Well, obviously we cannot get rid of appraisals and home inspections. They are perhaps the two most important parts of any real estate transaction. Indeed, many deals have either fallen through due to appraisal and/or inspection issues than all of us put together could possibly imagine, or they have been the savior of many a transaction due to the diligence of both parties involved.
Considering the fact that we have all heard more complaints about the former than the latter, let's assume that we have to deal with the issue of problem appraials and inspections.
What if there were a way to minimize the effect that appraisals and inspections could have on a sale?
I had a buyer who wanted to purchase a home that was listed by a fellow realtor in our other office. She gave me some very reassuring news: her sellers ordered an appraisal right before it was listed and the appraisal price and her suggested listing price were a spot-on match.
Wouldn't it just be easier for every seller to do that and then roll the cost of that appraisal into the closing costs? Provide the buyer's mortgage company a copy of the appraisal and if they want to order their own for verification, then they could do so, but at only a minimal cost to the buyer?
Same scenario with having a home inspection. If the sellers conducted a home inspection right before the listing, it could 1) disclose all of the problems that the seller might have been otherwise unaware of, and 2) reduce the need for negotiations between the buyer and seller over what needs to be fixed before the sale would proceed. Of course, # 2 also assumes that the seller would be reasonable enough to lower the listing price to reflect the needed repairs. Either that, or the seller would untertake to make the most economical repairs and then leave the rest for the buyer - and since disclosure has taken place, buyers would be able to say yes or no to proceeding with the sale right at the time of signing the contract, not deciding to back out afterwards.
Again, the cost of the home inspection could be rolled into the closing costs.
Does this make sense to anyone else? Or did I miss something?
Courtesy of William James Walton, Sr. , Realtor, WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Briotti Group
Serving northern New Haven and southeastern Litchfield Counties (Waterbury, Wolcott, Prospect, Naugatuck, Middlebury, Southbury, Watertown, Thomaston and Plymouth)
Call William James Walton, Sr. Real Estate Agent with WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Briotti Group (203) 558-7463 for help with your real estate needs -buying or selling - in Waterbury, Watertown, Wolcott, Middlebury, Southbury, Prospect, Naugatuck, Plymouth and Thomaston
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Yes...I missed the part where Home Inspectors became "Evil" and the Part where Real estate Agents and and Sellers became angelic figures who are so honest that we don't need inspections or appraisals.
As an Inspector I agree with you that pre-listing inspections can build trust. I can also tell you that the people most resistant to the idea are the Selling Agents! Most buyers also want to choose their own Inspectors. And, by the way, when I ask clients how they found me I am told 95% of the time that they found me on the Internet...because they didn't TRUST the suggestions made by their Agents! (Lets not forget Radon testing performed by the sellers..those are always reliable too!)
I used to give away a free pre-sale inspection to every new agent that I met when I was inspecting for a client. In 6 years I have had ONE, repeat ONE Agent take advantage of my offer. Their Client loved the information and said that they never realized that their home had certain problems! Things got fixed the home got sold.yadda yada yada!
So its a good idea to try to find a way to "negate" the "twin evils" - that will make Sellers and Buyers even more trusting of you in the future.