A while back I was doing an inspection for a first-time home buyer.  They were so excited.  They’ve been dreaming of buying a home for a long time. They’ve been working with their agent for several months to get to this point.

The client and their agent were sitting at the dining room table. I was inspecting in the living room on the opposite side of the wall.  I hear the client curiously ask their agent, “Does the seller fix the things the inspector finds?”  My heart sank a bit.  This poor buyer had not been prepped for the process they were going through.  Their expectations were not properly managed.

Inspections can be overwhelming.  It feels like there’s a lot riding on it.  When either party involved in the process has wrong expectations about the isnpection it can make for some difficult hurdles to navigate.  

A Better Understanding of a Home Inspector
The home inspector is a storyteller.  Really, they are biographers telling the story of the life of a house.  They look at the property, document it, then tell the client the home’s story.  Sometimes that is a sweet story. Sometimes it’s a hard story.  But, the inspector’s desire is to tell the home’s story to the best of their knowledge after spending some time on site.  Make sure you get an inspector who knows how to understand a home and is a great storyteller.

Most of the time, new buyers are a little surprised by the amount of information they’re getting from their “story-teller”–the inspector.  That’s understandable. The inspector is sharing a lot of information.  Most of it doesn’t require immediate attention.  But, the job of the inspector is to help you understand the property.

Getting Through the Inspection
The buyer has gone through so much in this process.  They’ve applied for a loan. They have looked at homes.  They’ve made an offer (or five. or six, or twenty).  They’ve finally had an offer accepted.  Then they’ve entered this time accelerator called “the inspection period.”

The typical inspection will take 2-3 hours.  It includes the exterior, roof,  interior, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, and a variety of other things.  It may also include termite inspections, sewer scope, air quality testing, and radon if the client has ordered these services.  After inspecting the property, the inspector reviews their findings or  tells the story of the home.  Hopefully they provide a video review so the client can watch it later. Then they send the written report.

The report does not complete the process.  It provides one more puzzle piece needed for the client to make wise decisions as they proceed.

What Happens After The Inspection?
When the client and their agent review the inspection they need to prioritize what, if any issues, are the most important concerns.  Some of the observations from the inspector are just for information purposes. Some observations are for future consideration.  And, other observations are more urgent and may need to be addressed sooner rather than later; potentially before ownership changes.  These decisions need to be made within the inspection period.

There are many variables with regards to what may be effectively negotiated.  If a buyer’s offer was “as is”, negotiations may be limited.  If they offered lower than asking price or lower than other offers, their negotiating power may be lessened.  If the seller disclosed an issue in the Seller’s Disclosure and you made the offer with that knowledge, you will likely not have much negotiation power around those disclosed issues.  A good real estate agent can help you discern which issues are likely negotiable and which issues are not.

Great agents will then engage the seller’s agent with a conversation around the concerns.  The agent will “feel the room” to see how receptive the seller may be to the potential repair requests.

The buyer’s agent will help guide their client through what are or are not reasonable requests.  They help you consider the knowledge you had before the inspection, the knowledge you have from the inspection, and the knowledge acquired in conversations with the listing agent.  At this point, the contract may be accepted as it already stands, or the buyer’s agent will submit requests for repairs, or renegotiate the price. There are other options, but this is a general idea.

Once that request is submitted, the seller now has the option to ask the offer with the new requests, counter offer, or reject the offer and walk away. (This, too, is oversimplified, but it gives you an idea of the range of options.)  There may be some back and forth in this part of the process.

A Critical Thing to Remember
It’s so easy for buyers and sellers to get laser focused on one issue or another.  Real estate transactions can often get hung up because one person has a specific barrier they get focused on and it seems nothing else matters.  One person with a fixation on one thing can stop the entire process from moving forward.  That one thing may be major or minor.  But, it becomes a focal point for that one person for whatever reason.

It’s important to remember that in a typical transaction, everyone involved wants the same thing.  They all want the house to transfer ownership from one person, the seller, to another person, the buyer.  The challenge isn’t whether or not they want the same thing.  The challenge is whether both parties can make that transfer of ownership happen under terms they find acceptable.

Leverage Your Inspection Information Wisely
When you are working with a real estate professional, you have a wealth of wisdom to help guide you through the process.  They have resources to help you know what a reasonable price for a home in that area should be.  They have knowledge of the industry and what issues are barriers to your ability to sell the property in the future–this is important.  They have engaged with the other seller’s agent and understand their receptivity toward negotiations.  And, they can help their client with a network of relationships needed to get issues taken care of in a satisfactory manner.

Taking the inspection information into consideration with your financial position, the seller’s disclosure, and the knowledge of the other party’s expectations, agents advocate for your best interest to get the transaction to completion in a way that benefits each party.  Let the inspection information help finish the puzzle you’re assembling.  Then let your real estate professional advocate for you armed with all of these important pieces of the puzzle.