Inspection Report

[Deleted]

On one of the FB sites, someone is offering to sell a copy of the house inspection report for $50.  Alabama is a "buyer beware" state so you don't have to automatically disclose.  I don't think you can lie if asked directly.

Anyway, the FB seller is complaining that the seller won't make any repairs.  I looked at the listing, and it says "as is.". It actually looks like almost a flip with a lot of new stuff like hvac and roof.  I have no idea of the buyer's complaint since I am not willing to pay $50 to satisfy idle curiosity.

I think the post is tacky, but maybe it is a brilliant way to recover their $300 home inspection fee and give the finger to the seller.

What do you think?

[Deleted]

I've heard of people ordering an inspection to see what might be found. Then they fix the problems and offer the report and list of repairs to their buyers. I think they do it hoping the buyer won't order their own inspection that might find other things. 

[Bonny]

Sept 29, 2020 21:44:12 GMT -5 @shastasnewlife said:

I've heard of people ordering an inspection to see what might be found. Then they fix the problems and offer the report and list of repairs to their buyers. I think they do it hoping the buyer won't order their own inspection that might find other things. 

I always encourage sellers to get a pre-market inspection and repair the major items. As a seller you don't want to be manipulated by a buyer's inspection report which can make things sound worse than they are as a negotiating tactic.

Everyone should get their own inspection report. And while we're all human and we all miss things the reports should align if everyone is honest and professional.

[Tiny]

I agree with Bonny - that every one should get their own inspection report.    They might also want to get a City Inspection if the local government has requirements for the sale/purchase of houses. 

 
As for the OP's question, it kind of feels like Drama to me rather than there's something horribly wrong with the house. 

I've witnessed quite a bit of "home buying" drama  and "home selling" drama from friends and sometimes family.   things like the lack of GCFI outlets in kitchens/baths (even though not needed because of the local codes) and the paint on the walls or disliked carpeting or not liking the appliances... and those are spoken of as "repairs"   and  it's all DRAMA.     It all works out in the end, though. 

(I think this is why I like fixer uppers... they are usually so rough stuff like outlets and paint color pale in comparison to discussing HVAC, roofs, windows, plumbing and electric that the house needs.  there's generally no drama involved in that discussion.)   

 

[tskeeter]

The thing that gets me is that some buyers think that the seller is legally required to make any repairs recommended in an inspection report.

Not.

The repair of any identified deficiencies is negotiated between the buyer and seller.

In our area, the standard real estate purchase offer contains a section that specifies an amount that the seller agrees to spend on repairs.  When we sold Dad’s house, the buyer asked for up to $2,500 in repairs.  We countered with $500 because the house was only a year old.

The down side to this approach is that many buyers/realtors consider the repair allowance as a way to reduce the purchase price of the house.  The inspection provides a laundry list of repairs and maintenance and the buyer offers to settle for cash equal to the repair allowance rather than the seller making the repairs.  On Dad’s house, the agent representing the buyer was surprised that we wouldn’t just write the buyer a $500 check.  Instead, I spent $35 on a couple of tubes of caulk and a quart of paint.

[Deleted]

I don’t really understand who would pay $50 for an inspection report if they aren’t interested in buying that particular house. I must be missing or misunderstanding something in the OP.

The day we had our inspection, it just happened to have been raining. The fireplace was wet. The guy that did the inspection for us seemed very thorough. DBF has been advised to wear clothes he didn’t mind getting dirty, a good thing because the man doing the inspection took the time to show DBF this and that, even in the attic. The wet fireplace was the only biggie he found, he even said he expected to find more issues, I guess because of the age of the house.

We asked the sellers to fix the water in the fireplace issue. Neither of us had ever lived somewhere with a big chimney on the house, and potential issues with it made me nervous. Water being where it’s not suppose to be in a house is also always a big deal to me. They came back with hiw they’d always used the fireplace and never had an issue with it, blah blah blah. Sir, I doubt the chimney just started leaking like this today, since the whole fireplace is wet and it didn’t rain THAT much today.

They ended up throwing a few dollars our way (but not enough to fix the chimney!), and we went ahead and closed the deal. When we had a company out to look at the chimney, they advised us not to use the fireplace until we had everything cleaned because it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a while, due to the buildup of creosote. The back of the fireplace had also been built up again, which was obvious to even us. We had a lot of minor issues, thankfully no big ones. I would’ve been upset if we’d had to rebuild the whole chimney because it’s not a small structure, so $$$$. As it was, it cost us about $4k to stop the water from coming in through the chimney, and clean and repair the inside.

[Deleted]

Oct 10, 2020 16:44:36 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I don’t really understand who would pay $50 for an inspection report if they aren’t interested in buying that particular house. I must be missing or misunderstanding something in the OP.

Personally, I think the person selling the inspection report was trying to get back at the seller.  It is a way to publicly say, "Don't buy this house!"  

But the person selling the report said that selling a previously interested party's inspection report was done all the time in Florida.  It was a way to recover the money you spent on the inspection.

It sounded passive/aggressive to me. 

[Deleted]

Oct 10, 2020 16:53:48 GMT -5 @bamafan1954 said:

Oct 10, 2020 16:44:36 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I don’t really understand who would pay $50 for an inspection report if they aren’t interested in buying that particular house. I must be missing or misunderstanding something in the OP.

