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A new selling tactic: the pre-listing inspection
Owners hope to head off trouble and speed sales by hiring their own inspectors. By Frank Nelson Lost Angeles Times August 26, 2007
JUDY MELLO wasn't looking forward to buying a new place to live, imagining a lengthy, complicated and perhaps stressful experience.
"I figured it was going to drag on for months and months," she says. "But it wasn't like that at all."
In fact, it took Mello, a retired registered nurse, a total of only 3 1/2 weeks to buy a $500,000 condominium in Carpinteria, a small coastal town a few miles south of Santa Barbara.
Although a number of factors smoothed the process, Mello says an inspection report commissioned in advance by the sellers played a large part in her decision to buy and helped speed the sale.
As housing sales continue to bog down -- last month Southern California sales were the slowest for any July since 1995, according to DataQuick Information Systems -- property owners are turning to new strategies.
One tactic increasingly bringing buyers and sellers closer together is a property inspection obtained by the seller before the home is even listed. A seller's inspection report is not in lieu of one commissioned by the buyer, but it often accomplishes the goal of signaling openness and good faith while at the same time unearthing any unpleasant surprises.
In some cases, a preemptive seller's inspection means repairs, such as leaks or faulty electrical wiring, will likely be completed in advance on the buyer's behalf; less pressing matters may be flagged and the asking price adjusted down accordingly. "To me, the report meant they were definitely interested in selling and cared about selling to somebody who was going to be satisfied," Mello says. "I felt comfortable that they were thinking of my interests."
Colleen Badagliacco, president of the California Assn. of Realtors, says not so long ago, when sellers were being bombarded with multiple offers, they didn't have to worry that much about the shape of the home.
"Now, the seller has to go the extra mile," she says. For some, the downside means making sure the house is priced right, taking disclosure to the next level -- the more they know, the more they legally have to disclose -- and offering to fix things.
But on the upside, a pre-listing inspection that gives buyers a better idea of where they stand and what, if any, additional work is needed, can also help sellers fend off demands for unrealistic price reductions to cover repairs.
According to Dan Steward, president of Pillar to Post, a nationwide home inspection company, buyers typically expect a $2 to $3 price discount for every $1 worth of defects turned up by their inspector.
With their own report, sellers can choose, for example, to spend a few hundred dollars fixing a plumbing problem that might otherwise mushroom into a claim for more than $1,000 off the price and, in the process, spark further potentially prickly negotiations.
"It definitely makes sense," says Chuck Miller, a 16-year veteran of the real estate business and now associate manager and sales agent with Coldwell Banker in Studio City.
In his own and other real estate companies, he's seen a marked uptick in the number of pre-listing inspections, perhaps a rise of 10% to 15% in the last year, and believes the ploy is helping sales move faster and more smoothly.
"Most people want to turn the key and walk in," he says. "They don't want repairs, and they certainly don't want surprises. If they know they have to do some work, they can at least prepare for that."
The National Assn. of Certified Home Inspectors, based in Boulder, Colo., also has noted a rise in the number of inspections carried out for sellers, though founder Nick Gromicko says they do not have national statistics.
However, on a local level, Gromicko does have some figures: "Our Denver chapter went from doing less than 2% of their inspections for sellers last year to doing 28% for sellers in 2007."
When Jack Lucarelli and his wife, Jeannie Wilson, decided to put their Toluca Lake home on the market for $3.75 million, they followed agent Miller's suggestion and first had an inspection.
The way it turned out, they need hardly have bothered. As Bob Wood, senior inspector with Sunland-based LaRocca Inspection Associates, combed through their 3,700-square-foot, two-story home, he was hard-pressed to find anything wrong.
A little dry rot in one post in the backyard, two faulty sink stoppers, a loose faucet and a cracked tile in the driveway. "It cost us about $18 for repairs," Lucarelli says, adding that the clean bill of health did not surprise him. He says that he and his wife -- both of whom work in the entertainment industry -- have done a lot to the 1936 Spanish Mediterranean-style home and always kept the place in top shape. "But we thought the inspection and termite inspection were important to alleviate any fears or anxieties about any internal, hidden problems," he says. "It's an added convenience to the purchaser."
Chris Wrightsman, co-owner of LaRocca Inspection, sees these types of inspections becoming more prevalent and estimates that the number of homeowners choosing this option has risen about 5% in the last year.
He says the practice is much more common in Northern California, especially in the Bay Area, and he expects the trend to continue to grow. "When homeowners know the condition of their property, they can avoid a lot of problems and price accordingly."
Lisa Endza, director of communications for the Boulder-based national home inspectors group, says the cost of inspections ranges from $300 to $600, depending on the size and age of the property.
