- Find a Real Estate Professional
- Realtors®
- Mortgage Lenders
- Home Improvement Pros
- Other Real Estate Services
- Review an Agent, Lender or Pro
- Marketing on Zillow
- Real Estate Agent Advertising
- Join the Professional Directory
- Popular
- Real Estate Market Reports
- More
Replies (19)
- Naima Sumner, "Dallas Ft. Worth PRO"
- Contributions:2847
Do you know for a fact that the owners knew that the pipes had rust? I'm not sure what your question is.
Naima
- Randy Mabry, "Randy Mabry"
- Contributions:190
I try to advise the sellers to do a home inspection before or at the time of listing. It is a small cost and can avoid huge problems and save them money. If this had been found before the sale, it would have been fixed already and could not be a deal breaker or a costly repair. Usually if these issues are fixed before the offer, then the sellers will actually leave with more money, close quicker and prevent deal breaking findings.
- wetdawgs
- Contributions:26841
This is exactly why buyers have home inspection contingencies. Sounds like it worked exactly like it was supposed to work.
If a seller does not know about a problem, the seller is not responsible for declaring it.
- Jessica Cook, "Jessica Cook"
- Contributions:115
The buyer was not happy about paying for the inspection and the deal falling through. The seller did know about the rust, and didn't want it to take from the value of the home. They really lost because they were in escrow on another home which was contingent on the sale of this home and escrow fell out too. If the sellers had disclosed they could have avoided all of this in several ways and made everyone happy.
- SoCal_Engr
- Contributions:5666
What about the agent explaining to the seller that it is in their interest to disclose, and possibly implement repairs, in anticipation of the buyer's inspection? Surely, the inspection wasn't a surprise to the agent - and the agent should have enough experience to know that certain defects are bound to be found and impact the transaction.
If I were a listing agent, I would probably have an inspector on retainer for all of my listings - as a "service" to the sellers...and protection for me. Unless of course, I would rather be able to plead ignorance when the defects are discovered and blame the owner for not disclosing.
If I were a listing agent, I would probably have an inspector on retainer for all of my listings - as a "service" to the sellers...and protection for me. Unless of course, I would rather be able to plead ignorance when the defects are discovered and blame the owner for not disclosing.
- Georgina OBryan, "GOBryan1"
- Contributions:483
Sellers can only disclose if they know about the problem. Rusted pipes may not have been discovered until the inspection. If they knew, then it's their duty to disclose it.
We have a Seller's Disclosure form which is about 5 or 6 pages long where it's broken down in catagories that must be answered. I then review the disclosure to make sure everything is answered accordingly. It's then scanned and placed on MLS.
We have a Seller's Disclosure form which is about 5 or 6 pages long where it's broken down in catagories that must be answered. I then review the disclosure to make sure everything is answered accordingly. It's then scanned and placed on MLS.
- Jessica Cook, "Jessica Cook"
- Contributions:115
I am unsure what conversations went on between the agent and the seller, the agent claims they did not know of the issue, until after the inspection. I think having an inspector available for the sellers is a great idea or in a standard sale doing the inspection before putting it on the market and including the report in the transaction. This way there is no surprises. What do you think? Actually, did you know HUD includes an inspection with their listings?
- Naima Sumner, "Dallas Ft. Worth PRO"
- Contributions:2847
A pre- listing inspection is something of the past. In today's market, sellers don't have the equity in the home where they can spend hundreds of dollars when they don't know how long the home will be on the market, if it will sell and if they are not going to end up doing a short sale.
Most buyers if not ALL buyers will do their own inspection thinking that the inspector used by the seller was bias and didn't disclose everything.
You can get 3 inspections on the same home and have 3 different findings. Most inspectors will find a problem with a home even if there isn't one to justify to the buyer that they did a good job. I had an inspector 30 days ago recommend on his report for the buyer to "budget for the purchase of elongated toilets because the round toilets are a thing of the past." despite the current round toilets functioning properly.
