When you sell a property, how do you handle the inspection after a sale price is accepted? I have sold 8 rental properties in past 3 years and in my area the inspector always comes up with pages of defects. Just doing their jobs I guess. Then invariably the inspection is used as a lever demand a lowering of the negotiated price when I intend to sell as is and am asking a reasonable price. I am sick of this practice and usually negotiate a bit, but twice I just walked. Anyone else put off by this?

Being sold "AS IS".

Inspections may be done for informational purposes only (quickly)

I clarify it verbally as I will not entertain a wish list of small items & personal preferences - knowing for certain that there are no safety issues.

A few years ago the inspector went bonkers. A cement walkway was.25

Inches higher at a separation, the shower dripped for 10 seconds after off and 4 or 5 wall receptacles were not straight. I told the buyer I will fix the important items but not the foolish items. The water heater straps were not within the recommended locations.

The buyer took AS IS all the stupid stuff.

Answering the first sentence "When you sell a property, how do you handle the inspection after a sale price is accepted?"

To clarify: This is during a seller's market.

Most houses are sold here "As Is Where Is." That's fine. But doesn't stop us for asking for price concessions if we find HIDDEN issues.

So we put a contract in at full price subject to inspections and due diligence. In NC you can walk at any time for no reason at all (it's bad for Sellers) so we are at no risk bidding full price.

Then we find something like a bad septic due our inspections period and we will lower our price accordingly.

It depends on how it is written in the contract honestly. I do know that some agents have no idea what "as is" means and it is very frustrating for sure.

When you are reviewing the contract, if it states "we want to have an inspection on (whether it be a generic one with a Home Inspector or specific for roof, electric, plumbing, heating, etc because the buyer may be concerned about one or two specific items) it should be also written in there about a price amount (anything lower than $x or aggregate of $xx - meaning if one item is say $200 and the amount is $500 then don't bother me with it but if there are ten items at $200 that now makes it $2,000 and the limit was say $1,500 then we can discuss). The SELLER usually has the right to say "ok, I'll fix it or we can split it or I'll give you a credit OR- nope... not gonna happen, go ahead and walk".

Then, the BUYER can make a decision.

However, if you are selling "AS IS" and it states that and the buyer wants to make a condition on an inspection... BEFORE YOU SIGN AND AGREE to the contract, you can say "no, you can't inspect or "sure you can... but it won't have any bearing on the sale (for your eyes only) OR you can say "sure but I don't want to know about it... you either move forward with the sale or don't - no questions asked". Give them the time to do the inspection and you either have a sale or don't.

That's how you "deal" with it. Obviously this is most used in the "sellers market" vs the "buyers market" but it doesn't matter.

When I am selling, I go through before listing and fix anything that is obvious.

If the inspector finds anything that is a hidden issue, or a serious health risk, I fix it because once the inspector has told me about it, I have knowledge of it. Otherwise, I have to disclose it.

I go through the list of things that the buyer wants fixed and I mark them either yes or no. If it is something that a buyer could easily notice before making an offer, the answer is no. I figure that they saw it, wanted the property anyway, so they can take it like they saw it.

You do not have to fix everything that the buyer wants fixed. Just say no. Then hey can chose to to through with the sale or back out.

Last two that I sold I put as is where is. I allowed inspections if they were quick but I made it positive that I would not be doing any additional work on the places.

Both sold fast, as is, with no inspections and one was a cash offer as well.

It helps when they know there are multiple offers on the table.

Keep in mind that are selling rental properties, which are commercial property of sorts.

Commercial properties go under contract, then comes due diligence. Due diligence always results in negotiation on price.

I posted last week about that first time home buyer that had an inspection done on the house and found they needed (wanted) a new roof. The current roof doesn't leak but it is about 22 years old on a 30 year shingle.

The truth I see -

It should get replaced in about three more years. That was one of the reasons I considered in selling this place. It is a class B place, the market is good here the place should get some significant updates after being a rental that long.

I priced this so I got a full price offer on it by them in a couple of weeks. They wanted an inspection, bank financing and insurance for contingencies. The inspection, I am not sure who did what but they came back saying they had two estimates for the roof. I believe one was $28,000 and the other was $35,000. The number that my roofer gave me was $12-15K With a probable price at $14,000.

So when the buyer countered back asking for the price reduction of $35,000, I responded that I would give them a new roof and they could increase the price $35,000 to pay for it. Sometimes tossing that same brick that can upset you back at them works. In this case, they came back and asked for $8,000 price reduction. I told them I need to check in with my business partners - they would be all kinds of upset. After checking in with my business partners - me, myself and I at a Tim Horton's Coffee shop, we countered back at $7,000.

The appraisal didn't find an issue. I am told that insurance company was going to do a walk around the building at 3 PM yesterday. I was tied up doing a move in on a place we bought the day before. So I might have another transaction scheduled to close for the 26th I believe.

I heard that one of your partners is a pretty good guy.

It's all part of the waltz of selling. Just like it ain't rented 'til it's rented,it ain't sold 'til it's sold.

Given that the broker didn't disclose that information to you he was NOT acting as a seller's broker and in your interest. I'm not even sure he was acting as a dual broker. It sounds like he was acting purely as the buyer's broker which is not good for you and may be illegal depending on what kind of contract he signed with you. I would be ticked and finding another office to work with.

This is market dependent.

In a strong sellers market you can tell them to pound sand. And take the next offer.

I would absolutely turn that broker in if I had any chance at proving it.

I would also tell everyone and their kid brother about those actions.

Lana,

The first priority of an inspector is to not get sued. So they seem to OVER analyze and makes extra comments, SCARING the buyer with phrases like "windows look old" refusing to say the windows have not problems, and "Set aside money to replace the 10 year old furnace."

I hire a pro inspector at realtor pricing ($350).

He inspects fully while we write down the list on the spot. He does not have to take photos or write his report. (hours saved)

We fix the stuff and he comes back to check the list.

He now writes a CLEAN inspection report - "Everything looks good".

The buyers still get their own inspection but it's minimal.

I do the same with an appraisal and hand it to the bank's appraiser.

PS If the buyers are using an FHA loan - like most first time buyers do - there WILL be a strict inspection and the sellers to fix those items.

I was a home inspector for 7 years. A few ideas/thoughts:

1) Listing AS-IS helps, but that does not legally prevent the buyer from offering a lower price after inspection.

2) I recommend disclosing known defects as part of the listing. If you do that, and the inspector finds them, then it's not reasonable for the buyer to come back and ask for a lower price because their initial offer was made KNOWING about the defects.

3) As a home inspector, I advised my clients that if they did ask for repairs to be made, ask for invoices showing that a PROFESSIONAL did the work...otherwise things are cheaply done. You wouldn't believe some of the "repairs" I saw homeowners try to do themselves to make a sale go through, only for me to note on a follow-up report that it was still defective.

4) Typically the sales agreement has some verbiage that says only "significant" findings are subject to getting out of a sale...so you can push back on the buyer asking for "minor" things to be fixed or compensated for...but there's no exact definition of "significant"...so it's a gray area.