Dirt Law at Ground Level
February 8-14, 2016
Doing the home inspection two-step
By W. Christopher Barrier
Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C.
In a recent column, Benny Kass repeated a perfectly sensible admonition: don’t buy a house without getting a professional inspection (or a comprehensive home warranty).
I would add to that admonition a couple of corollaries addressed to buyers:
1) You will likely be using the realtor approved offer and acceptance form, so make sure you understand the time provisions in paragraph 16 of the form, and
2) Involve yourself and your buyer’s real estate agent in the inspection process so that you understand his or her recommendations regarding specific repair items.
Follow the form …
The form gives the buyer ten calendar days after contract to get an inspection done and a report delivered to the seller or the seller’s listing agent requesting repairs or telling seller none are needed.
If ten calendar days are not enough to get this done, have the form amended to be more realistic. Remember that the form requires actual delivery – post marked is not good enough.
Get serious …
Focus on serious deficiencies, not touch-ups you could do yourself. Afterall, you presumably do not want to delay or jeopardize your deal unnecessarily.
Try to express your own concerns to the inspector. If he or she overlooks a deficiency, you likely have waived it.
Five day rule …
If the repair request has ben timely delivered, the form gives the seller five days to respond, either by accepting some or all of the requests or rejecting them. The form seems to say that failing to respond within the five days essentially constitutes a refusal to meet the requests.
The only time limit after expiration of the five-day period is simply the closing date. If buyer and seller have differences regarding requested repairs, they need to resolve them before closing. If they cannot, buyer can either accept what seller is and is not willing to repair or terminate the contract.
Cut out the chit chat?
Some practitioners (and some buyers and sellers) prefer to do without this back and forth over requested repairs by simply providing for the inspection and then allowing the buyer to either accept the property, warts and all, or terminate the contract, period.
This can at least eliminate arguing over which repair requests are important and which are not (think leaky faucets), but requires revising the form.
In fact, the form explicitly dictates that the inspection standard be “normal working order” taking into account “normal wear and tear” as opposed to “like new.” Make sure your inspector understands that.
What if, for instance, the house has an ancient roof, but that one has not yet begun to leak? You can probably discover that before coming to contract and factor it into the price rather than trying to deal with it in the inspection phase, where time and tempers may be short.
Right to re-inspect …
By the way, if the seller accepts some or all of the requests, buyer can re-inspect right up to closing to make sure the repairs have been done. The contract can provide for a time period after closing for completion of repairs or inspections, but that is asking for trouble and argument.
Buying an existing home should be a happy experience. An informed and sensible approach to inspections and possible repair requests can help keep it that way.
[Chris Barrier is a Little Rock real estate lawyer.]