What happened when the buyer’s agent changed a light bulb at a home inspection?
What happened when the buyer’s
agent changed a light bulb at a home inspection?
ALL agents should KNOW to NOT do any repairs at the buyer’s home inspection, including changing a light bulb!
Here’s what happened at my listing:
The exterior garage light bulb was broken (not just burnt out, but broken). The buyer’s agent stuck her hand up into the fixture to untwist the light bulb with shards of glass sticking out. (She avoided one mishap and didn’t cut her hand.)
She then rummaged through my seller’s home, looking for a light bulb. She found two, and proceeded to put in the new light bulb. At the moment of contact, she was shocked and dropped the new light bulb onto the driveway, which shattered glass everywhere.
The home inspector jumped into action and shut off the circuit breaker.
She took the second light bulb and installed that.
Then she had to go back to the house, rummage around some more to find a broom and dustpan to clean up the glass on the driveway.
When the agent told me all of this, she seemed very proud of herself because she avoided having this broken light bulb be written up on the inspection report!
Granted this is not a crisis but after reading recent posts from Greg Nino and Carla Muss-Jacobs, this is yet another example of an agent not thinking and maximizing her risk instead of minimizing it. She not only could have caused damage to the house but she could have been injured. The last thing a seller wants is an injury on their property.
- Don’t make repairs at a home inspection. It’s okay to have repair issues on an inspection report!
- Don’t rummage through the seller’s house.
- Understand the seller is trusting you, buyer’s agent, to not cause harm or damage during the home inspection. Read your contract – I’m sure there is language addressing this.
Francine Viola, Realtor
In Tune with your Real Estate Needs
Serving Buyers and Sellers in Olympia, Tumwater, Lacey and DuPont, WA
Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty, Inc. | Olympia, WA
Cell: (360) 359-0689
Email: Francine.Viola@cbolympia.com
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