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A Termite Inspection, an HOA and a Letter of Intent

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Real Estate Agent with Movoto DRE #01485322

 All I Wanted was a Termite Inspection 

What I Got was a Process

 

When I get a condo or town house listing, one of the first things I do is contact the homeowner's association (HOA) to get the name and number for their contracted termite company so I can schedule an inspection.  

 

This is usually just a phone call to the HOA management company and another to the termite company to schedule the appointment.  Not this time.  

 

I had a condo listing in Aliso Viejo and the management company had a process.

 

 1. The first step in the process was to go to the management company website.

May I please have the name of the contracted company?  No.

 

2. Click the escrow services tab which will lead to the community archives website.  

I have to visit another website?

 

3. Click the tab to create a new account.  

Are you kidding me?!

 

4. Register there and purchase the termite package. The $50 that the seller will be paying on our community archives website applies to the processing fee and letter of intent.  

Register for an account?  Pay for a Processing Fee and Letter of Intent?!  

For a termite inspection?  This is nuts. 

 

The homeowners association (HOA) offers the option to the seller to pay an additional fee to expedite the process.  The suspicious part of me thinks this is because the HOA has no intention of working in a timely fashion.  The seller paid the fee out of concern that delays would cause the contingency timeline to be blown.

 

5. The termite company will charging separately for the inspection.

It's fair for the termite company to charge an inspection fee.

 

6. The management company contacts the termite company within a day of receipt of payment.  The termite company contacts me the same or next day after the management company calls them.

This is a waste of time and cuts into the contingency period. 

 

I did call the termite company directly, but they referred me back to the HOA management company.  They would not make the appointment with me directly.

 

There I s no good reason for this roadblocking approach.  This is what makes people have negative feelings toward HOA's and the management companies.

 

Things should be streamlined to create an excellent customer experience.  Hopefully, we see a return to such an experience.

 

 

🌻

Interested in buying or selling your Orange County, CA home?

Contact me today to get started!

JILL MURTY | 949.355.5321 

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Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

I love it just as much as you think I do Chris and Dick Dovorany.  😡

Sep 09, 2015 07:09 AM
Rob Thomas
Prestige Homes of The Tri Cities, Inc. CALL....423-341-6954 - Bristol, TN
Bristol TN-VA & Tri Cities Agent, ABR, GRI, e-Pro

Some just seem more difficult than others ...it just comes comes down to people wanting to help others and making it easy ....some do ....some don't!

Great post!

Sep 09, 2015 07:29 AM
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

I like facilitators much better than road blockers Rob Thomas.

Sep 09, 2015 07:37 AM
Bob "RealMan" Timm
Ward County Notary Services - Minot, ND
Owner of Ward Co Notary Services retired RE Broker

Sounds like a racket Jill Murty, Realtor - Serving Orange County, CA  I'd bet any amount of money that the HOA Presidents Uncle Ernie owns the termite inspection company. I'd also caution my Buyer that if this is how they handle this little thing they can expect a lot of "red tape" on everything else as long as they live there. BTW it's to cold for termites in ND.

Sep 09, 2015 08:01 AM
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

No termites is a great upside to the cold weather in ND Bob "RealMan" Timm!

Sep 09, 2015 08:14 AM
Evelyn Johnston
Friends & Neighbors Real Estate - Elkhart, IN
The People You Know, Like and Trust!

A fee plus a rush charge, if the residents got together they could change the rules of the HOA.  Sadly most of them only find out about this when they want to sell.

Sep 09, 2015 11:35 AM
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

You are absolutely correct Evelyn Johnston.  It's too much money.  I really see it as unearned funds with the exception of the inspection fee.  The residents should get together on this, but they don't.

Sep 09, 2015 12:02 PM
Lou Ludwig
Ludwig & Associates - Boca Raton, FL
Designations Earned CRB, CRS, CIPS, GRI, SRES, TRC

Jill

Some associations are very cooperative . . . . and some are not. Frankly it no was to treat a homeowner.

Good luck and success.

Lou Ludwig

Sep 09, 2015 01:17 PM
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

 Lou Ludwig -

It seems that the HOA's decided that since the homeowner has no choice but to deal with them, that they can treat them badly.  Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Sep 09, 2015 01:31 PM
Joe Petrowsky
Mortgage Consultant, Right Trac Financial Group, Inc. NMLS # 2709 - Manchester, CT
Your Mortgage Consultant for Life

Good morning Jill. We do battle with condo management companies all the time, not sure what some of them are thinking, but as you said, they can make the process we a pain in the A$$.

Sep 10, 2015 12:11 AM
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

It's just baffling to me why it must be a battle.  It's not as though the termite inspections and HOA docs for that matter are unique or unusual requests Joe Petrowsky.

Sep 10, 2015 12:22 AM
Larry Lawfer
YourStories Realty Group - Newton, MA
"I listen for a living." It's all about you.

There are just some HOA's you will love to avoid. This process is such a waste of time and energy, what a shame.  This is the kind of listing I might refer to someone if given a second chance.  That, or now that I know the process I am all set with being frustrated by it.

Sep 10, 2015 01:59 AM
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

Larry Lawfer - Now that I know what it is, I can advise sellers that the HOA has a surprising process to obtain a simple termite inspection.

Sep 10, 2015 02:21 AM
Troy Erickson AZ Realtor (602) 295-6807
HomeSmart - Chandler, AZ
Your Chandler, Ahwatukee, and East Valley Realtor

Jill - I have run into some similar situations with HOA's in our area. They make the process so difficult to do the simplest things, and do anything they can to add extra charges. It has gotten a little out of hand in some cases, that's for sure.

Sep 10, 2015 06:02 AM
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

It's ridiculous Troy Erickson.  I'd almost rather pay to avoid the process.

Sep 10, 2015 06:16 AM
Pat Starnes-Front Gate Realty
Front Gate Real Estate - Brandon, MS
601-991-2900 Office; 601-278-4513 Cell

How many units are in this condo association? It's a shame they make this "process" so time-consuming and make people register just to get a response. And it's a listing, not a sale, so do you have to update your termite inspection when the sale closes? 

Sep 10, 2015 02:00 PM
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

Pat Starnes - The "process".  I wanted to kick that process to the curb. 

There are 416 units.  The HOA management company creates too many unnecessary tasks blocking me from calling the termite company and scheduling an appointment.  It should be one phone call.

Termite reports are generally good for three months.  If things go well, a second report shouldn't be necessary.

The Letter of Intent blew me away.  A LOI?  It's a termite inspection, people!!

Sep 10, 2015 02:08 PM
Pat Starnes-Front Gate Realty
Front Gate Real Estate - Brandon, MS
601-991-2900 Office; 601-278-4513 Cell

Understand your termite reports being good for three months. Here in Brandon, termites are rampant, so our reports are only good for 30 days. 

Sep 10, 2015 02:16 PM
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

Jill, there are so many condo boards who don't pay attention to all of the small ways their management company can mess with sales transactions - and impact the property values in the process.  

Sep 11, 2015 12:55 AM
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

You sure are right Patricia Kennedy!  The buyer's agent wonders why it takes so much time to get the I nspection scheduled and I have to explain that I'm blocked by the HOA management company from making a simple phone call to schedule it.

Sep 11, 2015 01:04 AM
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Service Areas

  • Laguna Niguel, CA
  • Orange County, CA
  • Mission Viejo, CA
  • Laguna Hills, CA
  • Aliso Viejo, CA
  • Capistrano Beach, CA
  • Dana Point, CA
  • San Juan Capistrano, CA

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