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Would You Paint the House for Buyers After Closing Escrow?

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Real Estate Agent with Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker DRE #00697006
Presale_Home_Inspection.jpg

My clients, I really do adore them, but sometimes they can go overboard with kindness toward buyers. I met with new sellers a few weeks ago, and they are busy getting the house ready. Even though we have covered the subject, and they seemed to have understood, they still want to do things that are a) unnecessary to sell and / or b) can cost them more money in the long run. Because they want to "do the right thing." I get it.

But criminy. These are the kind of people who would come over to the house a year after closing and offer to paint it because it looks a little worn.  In many parts of the country, a presale home inspection is not required. It is NOT required in Sacramento. If it's not required, it can be dangerous to get it. You can read more in my personal blog today at this link: Sellers Who Get Presale Home Inspections Slit Own Throats.

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Elizabeth Weintraub is co-partner of Weintraub & Wallace Team of Top Producing Realtors, an author, home buying expert at The Balance, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, Carmichael and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put our combined 80 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold. DRE License # 00697006.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Gold. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

Comments(15)

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Lottie Kendall
Compass - San Francisco, CA
Helping make your real estate dreams a reality

Pre-sale pest and home inspection reports aren't "required" here either, but it has become common practice in the last 20 or so years; buyers expect to see them. Contracts get re-negotiated much less often when reports are provided up front.

Real estate is practiced very differently from locale to locale; you know what's right in your area, Elizabeth.

Mar 05, 2017 10:24 AM
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

I echo what Lottie Kendall said.  I get pre-sale inspections on all of my listings, including probate sales ... only exception ... short sales.  I am surprised to learn that it is not a common practice in your area, Elizabeth.  

Mar 05, 2017 10:32 AM
Raymond E. Camp
Ontario, NY

Good afternoon Elizabeth,

I have with a buyer scraped and painted so they cold close but have never had a sell go this far.

Make yourself an astonishing day.

Mar 05, 2017 11:59 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

This subject came up with a seller-client of mine on Friday.  I advised against it.

Mar 05, 2017 05:15 PM
Hella M. Rothwell, Broker/Realtor®
Carmel by the Sea, CA
Rothwell Realty Inc. CA#01968433 Carmel-by-the-Sea

One of my buyers recently received a presale inspection from the seller. There were some issues on it that the seller fixed. I had a harder time convincing the buyers to get their own home inspection done because they thought the inspection was already done and they didn't have to pay for it. Lucky for them they did take my advice because there were a bunch of other issues that were not on the presale one.

Mar 05, 2017 08:04 PM
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

Elizabeth, maybe they were really not ready to leave, and still feel it is their home?   That is very strange.

Mar 06, 2017 05:55 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Lottie Kendall You would be surprised at how many buyers in Sacramento do NOT pay for a pest report. Either their agents don't suggest it or they decide it's not worth the money. When that happens, my sellers can practically save themselves anywhere from $3,000 to $30,000; I mean who knows? Yet another good reason NOT to do a presale home inspection in Sacramento.

Mar 06, 2017 08:29 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Kathleen Daniels The Bay area is very different from Sacramento. Every time an agent calls and asks for seller disclosures before writing an offer, that's a sure sign the agent is from the Bay area.

Mar 06, 2017 08:30 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Raymond E. Camp Yes, Mr. Rodney Dangerfield. I hear ya. But that's exactly what they are doing when they order a presale home inspection.

Mar 06, 2017 08:31 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Chris Ann Cleland You are the exception in real estate, Chris Ann, you know, one of those listing agents who actually think about consequences, advantages, disadvantages and don't go off half-cocked.

Mar 06, 2017 08:32 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Hella M. Rothwell, Broker/Realtor® I bet the seller in your escrow was pretty ticked at his agent that not only did he make repairs he didn't have to make, but now the buyers will insist on even MORE repairs. Good thing you had the buyer get his own inspection. This is similar to sellers who want to get an appraisal before selling, big waste of money.

Mar 06, 2017 08:34 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Joan Cox That was just a metaphor.

Mar 06, 2017 08:34 AM
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

Hi Elizabeth -- I do recommend pre-sale home inspections. Some sellers agree, others don't --- it's their choice and I do recall previous posts of yours that explain your point of view.  

Of course, when a pre-sale inspection is provided to a prospective buyer, my AVID includes the language that the buyer should obtain their own professional inspection.   When I am representing a buyer, I've received similiar "pre-sale" packages and buyers use that inspection for reference and obtain their own.

On the listing side, I've been involved with quite a few transactions where the buyers' agent has even recommended that "this inspection is much more detailed and expensive than any I would recommend" and no additional inspection takes place.    The expense and knowledge of that first inspection seems like money well-spent.   

As we see, there are many different ways to practice real estate.   It's  not always so black and white in my opinion.  

Mar 06, 2017 10:26 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

You sell in a different market Michael Jacobs . If I sold in Pasadena, I might under certain circumstances suggest a presale home inspection. 

However, I would NOT, under any circumstances be so incredibly stupid and naive as to set myself up for a lawsuit by telling a buyer that the seller's "inspection is much more detailed and expensive than any I would recommend." I can't even imagine being such a dumbass agent.

But in Sacramento, a presale home inspection is absolutely NOT required and could uncover deep dark secrets that nobody knows and might never know. In fact, I could get sued for suggesting a seller obtain such a thing because I could cost my sellers tens of thousands of dollars through such bad advice. This is what people don't think about when they say such idiotic things.

Mar 06, 2017 10:38 AM
Michael Jacobs

Elizabeth -- not just once but I have heard that statement on multiple occasions from a selling agent.  Unbelievable.  

Mar 06, 2017 10:43 AM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

I can remember back in the 1980s when home inspections first began to become a thing in Sacramento.  Many agents, including myself, feared they would be real deal killers.  However, over time, and experience, I found that they saved a lot of sellers from the "F" (Fraud) word.  I believe, transparency generally protects every party to a transaction.  Most of these inspections are requested by buyers.  Only in certain instances have my sellers got them pre-market.

Mar 08, 2017 11:09 AM
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  • Sacramento, CA
  • Elk Grove, CA
  • Roseville, CA
  • Carmichael, CA
  • West Sacramento, CA
  • Roseville, CA
  • Land Park, Sacramento
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  • Natomas, Sacramento

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Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold, Midtown and Sierra Oaks Sacramento office. Co-partner Weintraub & Wallace Realtors. Selling since 1974. Homebuying expert at The Balance. Weintraub & Wallace sells homes from Galt to Lincoln.
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Author Bio: Elizabeth Weintraub is a Sacramento real estate broker, author, home buying expert for The Balance, a Land Park resident, who specializes not only in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento but sells extensively from Elk Grove to Lincoln. Weintraub is prominently known as the #1 Sacramento Short Sale agent throughout the Sacramento four-county area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 40+ years of real estate experience to work for you.

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