Hello and welcome. Today wanted to talk about the other side of home inspection from a seller’s perspective. Home inspection is something that happens during the due diligence process at 30 to 40 days.
And that’s when a buyer will inevitably get a home inspection done on your property. Once the inspection is done by a licensed professional, there are a number of items on that list that the buyer will either ask for, or will ask for a credit. Very rarely does a buyer get a home inspection done and not ask for anything on that list.
So be prepared when the home inspection is conducted, there will be a list and they will ask for something on that list. Sometimes home inspections can be very scary to the seller the way they read. And I think it’s mainly legalities that a home inspector has to follow. It is scary.
Oftentimes it will say on any, even minute, minuscule problem has to be addressed by a licensed contractor, a licensed professional, a licensed HVAC person, plumber, electrician, etc. Many times that is not the case, a general handy person who is good at what they do can handle many of those problems.
Now, if it’s something very specialized, for example, say it’s a circuit breaker that needs to be replaced in the junction box. That might be something where a, buyer’s going to say, I do want a licensed electrician to do that, and myself, I agree with something like that. But many times it doesn’t need to be a licensed professional.
But anyway, getting back to the list. So one of two things will happen. The buyer will ask for the repairs to be done, or credit will be given. If the repairs are going to be done, that’s where the buyer has to actually specify “licensed electrician”, “licensed professional”, etc. Negotiating for a seller, I oftentimes recommend we go back to the buyer or buyer’s agent and say: “Hey, these items are important for a licensed professional to do, but these items, a general handy person can do.
If it’s a credit, that’s a very easy thing to handle. The buyer will come up with a number that they think in their mind takes care of the list and that’s done at closing.
So a few things about getting the repairs done. You are now liable for these repairs. I always like as a seller’s agent, if we can just get a credit and move forward, meaning once we get these repairs done in six months, if those repairs don’t hold up, that buyer, you bet is going to be asking myself as your broker and you: “Hey, these repairs didn’t hold up, we want to get it fixed. So that’s where I’m going to say, make sure whoever is doing these repairs, they are good at what they do. Obviously a licensed professional we don’t need to worry about because they have their own sets of insurances and things to go back on. But if we’re using a general handy person, we just want to make sure again, that they’re good at what they do, they do have insurance, things like that.
So to recap, home inspection during the due diligence process. Inevitably, a buyer is either going to ask for repairs or ask for a credit. And if it’s a credit, they’re going to come up with their own figure in their mind. That’s what I prefer as a seller’s agent.
But if we do get those repairs done, make sure the licensed professional and the handy person are good at what they do, they have good reviews so if something does come up in the future, or after the sale has happened, you can go back to them and say: “Hey, this repaired and didn’t hold up!”
As always, thank you so much for having me. If you have any questions at all on home inspection, please let us know.
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About Nolan Formalarie
Nolan Formalarie has been in the North Carolina Real Estate Industry for over 8 years and enjoys every minute of it. He is involved in every aspect of the industry including selling and purchasing residential property, home watch services, property management, association management and construction.
