick settlement date (at buyer's request) and had 2K tied up in non-refundable tickets.
We offered him 1K for the "inspection report" take it or leave it. He took it.
Too many buyers use BS inspections to renegotiate price. Didn't work this time.
Here’s the thing. If you are a person who does not delay maintenance, like we don’t go a day with a burned out lightbulb, and someone wants to buy my house and make up imaginary issues that nobody cares about, then they can go buy another house. I don’t care.
This especially comes to mind, if you watch the HGTV shows, where people spend $500k on a 1200sq ft hovel with un permitted additions, which has been trashed by vandals.
I think there is a regional issue at play in everyone’s attitude.
That was how I felt when I sold my 1927 house. I knew it was in excellent shape, but it still had some outdated things like formica countertops (horrors!) and sheet vinyl flooring in the kitchen. However, I had added a LOT of upgrades to it over the years and really kept up with maintenance as well. Although I had already bought my new home, I wasn't going to do much in the way of inspection "issues". Fortunately, the inspector only found one item that needed fixing: the brand new gas stove that I had installed smelled strongly, which was solved by running it for 90 minutes at high heat to burn off the interior coating. This was an FHA sale too, so I expected some feedback from their appraiser about my original cedar clapboard garage, but nada. Thirty days from contract to closing.
I've never sold a home but did buy one in the past 2 years. Our inspector found lots of things but the only one that needed to be addressed was with the insulation materials. In the end the seller covered it because it would likely have been an issue for most buyers, but they ignored all the other stuff. I'd say deal with things that are health risks like asbestos or structural problems and dismiss everything else.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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I told my agent that I did not want to see the inspector's list. At all. I wanted a list of deal-breaker items from my buyers. I also priced my house correctly to begin with, based on condition.
My buyers gave me a list of several things that sounded worrisome, but really only cost about $500 and were simple fixes. For a deal involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, this was fine with me.
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