Personally, I think the person selling the inspection report was trying to get back at the seller.  It is a way to publicly say, "Don't buy this house!"  

But the person selling the report said that selling a previously interested party's inspection report was done all the time in Florida.  It was a way to recover the money you spent on the inspection.

It sounded passive/aggressive to me. 

Ok. When I was looking for my first house, I paid for an inspection report on a property I ended up not buying. It was very detailed, a lot of minor stuff, but no major issues. I ended up backing out of the deal because it was a condo and I was preapproved for a FHA loan, but they wouldn’t finance the condo because the association didn’t have enough money in reserves to satisfy them.

The sellers had moved out of town and threw all kinds of money and concessions at me to try to get me to buy it anyway, I could’ve gotten a conventional loan but I didn’t. I wasn’t sure about buying a condo in the first place, I was just tired of looking. So I took the “no” on the FHA loan as a sign that I shouldn’t buy it. If I’d really wanted it, I would’ve gotten a great deal since the sellers were so generous, trying to just get rid of it.

It never occurred to me to try to sell the inspection report though. But that was also before the internet became what it is today, so it probably wouldn’t have been all that easy to sell it anyway.

[mroped]

I’m a bit confused here: an inspector that did a home inspection for someone is putting up for sale the report of findings of his inspection to the potential buyers. Did I get that right?

I get hired here and there for chimney/fireplace inspections by buyer/seller or agents. The report of my findings gets turned to the person that hired me. Under no circumstances can I sell that same report to someone else. I personally consider that a breach of contract not to mention shady business practices.

[laterbloomer]

Oct 10, 2020 20:52:16 GMT -5 mroped said:

I’m a bit confused here: an inspector that did a home inspection for someone is putting up for sale the report of findings of his inspection to the potential buyers. Did I get that right?

I get hired here and there for chimney/fireplace inspections by buyer/seller or agents. The report of my findings gets turned to the person that hired me. Under no circumstances can I sell that same report to someone else. I personally consider that a breach of contract not to mention shady business practices.

The people that paid for the report are selling copies.

[happyhoix]

Oct 10, 2020 16:53:48 GMT -5 @bamafan1954 said:

Oct 10, 2020 16:44:36 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I don’t really understand who would pay $50 for an inspection report if they aren’t interested in buying that particular house. I must be missing or misunderstanding something in the OP.

Personally, I think the person selling the inspection report was trying to get back at the seller.  It is a way to publicly say, "Don't buy this house!"  

But the person selling the report said that selling a previously interested party's inspection report was done all the time in Florida.  It was a way to recover the money you spent on the inspection.

It sounded passive/aggressive to me. 

I don’t think paying for an inspection on a house you end up not buying is that unusual. Not sure why that guy is whining.

Years ago we did an inspection and put an offer on a house that ended up not going to closing because the home owner had a 40k lien on the house. Not only did we pay for the inspection, we sold our existing house and ended up having to move into a rental apartment for a few months because we were legally obligated to wait to see if the house owners could resolve their loan issues before we could put a bid on another house. All because this asshole failed to disclose the lien on his property.

That was whine worthy, but I found out after the fact that this guy had really screwed over someone else in a real estate deal before us (small towns and gossip) and it was probably a blessing in disguise that the deal fell through. In fact being unable to sell his house to us was probably karma smiting him. So it’s all good.

[Deleted]

Oct 11, 2020 10:05:31 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Oct 10, 2020 16:53:48 GMT -5 @bamafan1954 said:

Personally, I think the person selling the inspection report was trying to get back at the seller.  It is a way to publicly say, "Don't buy this house!"  

But the person selling the report said that selling a previously interested party's inspection report was done all the time in Florida.  It was a way to recover the money you spent on the inspection.

It sounded passive/aggressive to me. 

I don’t think paying for an inspection on a house you end up not buying is that unusual. Not sure why that guy is whining.

Years ago we did an inspection and put an offer on a house that ended up not going to closing because the home owner had a 40k lien on the house. Not only did we pay for the inspection, we sold our existing house and ended up having to move into a rental apartment for a few months because we were legally obligated to wait to see if the house owners could resolve their loan issues before we could put a bid on another house. All because this asshole failed to disclose the lien on his property.

That was whine worthy, but I found out after the fact that this guy had really screwed over someone else in a real estate deal before us (small towns and gossip) and it was probably a blessing in disguise that the deal fell through. In fact being unable to sell his house to us was probably karma smiting him. So it’s all good.

I agree.  In fact, the purpose of an inspection is to make sure you want to buy a particular house.

My guess is that the buyer fell into the camp who believes that a seller must fix everything on an inspection list.  When the seller didn't, the buyer tried to ensure that nobody buys the house.

[resolution]

We just got our inspection report for a home that we would like to purchase and it is 48 pages long. There is a four page bulleted list of items that he found, but I think there was a lot more value of being there during the inspection to discuss things as he found them rather than just reading the report without context. I don't think I would have gotten as much out of reading someone else's report.

It's hard to judge what is reasonable to request to be fixed a off of such a long list.