Do any of you do home inspections on a residence before the buyer makes an offer and it is accepted by the seller ?
I always thought that an offer is put forth by the buyer , it is then accepted by the seller, then an inspection is performed.
I have been contacted by a person (she is from out of province). She wants me to perform an inspection on a home she has only seen on the internet and she has not put in an offer.
Any one ever run into this ?
I have done some. Ive also done many after the sale has been completed and the people are not happy with the home due to many problems cropping up after they moved in. I look at it like this; I am inspecting the home, not the deal and I avoid any comments about what, when and how they arrived at buying the home. Often people may try to draw you in to discussing their real estate transaction. I simply remind them I am there for one thing, to inspect the property.
Get paid before doing the inspection or you may be working for nothing!
I have this sometimes, never where they have not even been through the house. That sounds scary as a buyer. I am waiting for an appointment to do one monday with the agent, who has the cheque for the inspection but the buyer is in N. Carolina and can’t make the inspection. They have however been to the house. In this case I am going to visit the buyer after they move in and go over my report with them, a couple of hours out my day won’t hurt me and may help with my relationship with the agent and it is only 15 minutes away. Customer service goes along way.
I have found that the reason this comes up is that either the buyer is on their own and they don’t understand that the inspection can be part of the purchase and sales agreement, or their real estate sales person has failed to educate them in regards to the same.
This is a prime opportunity to educate your client and at the same time, make them feel like you are someone they can trust.
I was asked once to do an inspection without an offer being presented/accepted. The seller refused access as was his right.
I am doing one Saturday for my client from Vancouver, this will be the third inspection I have done where the buyer has no offer in the house but is using the inspection as a bases for whether it warrants the bidding process
Fred,
Obtain a credit card and do the job.
I have done many, England, Ireland, Scotland, Alberta, BC, Nova Scotia.
Many also who get into bidding wars, do the inspection before the offer, so they go in with all available knowledge.
Recently my son sold his house. The buyer wanted to do an inspection before they submitted the offer. They dropped their offer in the next day, $15,000 over asking.
AS long as you have the money, go for it.
This happened on the very first home I inspected for a fee. The bank accepted the offer of another buyer the next day, before my client submitted her’s. I found this out because her realtor referred me another inspection a month after that and told me that they were unsuccesful in selling my report to that buyer.
:shock: :shock: :shock: