You know what really grinds my gears? Home sellers that did not properly fill out the sellers disclosure.
In our line of work we see all kinds of issues with homes. During the Buyer’s home inspection we find things like bad foundations, mold in the very tight crawl space, extremely unsafe electrical wiring in the 2nd floor attic, etc. etc. Once we find these items we cant help but think why the seller not disclose these items?
So here is the thing.
The sellers failed to disclose these items and this put the Buyer in a bad situation. The Buyer spent money on the home inspection, the appraisal, the well and septic inspection, and environmental testing. They have 2k wrapped up in the home buying process and now their money is at risk.
Furthermore, the buyer spent a lot of time finding the perfect house, stopped looking at other houses, and now their dreams of moving into their new home are crushed because of the unforeseen deficiencies which were found at the last minute. Undisclosed deficiencies are terrible for Buyers, but it’s actually terrible for Sellers because now the Seller is viewed as trying for hide something vs being viewed as honest and transparent.
The first thought for me is WHY did the Seller NOT disclose this stuff and I feel terrible for the Buyer.
Now the Buyer has possibly lost out on other homes, wasted a lot of money on the home buying process and it’s all caused by a seller who is either unwilling to disclose issues or does not have the money to properly fix the issues.
My second thought is to stop and think about it from a different angle.
Maybe when the Seller bought the home they did not have an inspection, or maybe they had an inspection performed by a sub standard home inspector? Maybe the inspector did not get in the crawl space? Maybe the inspector could not inspect the attic due to stored items blocking access? Maybe the Seller simply lived in the house for 30 plus years, the deficiencies occurred over time, and the Seller was truly unaware of the problems?
Sooooo how do we combat these issues?
A pre-listing home inspection. Period.
An inspection of the house prior to listing it for sale gives the Seller an opportunity to give full disclosure and be 100 percent transparent. The seller can have major items repaired and save money being proactive vs being reactive. The Seller can simply choose to disclose deficiencies, not make repairs, and price the house in accordance to its condition.
The entire Pre Listing Inspection process protects the Seller, the Buyer, the Real Estate Agent, and the Home Inspector.
Now if the seller does know about issues and chooses not to disclose them then... Well that's a chat for another day....
Check out our Seller Inspection page and let us help you get the advantage you need.
Joe Mishak - Aardvark Home Inspectors Inc.
