A great real estate deal can turn sour in the blink of an eye with a bad home inspections, but award-winning real estate coaches Tim and Julie Harris focus on the issue and offer points to avoid losing deals to poor inspections and under-qualified inspectors.
Today, the inspection is something that is used by buyers agents to re-negotiate the contract, notes Tim Harris, and this is not what an inspection is intended to be about.
“A home inspection is supposed to be something that is obviously used to give the buyer an opportunity to clearly understand the condition to the property and to give the seller the opportunity to decide if they want to fix whatever items are wrong with the property,” he explained.
The inspection has been twisted into something in which the agent can take a nickel-and-dime repair and turn it into something that may escalate to thousands of dollars just for the sake of placating their buyers. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the issues raised are even legitimate.
Nine times out of 10, inspection issues are the result of agents that don’t know how to negotiate with their sellers or buyers. Tim also points out that they also may not adequately prepare their clients for home inspection issues that typically come up with most listings.
Why is this happening?
“Does the buyer suddenly decide they want $25,000 off?” Tim Harris said. “Or is it the agent who is trying to play games and justify their commission? Very rarely does the buyer want to lose it over inspection. It is the agents who are losing homes over inspections.”
Julie Harris said agents should stop playing home inspector. Some buyer agents haven’t had adequate coaching to be able to handle home inspections and should know when to back off and avoid risk losing a home for their clients.
“The agent somehow thinks they are obligated to point out all of the things wrong with the house, even if the buyer is not concerned and whether it is even accurate or not,” Julie Harris said.
This means that one of two things may be occurring: The agent may talk the buyer out of buying the house or unsettle them about the home inspection process when they are under contract.
To head off these problems, savvy listing agents are advising their sellers to have their homes pre-inspected. Knowing that an inspection can be a deal killer, this can head that potential problem off from the very start.
“The sellers can get in front of issues and fix them while they are still in control,” Julie Harris said. “Whenever your clients feel out of control, it creates problems for you and for them and causes unnecessary stress.”
Inspections items can be taken care of while your clients are in control. They can choose the contractor and know that repairs are legitimate and done correctly and at an affordable cost.
“You have a pre-inspection report with an HVAC certification of all of the repairs done sitting on the counter,” Julie Harris said. “The buyer doesn’t even have to have an inspection of they don’t want one. This gives you an edge vs. the competition.”
Tim Harris noted there are some home warranties available that offer sellers’ coverage. You can start the home warranty when you take the listing, have the home pre-inspected and have the home warranty company fix whatever is wrong before you even receive a contract.
“If you are in a competitive listing situation and are competing with three other agents who don’t know what we just told you, how much more attractive are you going to be to that prospective seller?” Tim Harris pointed out.
As a seller’s agent, a pre-listing inspection to make the sale as quick and as simple as possible.
