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We are a few days out from closing and the one major repair that we agreed to turned out to be completely made up. Inspector said the roof needed to be completely replaced and had over 10k in damages. After a lengthy process of playing phone tag with the insurance company we finally got a field inspector to come out. Field inspector finds maybe $200 (at the very most) worth of damage to the roof. The inspection report listed false damages and claims. The field inspector was very thorough and said the inspection report for the roof appears fraudulent.
I feel as though the buyers agent has been very sketchy during this whole process. For starters she let the buyers stay over 3 hours and photograph our personal belongings throughout the house. She tried to get us to give the buyer all the belongings they photographed along with several thousand off the house. She has been pushing our agent to try to get us to replace the roof on our dime before the field inspector could come out. Our agent advised us not to so we waited. Now the entire inspection report is coming under question. My agent is trying to get to the bottom of it right now. Is this normal?
While it's not completely uncommon for different people to come to different opinions about the condition of roofs, or anything else for that matter (sometimes depending on who has to pay for it) nothing much about your transaction has been normal, unfortunately.
Sounds like you have a good agent who is on it though... Good!
Last edited by Diana Holbrook; 08-02-2021 at 02:00 PM..
Reason: clarity!
Here are the facts: Home inspectors are impartial third parties. Realtors, buyers, sellers can not influence what appears in an inspection report. After the 2008 RE collapse. The House Inspection regulations were tightened. An Inspector can be fined, lose his license, and in extreme cases be jailed for falsifying an inspection report.
He has to list:
Hail damage to the roof coverings
Exposed nail heads on ridge shingles, venting, and roof penetrations
Deteriorated plumbing vent boots
Soft roof decking
Loose flashing
House Inspectors do not say "the entire roof needs to be replaced" That is a 'conclusion'. House Inspections list 'observable issues'.
There is a disconnect somewhere in your perception of what is going on and reality.
I guess my "disconnect" is when the field inspector said the inspection noted issues that did not exist as well as broken fixtures on the chimney that also don't exist. I could understand if they were a few hundred even a thousand or two off but to say the whole roof was a hazard and needed replacing immediately is sketchy. Whether they were qualified or not they told my agent the wind and hail damage is a total loss and we will need a new roof.The buyer's inspector also noted that all the aluminum stripping had been torn off and the field inspector took pictures to prove it is still there and in good condition without damage. The house is almost 10 years old so by no means is it ancient. My agent and the field inspector think something fishy is going on due to the extreme inaccuracies found on the inspection report.
Here are the facts: Home inspectors are impartial third parties. Realtors, buyers, sellers can not influence what appears in an inspection report. After the 2008 RE collapse. The House Inspection regulations were tightened. An Inspector can be fined, lose his license, and in extreme cases be jailed for falsifying an inspection report.
He has to list:
Hail damage to the roof coverings
Exposed nail heads on ridge shingles, venting, and roof penetrations
Deteriorated plumbing vent boots
Soft roof decking
Loose flashing
House Inspectors do not say "the entire roof needs to be replaced" That is a 'conclusion'. House Inspections list 'observable issues'.
There is a disconnect somewhere in your perception of what is going on and reality.
A "buyers agent" can be an unlicensed in anything mother in law for all I know. What STATE is this in? That usually answers a lot of questions immediately according to THAT STATES (PROvince/Canton) laws in the real estate industry. And at this stage if it isn't in WRITING it doesn't count!!
I guess my "disconnect" is when the field inspector said the inspection noted issues that did not exist as well as broken fixtures on the chimney that also don't exist. I could understand if they were a few hundred even a thousand or two off but to say the whole roof was a hazard and needed replacing immediately is sketchy. Whether they were qualified or not they told my agent the wind and hail damage is a total loss and we will need a new roof.The buyer's inspector also noted that all the aluminum stripping had been torn off and the field inspector took pictures to prove it is still there and in good condition without damage. The house is almost 10 years old so by no means is it ancient. My agent and the field inspector think something fishy is going on due to the extreme inaccuracies found on the inspection report.
We can't know about anything not shared here... We don't know who is "right". We haven't seen the house, or the inspection report.
Inspectors will usually note items he/she thinks need attention and say something like "buyer should have inspected by licensed contractor".
You did something similar but not exactly that, which is to bring in an insurance adjustor, right?
OK but He's not a contractor either. Have you had an actual roofer walk it and give an opinion/estimate?
All three people will have different possible motives and opinions about whether your roof needs replaced. You just have to decide which route will end up with your house sold, hopefully for the best price, right?
What have you actually agreed to do, for this buyer, already?
Have you seen the actual report by the inspector, or just a 'summary' put together by the buyers agent? I cannot see how to professionals can come up with so different of observations. I would want to talk to the licensing authority and see if they could help resolve the difference.
I would tell the buyer that since the insurance inspector could not find the reported problems I would not be replacing the roof at least until the difference in inspections is explained satisfactorily.
But it isn't my house and I don't know how important it is to you to sell the house to provide funds for something else. But as others have said it appears there is more to this than we in the group know.
A licensed inspector will have included photos of the issues discovered.
The inspection report will have the pictures of broken fixtures on the chimney which by the way has nothing to do with the roof.
Whatever you are looking at is NOT a licensed inspection report. A report will list the issues and contain the pictures of the issues. An Inspection Report will never say, "whole roof was a hazard and needed replacing"
And no seller agent would accept an unlicensed report.
In Florida, a licensed house inspector can issue a Wind Mitigation Inspection report but it has nothing to do with the roof shingles. It inspects structure's construction of the truss attachments in the event of strong winds, such as those present in a hurricane. Maybe you are talking apples and oranges?
I understand that you are providing the facts as far as your perception is concerned but it is not reality.
Out here inspectors take photos and they are integrated into their reports with the comments. I can't remember the last time I saw an inspection report with no photos to back it up.
Out here inspectors will say that "the roof is at the end of its useful life" to indicate that it needs to be replaced. Usually along with photos showing extensive degranularization, etc. So I disagree that inspectors don't say that a roof needs to be replaced. They do out here.
If you don't have photos from the buyer's home inspector backing up their opinion, then it isn't worth much, in my opinion.
We have the actual report from the home inspector. The buyer's agent wanted us to knock several thousand dollars off the list price due to findings listed in the inspection report. We refused to move forward without it to justify the price adjustment. She finally emailed our agent the official inspection report. There were many photos taken and included on each page of the report except when it came to the roof. There was just a single photo of the spot with the two missing shingles. Yet, there was a list a mile long about what was wrong with the roof. The report said the roof is hazardous, past life expectancy, and not up to code. In red colored, italicized font read "roof condition extremely poor. Hazardous deficiencies noted throughout. Roof replacement needed to bring to good working condition". The buyer's agent gave her own estimate of 10k as from what she was told by the inspector.
Our insurance adjuster hired a field inspector who is an actual licensed contractor. Field inspector took tons of photos to contradict everything in the report. Both the field inspector's and the buyer's inspector report were sent in to the insurance agency to review and compare.
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AND what is a "buyers agent'???
