Inspector Nightmare

By
Real Estate Sales Representative with LightHouse Realty

The other day I received a accepted offer on one of my Listings which was subject to Inspection! No big deal they all are right? My folks completely renovated the home and spent thousands. We felt at peace and went out home shopping!

We had purchased a home  subject to there home firming up. The day of the inspection and we waited for the subject removals to come. We thought easy peasy and this will happen right?

WRONG! The inspector spent 5 hours there and was very thorough, so I am told. When he decided to pop the attic cover and stick his  head in past the insulation, he decided upon himself to call the scariest four letter word in our business......."MOLD"

I mean, this guy aims his flashlight in the attic and notices some dark spots on the attic walls and freaks out not only the Buyers, but the Seller, and the buyers agent all in one moment of stupidity! I mean ,I am all for full disclosure and protecting the buyers but this guy made a claim that was not factual but an opinion.

I sold my buyers this house and we had a full inspection 18 mos prior and when our inspector noticed a few spots on the attic wall ,he suggested some wirly birds for some ventilation. This was it, I mean, no mold was mentioned and since then my buyers never suspected anything. In hindsight, my sellers just simply forgot to put air ducts in the attic. This was his only mistake.

I would of disclosed this on the property disclosure but the we never even thought of it. The seller is beside herself, the buyer is having buyers remorse, and the buyers agent looked like a deer in the headlights in the way of an 18 wheeler.

When everybody left to think things over, I immediately asked my inspector over to see what he could find out. John is a great guy and popped over after a long day and went up and assessed the situation and looked things over! Final conclusion.... John said the other inspector jumped the gun and should have had the material analyzed before making a dumb comment like that.

The other agent who called himself a "MOLD EXPERT" freaked everybody out for no apparent reason. The  Attic roof was only 3 years old and was in excellent condition, it just needed some air movement in the attic.

End Result.............. We offered 7 K to the buyers and or to have the whole roof and boards replaced in the spring and put the money in trust until then. We tried to bring her back and she just would not hear of it.

The buyer said she suffered from allergies and could not take a chance on mold. we even offered to have an independent study done to see if it was really mold, and to no avail.

So, the deal was dead, my people could not remove on there dream home and 2 deals are toast all because one inspector decided to be the hero and call something with no facts.

My sellers were pissed and were not impressed with the whole situation, they themselves have 2 young children and never felt any symptoms.

The bottom line is make sure you  are an agent who does not freak out at the situation and keep a level head, because I feel this situation could have been avoided.

until next time,

Super Dario

www.superdario.com

Comments (6)

Jim Hale
ACTIONAGENTS.NET - Eugene, OR
Eugene Oregon's Best Home Search Website

When you maintain your cool when all around you are losing theirs and blaming it on you....you'll be a real estate agent.

Or Kipling words to that effect....

Dec 11, 2009 05:54 PM
Dario W. Castiglia
LightHouse Realty - Abbotsford, BC
Super Dario

thanks Jim! Truer Words have never been spoken!

Thanks  for the comment!

Dario

Dec 11, 2009 06:07 PM
Diane Williams
Pell City, AL

I know that it was very upsetting for you when it blew 2 deals.  I have had inspections that killed the deal before but it was better than a law suit.  It sounds like the inspector needs to go back to class 101. He won't last long.

Dec 11, 2009 06:50 PM
Paul Guenther - Empire Title
Empire Title Agency - Flagstaff, AZ
The Extra Mile Is Part Of My Regular Route!

Dario,

Ouch!  Have you done a follow up with the owner of his company or his boss? to show what his error did?

Dec 11, 2009 08:05 PM
Dario W. Castiglia
LightHouse Realty - Abbotsford, BC
Super Dario

 I think these guys, I believe are really self employed and are there own boss. I will double check though, Thanks for the tip!

Dario

Dec 12, 2009 09:48 AM
Liz Moras Migic
Chilliwack, BC
Chilliwack, British Columbia - Realtor

I've lost a couple of deals lately as a result of the inspection - and the reality is often the buyer is looking for an out and the inspector provides one - they should be responsible for how they present their inspection results - people skills are harder toteach then technical skills unfortunatley. Nice to see you back here - long time! ;)

Dec 12, 2009 04:01 PM