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I Don't Like Bringing These Things Up

Why don't I?

Because either way I go I take it on the chin. But if I don't mention it, sooner or later I will be bitten in the hiney.

Bring up what?

The two small, decorative roofs over the front porch roof window are not level - look at the trim. The right side is much worse than the left, but you can see that neither is level.

And the guardrail is not level either.

The buyer did not even notice it. If the building supervisor did, he had not tried to correct it. But I am a purist and I look for things like that, particularly on new homes.

Why don't I like to bring these kinds of things up? Because once the buyer sees it, it will always be noticed. And it will eventually be a bother!

If I don't bring it up, one day the buyer will notice, or the neighbor across the street will bring it up. Then I get the phone call - perceived structural problems (when there aren't any)!

So it was brought to the buyer's attention and put into the report. The mention got heads shaking.

Overall it was a nice house, with just a few mentionables. But...

At least it has American drywall!

My recommendation: It is always best to be complete and thorough. Sometimes, though, that causes problems in and of itself!

Posted by Jay Markanich on 11/13/2009 09:11 AM

Comments (13)

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13 Comments on I Don't Like Bringing These Things Up

NOV

You are the eyes and ears and report what you see good or bad! Good post and imagery.

Understood Andrew! We try, we try...

I would not be able to purchase that home for the fact that each time I pull in the drive,that would be all I can see. How would a person fix that?

Jay....those "returns" can be torn off and rebuilt....the framer must have had a fun night prior to constructing them.

I agree with Diane, this would be like the proverbial tilted picture frame

Jay I have had the same thing happen too. Do I say something or don't I say something? You have to---but you sure wish you didn't have to:) Another place I see this sort of thing is when they didn't book the shingles or the ceramic tiles and the color differences "jump out"---not to anyone else of course until I open my big mouth:)

Diane - I know! That's what I mean. It will always grate on somebody, if not the neighbors across the street.

Barbara - yes they can be redone, but do you think a builder is going to do that?

Terry - precisely. Should I bring it up? Of course, but there is a catch!

Charlie - we really have to mention things. Your example is real though. I have seen shingle jobs where they start at the bottom and work up and when done the roof looks like stripes!

Hey Jay,

You did the right thing by putting it in the report. The bad thing about reporting things like that is if the buyer does not purchase the house, the inspector is called a deal killer.

NOV

Right on Eric! On new homes usually people have hope that the builder will "fix it." They hang with the deal. On other purchases, the deal killer thing is alive and well.

NOV

I hate being the one to point these things out as well, but the truth is that if we don't we're not really doing our jobs. Besides who do you think the new homeowner calls after someone else points out anything we don't?

Yes Sue. Like I said! We are really the responsible parties and despite real estate agents who might disagree, we are to bring it up. Usually they don't disagree!

NOV

Now Jay....the real question in this picture is....is the floor lower on one side than the other...maybe it's a sunken bedroom...in which case...the windows would be just the right height for the room from the inside ...:) !

S&D - it's an entry way with a balloon wall all the way to the ceiling. Maybe that stuff is level and the rest of the house is wrong. I should have checked that...

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