Always make your offer conditional upon an inspection
By Mark Schadenberg
There are a million stories in any city
and a few thousand stories in any house.
There countless stories to be found depicting why a home seller must disclose all facts about their house to their Realtor when it is listed for sale.
There countless stories to be found depicting why a home seller must disclose all facts about their house to their Realtor when it is listed for sale.
Remember, for starters, any inquisitive
/ knowledgeable Realtor will likely discover any significant faults
to a home . . . or problems may be revealed during a thorough
inspection.
There is a link to a Toronto Star story
below which pertains to a home sold in the Region of Peel where the
sewage started to back up through a basement drain.
Lots of small claims court issues
surround wet basements where the home's seller did not disclose there
had been a previous issue.
Sellers must also be careful what their
Realtor includes in comments or remarks about a property. I recently
represented a family putting in an offer on an older home and the
listing actually stated 'all knob-and-tube wiring has been removed.'
While it may have been an innocent mistake, but the statement was not
100 percent true.
The old 'buyer beware' or 'cavaet
emptor' warning does apply in real estate because the eventual buyer
would have to prove (in a court setting) that the previous owner did
know about whatever the negative factor was, especially in the case
of a wet basement.
I firmly believe that if a moisture
problem has been fixed / remedied – the issue likely no longer
exists. However, if it looks like a duck, it's likely still a duck.
An inspector can not cut holes into drywall and check for water seepage, but a moisture meter can tell a tale, especially under basement windows.
An inspector can not cut holes into drywall and check for water seepage, but a moisture meter can tell a tale, especially under basement windows.
A good home inspection – and you
should always have a condition on an inspection for a home older than
10 years – can discover a recipe list of minor and possibly even
major items requiring a financial investment to repair by the next
owner, or sometimes insisting that the current owner be responsible
for the fix-up before the closing day. A few insignificant downfalls
will not turn away the buyer, but many particular high-cost
renovations / improvements might be enough to persuade the buyer
(with the accepted conditional offer) to walk away from the
transaction and thereby not waive (fulfill) their condition on an
inspection.
As an example, one important item could
be that the roof may need to be completely replaced, including the
plywood (sheathing), and / or soffit and fascia due to poor attic
ventilation, causing mould.
On a related matter, I am always
astounded as to how many houses have their bathroom and/or kitchen
fan/vents exhaust directly into the attic instead of the outside.
When you have an inspection, be sure to
hire a qualified and experienced professional – not your friend who
once renovated a bathroom.
In 16 years in real estate sales, many
revolutions and evolutions have occurred. There was a time a dozen
years ago where all vendors would gladly fill out a disclosure form
called the Sellers Property Information Statement (SPIS). However,
many folks on both sides of the buying and selling side began to
consider the question-and-answer document (with dozen of boxes to
initial) as a warranty or some type of guarantee. The SPIS is now
paperwork that is seldomly used.
This lack of a SPIS makes it even more
important to hire an effective inspector with an eagle eye, and a
willingness to climb into an attic and squirm into crawl spaces.
There is no perfect house, but you
should be satisfied the home you're buying is the best for you.
Your Realtor should be able to detect galvanized plumbing, knob-and-tube wiring, poor exterior grading (including rain gutters), and estimate the age of a roof, but an inspector will confirm if the knob-and-tube wiring is still live, any possible issues with the hydro panel box, what the R-value of the attic is, and any downfalls in the heating and cooling system. An inspector worth the cheque you will write them, will be worthy, will check everything, will write a thorough report and will give you peace-of-mind. Again, there is no such thing as a perfect house.
Your Realtor should be able to detect galvanized plumbing, knob-and-tube wiring, poor exterior grading (including rain gutters), and estimate the age of a roof, but an inspector will confirm if the knob-and-tube wiring is still live, any possible issues with the hydro panel box, what the R-value of the attic is, and any downfalls in the heating and cooling system. An inspector worth the cheque you will write them, will be worthy, will check everything, will write a thorough report and will give you peace-of-mind. Again, there is no such thing as a perfect house.
If I'm your Realtor we will check and
double check a house you're interested in calling a home. An
inspector is certainly even more of an expert than a Realtor. With a
ladder, flashlight, screwdriver and camera, an inspector will inform
a purchaser with a lot of content about different facets of a home.
Hiring a good inspector is as important
as others who could be part of your home-buying and home-owning team
– a lawyer, electrician, gas fitter, plumber, carpenter, mortgage
consultant and accountant.
LINKS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQPRIAKoseM&feature=youtu.be&list=PLfOcx0HCeYot5PXJpFXRmk9MotxmQFdZY
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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