I received a call this morning from a client I did a pre-listing inspection for about 3 months ago. He told me that he is in contract and the buyer just had their inspection done and only one thing was found. One thing! Missing screws for a face plate cover. How awesome is that.
I did find many areas of concern that he did address to get his home in tip top shape. Decayed siding and trim he took care of. Caulking issues on the exterior of the home and in the interior of bathrooms. Repaired glazing on sashes and peeling paint. He replaced a faulty GFCI. He repaired all his sink pop-ups so they work as intended. He made sure all his windows worked and weren't painted shut. He reinsulated the refrigerant lines at the AC unit. He repaired the grading to get the dirt and wood chips off of the home. He tightened all the hardware on cabinets and attic stairs.
One thing he didn't do was repair the landing guard on the second floor and the hand rail that leads down to the first floor. He had someone replace the knee wall on the second floor with a newel post and a guard rail and balusters. He also replaced the knee wall and railing that transcended the stairs with a decorative railing, newel post and balusters. The problem with the new work was that it did not meet the code required height requirement of 36" to the top of guard for the second floor landing and between 34" and 38" for the stair hand rail.
He had this work done two years ago and wasn't aware that there were requirements that needed to be met and apparently neither did the handyman who did the work. The guard rail height was at 33" and the stair rail height was at 32". I pointed this out as a safety/liability issue and a defect and that it needs to be repaired. He contacted the handyman who never returned his phone calls. So, he left it the way it was because of the cost to repair it.
When the buyer went to contract, my client, in the disclosure, let them know that they had a pre listing inspection done and they were more then happy to provide it to them. The buyer declined to see it because he had his own home inspector. How the inspector missed the height of the railings is beyond me.
I talk to so many realtors about prelisting inspections and many of them don't even discuss it with their clients. I guess they feel that it's up to the buyer to figure out what's wrong. From my point of view, all the pre listing inspections I have done has made a house easier to sell. The seller is able to repair problems, defects and maintenance issues and get their home in tip top shape. Any problems or issues found by the buyer's inspector are minimal at best which makes for a smoother transaction for all parties involved.
I guess I shouldn't be doing this but I am gloating. I like receiving phone calls like this. I believe that successes should be trumpeted out loud. So many times the inspector get's bashed. One question I have is, How many realtors in the AR community advise on getting a pre listing inspection done? By the way, I'll be inspecting his new home purchase next week. Have a great week.
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