Monthly Archives: June 2009

Home inspections are a funny thing.  Some believe they are for their intended purpose and that is for a buyer to have time to allow a professional to come in and take a neutral look at the place and point out where there may, or may not be, deficiencies.  Once those deficiencies are found they can be weighed and measured to decide a course of action.  Here in the Kansas City Real Estate market you can then;

1. Accept the property “As Is.”
2. Cancel the Contract.
3. Offer to renegotiate.

I think there are several things you have to keep in mind when you are looking at the “problems” a home may have;

1. How old is the home?
2. What was obvious to a blind mouse when you went through it?
3. What price did you get it at compared to the repairs needed and relative to the rest of the neighborhood?
4. Is it a buyer’s market or a seller’s market?

Unfortunately, there are agents/buyers that know full well before they even hold an inspection that they will use the inspections for leverage.  I don’t agree with that kind of tactic.  Let me give you an example:

I once was selling a house where the house was extremely nice.  But the driveway was extremely cracked and in need of repair…or more-rather, replacement.  We kept this in mind in the pricing.  We even mentioned it in the comments.  A buyer writes an offer, we negotiate and it gets accepted.  Then, after the inspections he wants to renegotiate another $8,000 off the price of the house because the driveway needs replacing!

I asked him when he had noticed this.  Was it when he first parked on it to see the house the first time?  Or the second time?  Or on his THIRD look?

People, please be serious.  That’s like buying a 25 year old home and then nit picking every little thing an inspector can find.  Here’s what I think you should be worried about in an inspection;

• Structural issues.  (You find out that the basement wall has a four inch lean behind those paneled walls or roof turns out to have three layers.)
• Major mechanical issues.  (Furnace is leaking carbon monoxide.)
• Safety issues.  (Radon gas that exceeds limits.  There is aluminum wiring.  Etc.)