Most buyers when shown an inspection report and told that some of the findinding if not ALL the finding were taken care of by the seller may pass on the home thinking that may be the problem will return.
The inspection report has to be disclosed to any future buyer up to 4 years from the time it is dated. (at least in TX it is)
So IMO, pre-listing inspections could be a disservice to the seller the majority of the time. These are all scenarios that I have encountered in the last 15 years practicing real estate.
Naima
Most buyers if not ALL buyers will do their own inspection thinking that the inspector used by the seller was bias and didn't disclose everything.
You can get 3 inspections on the same home and have 3 different findings. Most inspectors will find a problem with a home even if there isn't one to justify to the buyer that they did a good job. I had an inspector 30 days ago recommend on his report for the buyer to "budget for the purchase of elongated toilets because the round toilets are a thing of the past." despite the current round toilets functioning properly.
Most buyers when shown an inspection report and told that some of the findinding if not ALL the finding were taken care of by the seller may pass on the home thinking that may be the problem will return.
The inspection report has to be disclosed to any future buyer up to 4 years from the time it is dated. (at least in TX it is)
So IMO, pre-listing inspections could be a disservice to the seller the majority of the time. These are all scenarios that I have encountered in the last 15 years practicing real estate.
Naima
- Joe Nernberg, "Building Inspector"
- Contributions:55
I must disagree. I have personally inspected nearly 6,000 homes and a pre-listing inspection could have saved many deals.
A pre-listing inspection can…
· Help identify motivated sellers
· Help make your listings more marketable
· Set your listings apart from the competition
· Help reduce contract fallouts
· Identify problems before a buyer sees the property
· Allow the property to show better with necessary repairs
· Can determine if seller has made needed repairs
· Help eliminate significant surprises should another inspection occur
· Help receive offers closer to the asking price
· Reduce the chance of losing a buyer
- SoCal_Engr
- Contributions:5666
"A pre- listing inspection is something of the past. In today's market, sellers don't have the equity in the home where they can spend hundreds of dollars when they don't know how long the home will be on the market, if it will sell and if they are not going to end up doing a short sale."
So, put lipstick on a pig and hope it sells? What's the sense in staging, painting, working on "curb appeal", getting photos, putting everything into the marketing pipeline, etc. if the basic structure has issues?
I'm sorry, but that response is a very lame "not my job" excuse. You know the inspection is coming, why not know ahead of time what you expect it to find (you know, "never ask a question unless you know what the answer will be.") As a pro, you should be able to get a little better rates than the typical consumer (i.e., volume). If you can pay this, great. If not, have the seller pay.
The bottom line is this...
How can you effectively market something when the most important questions are potentially unknown? Maybe the seller is intentionally holding back info and hopes it won't be found. Maybe the seller is really unaware what that the funny reddish color they see when they first turn on the tap means. Either way, the listing inspection (see, it can even be expressed in RE-speak) is a forcing function to protect all involved and help target the subsequent marketing effort.
So, put lipstick on a pig and hope it sells? What's the sense in staging, painting, working on "curb appeal", getting photos, putting everything into the marketing pipeline, etc. if the basic structure has issues?
I'm sorry, but that response is a very lame "not my job" excuse. You know the inspection is coming, why not know ahead of time what you expect it to find (you know, "never ask a question unless you know what the answer will be.") As a pro, you should be able to get a little better rates than the typical consumer (i.e., volume). If you can pay this, great. If not, have the seller pay.
The bottom line is this...
How can you effectively market something when the most important questions are potentially unknown? Maybe the seller is intentionally holding back info and hopes it won't be found. Maybe the seller is really unaware what that the funny reddish color they see when they first turn on the tap means. Either way, the listing inspection (see, it can even be expressed in RE-speak) is a forcing function to protect all involved and help target the subsequent marketing effort.
- wetdawgs
- Contributions:26841
@Naima: "a prelisting inspection is something of the past".
