Inspections & Remedies
Connie really is the Best Realtor. She helped educate us on the entire process, and gave us insights we had not considered. She helped negotiate for us, and really went above and beyond. She breaks it down gives us options and we feel better equiped to make decisions.— Johnny Ngo
When choosing a home inspector, you want someone with construction and repair experience, Connie’s clients have reported good things about these inspectors:
Full Home Inspections
Linkhorn Home Inspections
Jerry Linkhorn
614-260-1776
CapCity Property Inspections
Hyde Anderson
(614) 654-6632
http://www.capcityinspect.com/
Red Raven Home Inspections
Mike Carsner
614-783-8797
https://www.redravencolumbus.com
AmeriSpec Inspection Services
Stephen Carter
(614) 756-2298
Home Inspections LLC
James Jones
614-702-6824 x4
Book Online free termite https://www.hcinspectors.com/
Top Flight Home Inspections
Greg Bryant
614-203-9217 www.tfhomeinspections.com
NOTE: Connie lists on bottom of this page structural engineer inspectors if you are concerned about your homes foundation; these are companies her clients have reported good things about, please check out the links and call to see if it's a good fit for you*
Home Inspectors in Ohio are licensed by the State of Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Real Estate. The Ohio Home Inspector Program is led by the Department of Commerce’s Division of Real Estate & Professional Licensing & a seven-member Ohio Home Inspector Board. The program responsibilities include the issuance of licenses to Ohio’s home inspectors and the evaluation of a licensee’s home inspection services in compliance with Ohio law (Chapter 4764) and regulation (Chapter 1301:17-1). The program aims to give potential home buyers, making arguably the biggest purchase of their lives, peace of mind in knowing any inspector they plan to hire is properly trained.
WARNING
You will receive a home inspection report of 60-100 pages and the size of the report should not instantly alarm you. Inspectors have guidelines and requirements that dictate the content of their reports. Any major mechanical item will state "suggest you have this unit inspected by a qualified licensed Contractor".
Sellers and Buyers, your agent Connie Sadowski, is here for you, use her. If Seller says as is, this means they still must disclose everything they know about the property but they are not willing to fix any thing. Make sure you get inspections, but know these are items you will repair after you buy the home.
If your agent just submits your requests to the seller or their agent, without giving you any advice, that is a problem. Listen to advise, then decide how to proceed. This is not the kind of agent you want representing you: A “yes” man or woman is not what you need. You want someone who will give you an informed opinion.
Get a read on the current state of the market
The state of the market could be a deciding factor on whether you move on to the closing table or walk away from the house.
In Central Ohio, where buyer demand is high, but there aren’t many homes for sale, sellers hold all the cards. As interest rates increase, the days on market increases, however financial experts see the trend of home prices leveling off— but still remaining a sellers market.
Put egos aside and be reasonable, Steve Crossland, Broker, says. He is “amazed at those buyers and sellers who, when it comes to repair negotiations, throw out reason and respond as if the sky is falling. My concept of reasonable is, in a nutshell, what would an ordinary buyer and seller consider reasonable, and what is fair to both parties?” Going under contract is one step in the process. Steve says, “It has to survive the Inspections and Remedy Period. That involves, in most cases, a second negotiation resulting from inspection items.”
The Remedy Period begins after the buyer has inspections performed. The buyer may then “seek remedy or compensation for latent defects or repairs that were unknown and/or undisclosed at the time the initial contract was finalized. The buyer essentially tells the seller “if you agree to these additional terms and conditions, which are a direct result of the inspection or other discovery,” we will proceed to appraisal period then in to closing. A seller can refuse to work with a buyer on repair issues at risk of the buyer terminating the deal and seeking another home in better condition, or with a better price/condition relationship. Sellers often “fail to consider the fact that, if they let the current buyer walk away, the next reasonable buyer will probably ask for the same or similar repair remedies. In other words, those tree damaged roof shingles, leaking A/C coil, rusted out A/C drain pan, plumbing leaks and other items are not going to disappear upon the next buyer’s inspection. Furthermore, the next buyer may be even tougher in their requests than the current buyer. So unless the buyer is completely unreasonable, ridiculous and over the top in the requests being made (as can indeed often be the case), it’s almost always going to be in a seller’s best interest to work with the buyer and make the deal happen – but to a limit.”
This would be a lot easier if all buyers, sellers and agents had a common viewpoint or opinion of what constitutes “reasonable” repair requests, Steve goes on to say. “I have my own concept of what reasonable is, and I advise buyers and sellers according to this approach. But we often run into agents and buyers or sellers who have different ideas about what constitutes “reasonable” requests. So what do I consider reasonable? Let go over it and see if you agree.
For Sellers
If you are selling a home and you list as the included components of that home items such as central air and heat, gas range, etc., AND you have furthermore noted on your Seller’s Property Disclosure that all of the major mechanical items of your home are in good working condition and without defect, it is not unreasonable of your buyer to request that the home be delivered at closing as it was represented at the time of the initial price negotiation. This, to me, is reasonable Steve says.
