The Reluctant Client: Coaxing Buyers to Seek Inspections
Question: I’ve been a Realtor for nearly 11 years. I encourage every buyer to hire a home inspector. This gives them the information they need to make sound decisions before closing escrow. At the same time, it protects everyone in the deal from having legal problems later.
I’m concerned about two clients who chose not to hire a home inspector. This makes me very uncomfortable because too much is being taken for granted about the property. I know other agents who feel as I do and am wondering how to better educate our buyers about the importance of a home inspection.
Answer: You’ve got the right idea when it comes to home inspection. Disclosure is the cornerstone of prudent and ethical performance in real estate.
In recent years, home inspection has become a standard practice in nearly all residential real estate transactions. Unfortunately, there are still a few buyers who have no concept of the depth of information a detailed inspection can provide. By declining an inspection, they unwittingly deny themselves a significant financial advantage, the opportunity to discover conditions that could affect the value, safety and eventual resale of the property they are buying.
There are several common reasons buyers will forgo the benefits of a home inspection, including:
* Lack of funds. Some buyers simply want to limit their purchase expenses, so they buy a home on faith. Everything appears OK when they walk through the house, so they gamble, never realizing the defects an inspector might have found, defects the seller might have paid to fix.
* New homes. Some buyers succumb to the common misconception that a newly built home is free of defects.
The fact is, every new home has a few problems awaiting discovery. In one recent case, a new home was completed without insulation in the attic. This was discovered by a home inspector after the house had received final approval from the local building department.
* Inspection by a friend who is a contractor. This is one of the worst inspection mistakes a buyer can make. General contracting teaches one how to build a house, not how to inspect it. It takes years of full-time practice as a home inspector to learn the finer arts of discovery. In the same way that a family physician is not qualified to perform heart surgery, so a building contractor is not prepared to provide a detailed forensic evaluation of a home.
Your challenge as a Realtor is to convince these buyers that a professional home inspection will provide tangible and meaningful financial benefits; that the cost of an inspection will be more than offset by the information obtained.
The depth and detail of an inspection should be made apparent. An effective approach is to show clients a sample inspection report, pointing out the broad scope and comprehensive details of the electrical, plumbing, heating, roofing and foundation sections.
Explain that sellers often agree to repair conditions found by the inspector and that these repair costs typically exceed the price of the inspection.
What’s more, let them see how frequently safety violations are reported, conditions whose potential consequences far exceed monetary considerations.
Hopefully, your buyers will see that a detailed home inspection is much to their advantage. Nevertheless, common sense will not prevail in every case. Some buyers simply will not be convinced.
If faced with this dilemma, you may want to consider paying for the inspection yourself. This will cost part of your commission, but the price of such insurance is small when compared with the problems that might otherwise emerge after the close of escrow.
Stucco Withstands the Desert Climate
Q: We’re planning to buy a home in the desert. In the neighborhoods where we’ve looked, some houses have stucco exteriors, and others have either vinyl or aluminum siding. We asked our home inspector which is best but he doesn’t seem to have a preference. Any tips on how to decide?
A: The choice of exterior siding is often a matter of personal taste, the same as furnishing the interior or choosing colors. This may be why your inspector has declined to offer an opinion.
However, there are some practical considerations to be weighed, and in this respect, stucco definitely affords some quality advantages.
* Stucco is a long-lasting material, good for the life of a building, and it generally maintains its color and fresh appearance for at least 20 years.
* Stucco provides insulation against hot weather, helping to keep a home cool in the summer (especially if you use a light color).
* Stucco also insulates against outside noises, making the inside of your home noticeably quieter.
* Stucco strengthens a home, providing additional structural rigidity. This is because a stucco building is essentially encased in an envelope of wire and cement.
Among the disadvantages of vinyl and metal siding is a general tendency to cheapen the overall appearance of a building. From a distance, these materials offer the traditional appearance of wood siding, but up close they tend to look and feel less substantial than conventional materials.
Further, vinyl and aluminum are more fragile than wood, resulting in cosmetic damage that cannot be easily repaired. Manufacturers emphasize guaranties for as long as you own your home, a claim that pretends to be a lifetime guaranty. The rub is that people typically sell a house within three to seven years of purchase.
If you don’t like the look of stucco (a matter of personal taste), wood siding or hard-board siding, such as Masonite, is a better choice than aluminum or plastic. However, none of these sidings will last as long or be as maintenance-free as stucco.
Commercial Buildings Need Inspections Too
Q: I am involved in my first commercial real estate transaction. When I requested that a home inspector review the property, my agent said that this is an uncommon practice, typically reserved for residential property.
I’m afraid to buy any kind of real estate without a professional inspection and am surprised that anyone would take such a risk. What do you advise?
A: During recent years, the real estate market has gradually adopted the custom of home inspections for most residential purchases. The process began in the mid 1970s and has become a standard practice for most home buyers.
But with commercial real estate, an awareness of inspection services has barely awakened in the minds of many investors. In fact, in some areas, the very topic of building inspection rarely enters the discussion when commercial property purchases are negotiated.
This disparity is a mystery. From the standpoint of structural integrity, general safety and financial liability, the need for a detailed physical inspection is just as vital with commercial real estate as with residential property.
Roofs are just as prone to deterioration and leakage, foundations and wall construction are equally subject to damage and settlement, plumbing fixtures and piping are no less likely to incur leakage, and the risks of fire and shock hazards in electrical systems are equally probable regardless of the type of building being purchased.
Further, the price of most commercial buildings exceeds that of most residential properties. With purchase figures ranging in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes in the millions, the price of an inspection is a bargain when you measure the consumer protection it provides. What’s more, the inspection fee can often be recouped in the form of repairs contracted by the seller.
When you tally the pros and cons, commercial property should be purchased with both eyes open, and those eyes should belong to a qualified property inspector.
Charm of Older Home Could Be Hazardous
Q: A home inspection was recently done on my 50-year-old home. Some of the items in the inspection report seemed trivial to me but were alarming to the buyers. A few of these conditions are part of the charm of an older home, and I feel should not be included in a required repair list.
For example, the door to the basement swings over the top of the stairs, and this, according to the inspector, is unsafe. As long as I’ve lived here, no one has ever been hurt on these steps. Are there any guidelines for this type of situation?
A: Unsafe building conditions do not guarantee that someone will be hurt. That is a matter of chance. But a door that swings over a staircase increases the potential for an accident. This does not mean that you are required to make repairs, but buyers and sellers should be aware when such conditions exist.
There have been cases when this type of a door arrangement has resulted in personal injury. Typically person No. 1 opens the door at the top of the stairs at an inopportune moment, while the unseen person No. 2 slowly scales the steps. The unsuspecting person No. 2, upon receipt of a face full of door, is suddenly transformed into a rapidly descending mishap.
To avoid occurrences of this kind, the building code now requires that a door at the top of a staircase not swing in the direction of the steps, unless there is an approved landing. In older buildings, compliance is not mandatory but is strongly advised.
If you have questions or comments, contact Barry Stone through his Web site at https://www.housedetective.com or write to Barry Stone care of AMG, 1776 Jami Lee Court, Suite 218, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401. Distributed by Access Media Group.
