Who Pays for the Termite Inspection in a Real Estate Transaction?
Every time I sit down with a buyer to write an offer on a property, one of the questions that comes up is who pays for the termite inspection. The buyer or the seller?
In the Northern Virginia Sales Contract, a buyer has a choice as to whether they want to ask the seller to pay for it, or to pay for it themselves. There is no rule that this is a fee that one specific party must pay. Here are my thoughts on the subject.
A termite inspection runs about $35-$50. That's not big money. I think buyers should pay for this themselves so they control who does it. If you put the seller in control of the termite inspection, who knows....maybe their Uncle Ed runs a termite company and would be inclined to brush off a legitimate wood destroying insect issue to help out their niece or nephew.
The piece of mind of knowing you are hiring in impartial inspector is usually enough for buyers to see their way to paying for the termite inspection. However, some buyers will take the risk to not have to pay the $35-$50. In my mind, it's just not worth saving such a small amount of money.
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