Q: After two long years, we finally received an offer on our home. The buyer requested a whole-house inspection that was performed, and we then received a "letter of response" from the buyer's realtor. One request asked for the furnace to be checked further by a licensed heating contractor, which we did. The furnace was leaking water from the air conditioner, which was repaired. We submitted the receipt to the buyer's agent.
Now three days before we are to close on the home, the buyers did a "walk-through" and brought another heating contractor with them. He checked the furnace and found additional items that he said needed to be repaired. The buyer wants an additional $450 to fix the furnace. My realtor said to give them the money so that the house would go to closing, but I'm upset at this whole process. Do you, as a master home inspector, have any idea how I should proceed?
A: Stop the presses! I'm usually on the other side of the home sale, working for the buyer. But my understanding is that once the home has been inspected and the inspection results have been agreed to, you have a contract to sell the home. I can't think of any instance where the buyer is allowed to request repairs over and over again after the contract is accepted.
For example, if you have agreed to repair the furnace, what is to stop the buyers from asking for a new roof or a new dishwasher later in the process? Where is the cutoff point? I talked to a local attorney, an expert in real-estate transactions, and he said that, in his opinion, the inspection portion of the real-estate contract was flawed. The contract allows the selling agent to enter "whole-house inspection" on the contract, but in his opinion, the contract should read "inspection of the major components."
Having inspected homes for more than 28 years, I have sometimes discovered unprofessional or untrained home inspectors who list such things as painting defects, dirty carpet or loose cabinet doors, which are not major components of the home. In your case, the home inspector either did not know or was too intimidated to list the condensate leak as a minor defect, which normally requires a simple cleaning of the cooling coil and pan.
Bringing in a third party just before closing will also bring in a third opinion, which is not valid to the purchase contract agreement. In Indiana, for example, the time limit to perform and respond to the inspection is normally 15 days or less. I talked to several real-estate agents, and they all agree that the biggest hurdle to selling a home after it has been inspected is the repair agreement: Who is to do what, when and by whom? When the homeowners make the repairs or hire a professional to do the repairs, the buyers should ask for a re-inspection, in order to protect their interest before taking possession of the home. However, this does not give them a right to add to the original list of repairs.
When the sellers agree to make a monetary settlement for the repairs, the buyers can use the money to hire contractors of their choice, thus guaranteeing a proper repair. Your buyer has made a monetary request long after all other items in the contract had been agreed to, which, in the opinion of an experienced real-estate attorney, you can refuse and still hold the buyer responsible under the terms of the original agreement.
(Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors. Write to him with home-improvement questions at C. Dwight Barnett, Evansville Courier & Press, P.O. Box 286, Evansville, Ind. 47702 or e-mail him at d.Barnett(at)insightbb.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
HOME MAINTENANCE
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