Tom Valinote of Thousand Oaks, who inspected Mello's Carpinteria condo for the sellers, runs Pillar to Post franchise offices in Camarillo and Goleta. Armed with a digital camera, laptop and a 1,600-point checklist, he typically spends two to three hours working through a house for an average cost of $425.
Inspections give sellers options, he says.
"They can say to the buyer: 'We found these problems. But we wanted to make sure we sold the house in the best condition possible. So, we fixed things, here are the receipts and now you don't need to deal with this.' "
That approach certainly appealed to Robert and Judy Parkinson. Longtime Los Angeles residents before moving to Oregon two years ago, they are in the process of selling a Montrose house they've owned as a rental for about five years.
Robert Parkinson says it was because they had never lived in the property, which is almost 90 years old, that they opted for the pre-listing inspection. "We wanted to do the due diligence and know the condition of the house before we put it on the market," he says.
"We didn't want to get into escrow and have someone do their own report and have a bunch of surprises. We mostly wanted to know that the price we're asking, $615,000, is a good, fair, solid price. We wanted to have a real clear idea of the condition of the house and do any work that needed doing. We felt that put us in a stronger position."
The inspection brought to light a number of issues, he says, the main ones being some plumbing, electrical and roof caulking work. They have now fixed most things and feel that having the inspection and spending about $7,500 on repairs were good moves.
The Parkinsons' agent, Gena Pinkerton, with Richard Keilholtz Realtors in La Cañada Flintridge, says the feedback from potential buyers to the roughly 30-page pre-listing inspection report has been very positive.
People assume because the house is old that it must need a lot of work, she says. "But the report shows that it doesn't. It's a huge relief for people to know that."
Sept. 7th 2006 - A second story deck collapse injured four members of a family in Lawrenceville, GA. as the victims were deciding whether to buy the home. "It could have been avoided if the deck was properly attached to the house."
Most of the time we don't think about it because we do it everyday without a second thought. You walk out onto a deck to show your clients the homes features or spectacular views. With the recent reports of personal injuries in conjunction with home decking systems, we at Realty Check would like to remind you that you can never be to careful about your clients and your own personal safety when showing a home.
Most decks that have a catastrophic failure are caused either by faulty construction, improper attachment to the home, or simply from rot and decay. - Realty Check
REMIND YOURSELF! You are out there before any Listing or Buyers inspection has been performed. So on behalf of Realty Check Inspection Service, be careful and be safe!
There is a clearly defined "collapse season", which is from June to October. During this season, more than 70% of reported collapses occur. - Deck-Lok
Buying a home? The whole process can be stressful. During the home inspection period alone, you will be asked to absorb a lot of information in a short period of time. This often includes a written report, photographs, testing/ sampling reports, WDO/Pest inspection findings etc. All this combined with the seller's disclosure statement, what you notice yourself and getting your financing approved makes the experience even that more overwhelming. What should you do?
Relax. Most of your inspection will be preventative/ maintenance recommendations, life expectancies and minor imperfections. These are nice to know about. However, the issues that really matter will fall into four categories:
Major defects. An example of this would be a structural failure.
Things that lead to major defects. A roof leak, for example.
Things that may hinder your ability to finance, legally occupy or insure the home.
Health & Safety items. Such as improper deck securements, electrical hazard issues, and Carbon monoxide & gas leak detection.
Anything in these categories should be addressed. Often issues discovered during the inspection can be corrected inexpensively to protect both life and property (especially in categories 2 and 4). Major defects will most likely need some negotiation between you and the seller and your Real Estate Agent can help you with the financing/ insurance issues if they arise. In regards to a re-sale property, we find that most sellers are honest and are often surprised themselves to learn of defects uncovered during an inspection. We'd all like to find the ‘perfect' home but unfortunately they just don't exist. All homes have issues. Even some newly constructed homes I've inspected over the years have had a few major and minor issues that needed attention. New definitely does not mean, "Perfect".
The goal of a home inspector is to give you an unbiased "second opinion" and to identify significant material defects or adverse conditions that could result in serious injury or lead to costs that would significantly affect your present evaluation of the property, and to alert you to the need for any secondary specialist evaluation prior to the consummation of the sale.
Realty Check Inspection Service is committed to full disclosure of all issues but keeps things in perspective by focusing on the major problems found in a house, thus insuring you, the client receives the best service we offer - Peace Of Mind
Peter Doane - Olympia Wa Home Inspector Olympia, WA More about me…
Realty Check Inspection Service
Peter Doane - Olympia Wa Home Inspector 
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