I would not hire an agent who expressed such an attitude. If I'm trying to sell a property, I want the buyers to be attracted to the property and have an inkling that it isn't going to be full of ugly surprises.
We've had pre-marketing inspections on every one of the houses we've sold in three different states over the last few decades (and we've corrected some issues). We still encourage buyers to have their own inspection done, but buyers have commented very positively about our initiative to identify and solve potential problems before putting on the market.
I would not hire an agent who expressed such an attitude. If I'm trying to sell a property, I want the buyers to be attracted to the property and have an inkling that it isn't going to be full of ugly surprises.
We've had pre-marketing inspections on every one of the houses we've sold in three different states over the last few decades (and we've corrected some issues). We still encourage buyers to have their own inspection done, but buyers have commented very positively about our initiative to identify and solve potential problems before putting on the market.
- Nancy Lee, "An OrderLee Home"
- Contributions:1195
I tell my staging clients that, while it is really exciting to watch on hgtv - the buyers found their dream home - will it pass inspection? if not, will the sellers address the issues? if not, will the buyers take them on? - it is not so exciting in real life when an unexpected fault causes the deal to fall through and leaves them with the dilemma of fix or reduce price.
On these boards, several inspectors have talked about going back and certifying the issue has been repaired/corrected. I really think that can be a key selling point - the sellers looked for problems (via the pre-inspection) and corrected them (via the certification of repair).
In this case, the sellers set themselves up. Effectively, they decided to risk being 'caught' rather than address a problem they knew existed.
On these boards, several inspectors have talked about going back and certifying the issue has been repaired/corrected. I really think that can be a key selling point - the sellers looked for problems (via the pre-inspection) and corrected them (via the certification of repair).
In this case, the sellers set themselves up. Effectively, they decided to risk being 'caught' rather than address a problem they knew existed.
- Jeff Konstant, "jkonstant"
- Contributions:1970
I have always encouraged a pre-listing inspection and repairs. I re-pay the seller by reducing the commission at settlement an amount equal to the average customary inspection costs. Agents & sellers are more likely to save money by discovering and addressing issues before a buyer comes along with their own opinions that very likely are clouded by emotions or misguided by their agent. Why would a seller give the power of post inspection negotiation back to the buyer?
- RobOBlee
- Contributions:5
We found out in our inspection that the house we were interested in was in an Alquist-Priolo zone, that is, basically, on top of the San Andreas fault, such that it was likely the fault would rupture under it when the big one hits. We were shocked. We thought this would normally be disclosed, by law. Turns out it had never been disclosed to seller either. Just that it was in an earthquake zone (like most of Southern California). Inspections are very important.
- Joe Nernberg, "Building Inspector"
- Contributions:55
Earthquake faults will never appear on a general home inspection. I believe that information will show up on Property ID or the Combined Hazards booklet provided by the Realtor(s).
Shout-out to Realtors: Is that booklet always presented with each transaction?
Shout-out to Realtors: Is that booklet always presented with each transaction?
- Nathan Colmer, "NathanColmer"
- Contributions:257
Seller's should disclose what they know. It will only come back to hurt them later as in the case of this post.
- Nathan Colmer, "NathanColmer"
- Contributions:257
If the seller knew they should have said something..the truth came out anyway!
- Jessica Cook, "Jessica Cook"
- Contributions:115
Yes I am required to present that handbook. A natural hazard disclosure report is also required before each closing.
- sierralux
- Contributions:30
They probably didn't know... they would have said something... everyone gets an inspection and it would have showed up. Why would they hide it? That's why there is time for the buyer to inspect.
Sellers must disclose
-
- 5.0/5.0
- (10 reviews)
Contributions:115Stating a discriminatory preference in an advertisement for housing is illegal. If you think this content is discriminatory or otherwise inappropriate and feel it should be removed from Zillow, please let us know by completing the information above.
We will review this content. Thanks for helping make the site more useful to everyone. To learn more, read Zillow's Good Neighbor Policy.