Sellers and Listing Agent's Beware
We finally get a contract on our listing and we are very excited to bring it to the seller. After days of negotiation, we finally have a meeting of the minds. Our sellers are ecstatic!!! Then we hold our breath for the inspection period to end to make sure that they buyers do not find anything that they just cannot live with.
The inspection is done and the buyer brings a list of repairs to be done, based on the inspection report that are longer than your arm. The first thing that most agents do is ask to see the report to verify the repair requests. I caution each and every one of you to re-think asking for these reports. Once you and your seller see everything that the inspector just found wrong with your home, you are not obligated to update your seller disclosure documents to reflect this new information (if it was not already incorporated in your original documents).
This is something that many do not think twice about. Unless you are prepared to make this new report a part of your seller disclosure obligation, I would not ask to see the report. Bottom line for the seller is that the buyer has asked for the repairs and it is up to the seller if they want to make them or counter back with a different list of repairs that they are willing to do.
As the Buyer's Agent, you should also be aware that if you review the report personally and then pass it on to your buyer, you are then also obligated to disclosure to any other potential buyers for that property what you know about the property from the report. If for some reason the original buyer backs out of the purchase based on the report and you happen to have another buyer who wants to put in a contract on this home, you must tell them what you know about the house based on the report that you reviewed.
The review of the inspection report should be handled just as the loan application process is handled. The buyer should deal directly with the inspector and ask you, as their Realtor to ask for the repairs that they feel are necessary to move the contract forward. Take yourself right out of the middle of this and don't review the inspection report unless you are willing to disclose everything that you learn from that report to any other prospective buyers for that home. If another potential buyer finds out that you knew information about that home and did not disclose that to them, you could find yourself defending that action in the future.
Some buyers are very confused when they get this huge report and have to decide what to be concerned about and what not to be concerned with. This is why I always encourage my buyers to attend the inspection so that the inspector can show them the concerns that he/she finds and explain what the findings mean.
Christine Stalsonburg, Realtor
231-944-0854
www.northernmichiganrealestatecs.com
Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors
402 E. Front St. Traverse City, MI 49686
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