“Seek & You Shall Find” — Not Test your knowledge of municipal point-of-sale inspections by answering the following question: True or false: if a home’s roof is past its useful life and needs replacement, the city inspection will catch it. Answer: False. I’m handling a deal now — and have been involved with numerous others...Read More
Post-Deal Hurdles Every day you see one more card You take it on faith, you take it to the heart The waiting is the hardest part –“The Waiting“; Tom Petty, lyrics Buyers have certainly been known to wait — sometimes for years — for the right house. At least to Realtors, however, it is Sellers...Read More
What are the most common big-ticket inspection issues? Roofs, to be sure. Also furnaces, foundations, sub-standard plumbing or electric, and any suspect major appliances. But all of those things are usually already known to the Seller — and therefore properly disclosed (and preferably, addressed before a home even comes on the market). No Symptoms Which leaves items that Sellers...Read More
Sellers Who Don’t Know the Condition of their Homes What’s the most important question on the Seller’s Disclosure? (in Minnesota, a 9 page, single-spaced document with perhaps over 100 of them) At least in my opinion, the one asking whether the owner has continuously lived in the home the last 12 months. That’s because the...Read More
Scoring Points for Courtesy It’s never great when one party to a transaction has to deliver bad news to the other — like, for example, when the Buyer’s inspection reveals a major issue (or several of them). But it’s always better to deliver such news quickly and directly, for three reasons: One. Getting the issue(s)...Read More
“Inspect All You Want” (They Said) Welcome to the Hotel CaliforniaSuch a lovely place, such a lovely faceThey livin’ it up at the Hotel CaliforniaWhat a nice surprise (what a nice surprise) bring your alibis Mirrors on the ceiling, the pink champagne on iceAnd she said we are all just prisoners here of our own...Read More
