By Mike Bodeen · 25 September 2017
In last week’s blog, I stated the following:
Now, the buyer is buying the home subject to their accepting the condition of the property, which makes the Buyer Due Diligence period crucial. The buyer has 10 Days within which to perform all inspections of the property and neighborhood. If for any (subjective) reason, the buyer rejects their findings, they can withdraw from the transaction without forfeiture of their earnest money deposit.
Since there is no longer a “Seller Warranty Clause” in our purchase agreements, a buyer must make sure that they’re getting the very best home inspection possible, which means hiring a great home inspector.
The importance of a professionally competent home inspector is crucial for the buyer, especially now. So what makes a great home inspector? It’s paramount to communicate to your agent, or for you to find, a home inspector with a solid background in building construction, preferably with both new and remodel home repair, perhaps engineering, and of course lots of home inspections under their belt. The best inspectors know all about how a home functions from years of experience working on them, versus the person with state exam preparation only.
Fortunately in Arizona, in order to become a licensed home inspector, one has to do at least 30 home inspections before they can work with the public.
Great home inspectors are not beholden to anyone except the buyer. The buyer hires them, the buyer pays them. They are most often recommended by the buyer’s agent, but that is not necessarily a good thing. Your agent had better have your best interests at heart since most buyers will rely on who their agent recommends.
Why wouldn’t an agent have a buyer’s best interests at heart? It’s called money. The agent, as we all do, wants the deal to close. Some agents may recommend a home inspector that will “go easy” on the home, or steer a buyer towards a home inspector who will gloss over serious findings, putting it in the report, but verbally saying it’s not that bad, so the deal holds together. If an agent thinks the home inspector is a “deal killer” he won’t use that inspector again. For those of us who have made real estate our career, we want our clients to know the truth, even though it may “kill the deal.” The reality is that our clients will ultimately buy a home and we will have our payday, but it may not be this day.
Next week, we’ll discuss why an honest and thorough home inspection can be a great bargaining chip even though the inspection report was a bummer.