So, if the inspection reveals a system is not working as expected or stated in the Seller Disclosure of Condition of Home. And now you want to puff up, get angry and say, “well, I’m not paying to fix that”? Why should the buyer pay, I ask? You said in your Seller Disclosure it was working. You need to fix it or pay the cost of fixing it to the buyer at closing. You represented these items as being in good working order and the buyer did not factor in these potential expenses when she agree to the final sales price. It is therefore not reasonable to expect a buyer to pay the necessary costs to remedy items that were misrepresented by you (knowingly or not) or to absorb the financial consequences of your neglect and failure to properly maintain your property and its equipment.
By not properly maintaining your home while you owned it, the maintenance expenses remained in your pocket. You don’t get to keep the money you thought you saved by not properly maintaining your home. You’ll have to spend it now, plus some, to put things back into order for the buyer. When presented with a repair request based on this logic, or way of thinking, neither you nor your agent should, in my opinion, become angry or insulted. There is nothing unreasonable or insulting about a buyers request to cure items that you represented as being in good working order and which negatively affect the value of the home.
For Buyers:
The Inspection is intended to be a period of time during which you can have the home inspected and verify that the home does not have latent defects or condition items which could not have been anticipated or assumed based on the visible condition and/or age of the home. You want to make sure that the home doesn’t have “big ticket” mechanical and condition repairs, which may affect you financially in the near term, and which you were not aware of when you agreed on the sales price.
Examples would be failing or near-failing HVAC equipment, plumbing leaks, damaged roof, leaking roof, foundation issues, non-functioning appliances, dangerous electrical or mechanical conditions, etc. The Warranty--and most home sellers are not offering warrant--covers items that are operating. If it is not in working order at time f listing for sale or inspections, your coverage will be void and you will be stuck paying for the new A/C system.
What is Unreasonable?
What IS unreasonable is to expect a seller to cure handyman repair items. No home is perfect, and any home you buy will have minor defects and problems. Even newer homes have minor problems and defects. The older the home, the more of this you should expect and be prepared to accept without fuss.
It’s unreasonable to expect sellers to cure code items in older homes, when those items were not required at the time the home was built. We had a buyer on one of our 1980s listings once send a laundry list of requested repairs which essentially represent a remodel and code upgrade of the entire home to present day standards, including the entire electrical system and all the aluminum wiring. That was a ridiculous request and, as we suspected, both the buyer and the agent were newbie first timers who knew nothing about the home purchase or inspection process. Our seller of course refused and the buyers missed out on a great home which someone else quickly purchased with no fuss over the inspection (the house was in fantastic condition for its age).
Yes, the inspector may flag things on the inspection as “safety” issues, such as missing GFI outlets, or the flex gas line supplying your furnace (which really should be converted to solid pipe at your expense after you buy), but that’s the way the house was built when it was new, it met code at that time, and the seller did not agree to “upgrade” or modify the home to current building standards when your offer was accepted. When you choose to buy an older home, you should know and accept this, and your agent should help you understand what to expect. Most agent, buyers and sellers are in fact reasonable. We tell sellers before accepting an offer that you should mentally be prepared to give up at least $1500 in repair concessions if asked and justified, so factor that into the price you are willing to accept. It simply lubricates the deal and keeps things moving, as we know we will almost always receive some sort of repair request no matter what.
Same with buyers, we tell you that you should be ready and prepared to accept at least $1500 in needed repairs that a seller may not be willing to cure, plus the smaller handyman stuff and code upgrade items. Factor that into the price you agree to pay so you won’t have to get stressed out when the seller balks at or counter-offers your repair request items with less than you deem is fair.
Finally, there can be exceptions, to what is ordinarily considered a “reasonable” repair request. If the buyer has absolutely hammered the seller on price right at the outset, you can’t come and hammer them again on repairs. Likewise, if the seller holds out for at or above market value, full price on the sale, expect to be a bit more flexible on the repairs, as the buyer will want the full price home to be in “full price condition”, which means no major problems.
If Buyers and Sellers would approach their deals this way, there would be fewer instances of buyers and seller letting emotion and unreasonable expectations infect and derail what could otherwise be a win/win, smooth transaction. I’ve experienced listing agents literally act like someone off their medication when presented with normal and well justified repair remedy requests Steve says. Same with buyer agents when told that the seller isn’t going to do free code upgrades to the home for the buyer.
They breathe heaving breaths of dismay, “well, I just don’t see how your buyer can be asking for anything at the price they’re paying”. And I’ll say, “The agreed price is fair market value and doesn’t factor in all of these unknown defects and mechanical issues. That changes the value of the home”.
Some, frankly, let their ego get in the way. I understand, and it happens to me too (though I refrain from initial comment to the buyers agent until I talk with the seller). I want my seller to receive the best price possible, and I feel personally distressed at the prospect of that not happening.
But the transaction isn’t about egos. What terms and conditions the seller is willing to accept in order to keep the deal moving is up to the seller. So Buyers agents present the request to Sellers agent, sellers agents offer opinion as to its reasonableness, and let the seller decide.
