A.D. Cantelmo Property Management
Our Business is Property Management in Orange County California
Should a Home Inspection Bust the Deal?
When selling or buying a home, there are three
major stress points in the process once the offer is accepted. The first is the
appraisal. Both the Buyer and seller need the appraisal to come in at the offered
price unless the offer is all cash and no loan is needed. The second major
stress point is the Home Inspection. The home inspection can be a very
contentious part of the home buying process. The third Major stress point, is
the final loan approval. The seller wants the buyer to waive the loan
contingency after a period of time and the buyer is anxious about the loan
approval.
The 2nd stress point is what I want to talk
about today: The home Inspection.
As a Real Estate Broker, I always show up at the
home inspection and am always amazed at the stress that a buyer is under when
the home inspector is there. A buyer, especially a first time buyer, does not
want to buy a “MONEY PIT” as portrayed in the famous movie with the same name. Unfortunately,
the home inspection, which I always recommend people get, creates more problems,
rather than gives answers. The reason for this is that the inspection plays
small ball and make a very nice home seem like a “MONEY PIT”.
Every home, and let me repeat, Every Home, has
things that could be fixed and if all homes are fixed to a point that there is
nothing wrong, the cost of repair would be so great that no one would sell their
home. A home inspector has to fill their pages and mark down every little
blemish on a home. I am not just a Real Estate Broker, but also a Licensed
California General Contractor and in my business of Property Management n
Orange County Ca. I see all kinds of homes and also in my position as a Real
Estate Broker I also have dealt with many home inspectors and we have butted
heads more often than not. What drives me crazy is the lack of real knowledge
of how homes are built. While there are some home inspectors that have worked
in the construction industry and some who are contractors, unfortunately most
have no practical experience in construction. They are just filling out their
forms as they have been taught and when a buyer looks at the pages and pages of
paint chips and cracks in the stucco or discolored drywall they become scared
to death that the home they are buying will cost them a fortune in repairs.
So
what happens is the buyer’s agent submits a laundry list of repairs to the
owner, for them to fix before the close of Escrow.
Now most of the time, these issues can be resolved
and the transaction will go through, but if the home inspection industry would
be more concerned with major issues, rather than scaring a buyer with non sense
issues that are normal wear and tear of any home, even new homes, then this
stressful part of the transaction can be less of an ordeal for all involved.
I could give you a many examples of ridiculous heated
conversations I have had with home inspectors, many times I have gone to bat
for colleagues who knew I was A contractor and did not know how to translate the
inspection report. What gets me is when a home inspector give prices to buyers
of what a repair may cost, or when they call out things to be code violations
and are not.
With all the negative feelings I have toward home
inspections, I still recommend people get them. I wish the industry would be
more realistic and less CYA, but I know it will never change and I would recommend
that Realtors become more proactive in educating their buyers before the Home
inspector comes to do their work. Just like I have to always educate people in my
business of Property Management in Anaheim Ca. It is up to Realtors to make
sure they understand the stress that their clients feel during this part of the
Real estate Transaction.
A.D. Cantelmo Property Management Specializes in Property
Management in Orange County Ca.