The buyer LOVED the home! They had been looking for a home with just these features and a floor-plan that worked for their young family. The view was nice. The kitchen worked well. The bedroom was spacious and the family room would accommodate the big screen television and the buyers furniture.
The buyers wanted to make an offer quickly, but thought maybe the asking price was a little bit high.
An offer was written up and presented to the seller.
The seller wanted to "sleep on it", or think a bit. That made the buyer nervous because he didn't get a fast response on his offer and was concerned he might lose the house to someone else.
Finally, the seller came back with a counter offer, slightly increasing price but also asking the buyer to close faster.
The buyer was fine with the price. Agreeing to close fast, they decided waive the home inspection, against my advice. The buyer reasoned, the house was only a few years old - what could possibly be wrong with it; and it wouldn't hurt to save the $400 home inspection fee either! Everything looked to be in order in the house.
A week after closing, I received an email from the buyer saying "the electricity in the house I bought is MESSED UP!" Several of the GFCI outlets don't work at all. At night the lights flicker noticeably and if you stomp on the floor, the lights turn off!"
All these are things a home inspection would have found. The problems were finally fixed by an licensed electrician, but had we not cut corners, the problem would have been found and solved a lot earlier, saving a lot of anxiety.
The lesson driven home? Always do a home inspection, even if everything looks good on the surface.
Comments (0)Subscribe to CommentsComment