Contract Cancellation fees

1

Does anyone charge for Inspection cancellation?
If so what do you charge? And where is it on your contract?

2

More importantly, HOW do you actually collect the fee??
Good luck!

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3

I didn’t leave the house without a signed agreement AND payment for the inspection, etc.

I got stung once and my attorney advised this and I never had any push back from clients about it…at least, clients that I would work with. LOL!

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4

So, we have been doing this for years. Couple things we do:

  1. we let them know on the phone with initial contact and mark it on the order that we told them

  2. we put it in the agreement as well

  3. we don’t enforce it if it isn’t their fault - like the seller bailed, something big happened. Stuff happens, we get that

  4. we do enforce it. We collect it via an invoice through square, and have it happen a time or two a year. Agents don’t mind it (one or two have us a “good for you” even) and the clients never had a problem

  5. it degrees people from canceling because they found someone $10 cheaper, or scheduling willy-nilly

  6. this has saved us countless amounts of money and hassle over the years. I’m not sure why more don’t do this. If I cancel at my dentist or a million other places - they charge me. Even a restaurant or two that I’ve gone to recently charge you $20 if you cancel your reservation. I don’t even blink at it, because I think that’s fair. I think it’s appropriate for what we do. Just my opinion though :slight_smile:

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5

Very very good insight you guys are awesome

7

Just tell them like a boss. Payments due 24 hours in advance. Cancellation is subject to a $150 cancellation fee, remaining refund takes up to 7 days to process. They either accept or they do not. The ones that reject it are the ones that are playing games.

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8

A cancellation is not worth stressing out over. I require payment and the PIA back by 10:00 PM the night before the inspection. If they are not there, the inspection is cancelled. It takes all the stress out of everything and also eliminates the claim of duress.

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9

Agree time is money, I was looking at a podcast I have to find the it then posted it. But they was saying schedule/ get contract signed/ get payment and once you have the pmt. Reimburse accordingly

10

Thanks Brian good to hear from you

11

Cancelation fee is threatened in our contract but rarely enforced. Most times someone cancels it’s because that deal fell through and they’ll use on the next one. It’s not worth the $100 to send them away with a sour taste (or whatever you want to try to get). It also pisses off realtors that are often the ones referring us. Their whole life is losing out on money at the last minute. Of course, when they do get paid it’s 10K and we get a few hundred but it’s just a war with more downside than up. Build it into your fees and don’t get frustrated when it happens three times in a week (because it will). Bad things in this biz always come in bunches.

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