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The Home Inspector
Is Coming
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Make
sure your client understands the importance of a having a home
inspection while the
house is in escrow. Disclosure laws and real estate practices
vary, but nothing should hinder
the home inspector from working quickly and efficiently.
To
ensure a smooth, successful professional inspection,
the seller should be advised to:
1. Leave the premises.
The homeowner should allow the real
estate agent to show the home
to the inspector and prospective
buyer. The inspection will
take at least two hours, depending on the size and age of the
home.
2. Be polite.
The inspector is
not the seller’s enemy.
The inspector’s role is
not to find reasons for
the buyer to cancel the
transaction: It’s to offer all
parties a fair assessment of the
property. So the seller
should always treat the inspector
professionally. Remind the seller
to respect the inspector’s time by calling
to set up another appointment if access
to the property won’t be possible at
the scheduled time.
3. Don’t argue during the inspection.
A homeowner who is present during the inspection
should not trail along behind the
inspector and real estate agent. After the
report is written, there will be time to respond
to the inspector’s findings.
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4.
Don’t make statements based on
guesswork.
Real estate deals are major financial
transactions. A seller who does
not know the answer to an inspector’s question,
should say so. 
5. Grant all access.
To do an efficient job, the
inspector needs to have access to all the
living areas of the home. If a seller does
not allow an inspector into a particular
area, the restriction will be noted
in the inspection report. Which will
surely raise potential buyers’ suspicions.
6. Make agreed upon repairs promptly.
Your client may be asked to make repairs
based upon the results of the inspection
report. Advise your client to do
so promptly. After all, the more quickly
the repairs are made, the sooner the
contingency will be met and the deal can
be finalized. Why delay the closing of
escrow?
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Alban is proud to offer FREE Continuing
Education Courses in Real Estate Offices!Call Melissa For
Information and to Schedule at 301-404-8104 or
301-607-8114. | |
From the desk of . . .
Arthur S.
Lazerow
50,000 Watts On The Radio
Real Estate
Today,
heard every Saturday morning from
10 to 11 a.m. on WMET, 1160 AM, is now broadcast
on a 50,000-watt signal. We can be heard from
Baltimore to Richmond, from Annapolis to Hagerstown.
In short, Real Estate
Today, with Donna
Evers and me as Co-Hosts, can be heard throughout
Alban’s entire market area.
Join me for an in-depth
discussion of those hot real estate
issues that impact on Realtor’s business and client’s
lives. In addition, our weekly guests are experts
in their fields. Past guests have included both
real estate and settlement lawyers, landscape and
interior space designers, garden experts, mold and
lead-based paint professionals, a new construction home
inspection specialist, and an elder-care housing
consultant, plus others.
A real estate broker and a home inspector are an odd couple,
but this makes for interesting dialogue. Donna
Evers, my co-host, is owner and broker of Evers
and Co., specializing in fine metropolitan Washington
properties. My 30+ years experience as a homebuilder
and developer, lawyer and home inspector
combined with Donna’s 30+ years of experience
provides a lifetime of real estate related knowledge.
And have we got stories to tell!
We add spice to the show with a weekly financial update
by our "Mortgage
Mogul" and a very
interesting Historic Moment focusing on
significant properties in our
area. If LIBOR, 203K, Freddy-Mac and
the fact that George Washington at Mt. Vernon was
one of America’s leading distillers is beyond your
knowledge base, tune into 1160 AM Saturdays from
10 to 11 a.m. for these and many more answers to
the questions you have and the questions you have
not thought to ask.
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