There is a 1960s home in a Dallas suburban incorporated city that had been owned by a family since it was built.
Recently the children of the couple who began their family's life there contacted a broker, who along with her husband, have been buying, remodeling and then reselling homes in an upscale area of Dallas known as the M Streets.
The home needed to be sold because the owners could no longer live there. The children asked the broker if she and her partners would buy the house. They did.
Over the next couple of months, the broker and her partners renovated and updated the house. Permits with the city were pulled for the work that required them. Those items were done by licensed sub-contractors.
The house renovation was completed at an expense the broker told me was in excess of $100,000.
Within a couple of days after the home was put on the market, the broker had multiple offers, a couple of which were in excess of the listed price.
The winning contract optioned the house and hired a licensed home inspector to evaluate the condition. The inspector found many deficiencies remained, a serious number were code violations that the city building inspector had not noticed before the work was approved. Many of them were addressed at new work done by the licensed sub-contractors.
The most serious ones were electrical issues, even with the complete new service that had been upgraded.
The buyer decided not to exercise the option to purchase because of the enormity of the list.
The combination of the incompetent work of the licensed sub-contractors and the inability of the building inspector to condemn the work, for whatever the reasons, caused the loss of the sale.
This is another example of why it is always best to have a licensed home inspector go through a home before it is placed on the market.
It reduces the chances of surprises.
BILL CHERRY
Realtor-Broker
Since 1966
Keller Williams Dallas Premier
Direct: 214 503-8563
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