Lehigh Valley Homes & Real Estate - Tips for Buyers & Current Homeowners

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Lehigh Valley Homes & Real Estate - The Home Inspection 4 Things Buyers & Sellers should Know

Lehigh Valley Homes & Real Estate - The Home Inspection 4 Things Buyers and Sellers should know - When selling a home in Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton or the surrounding area..you should be prepared when it comes to the home inspection.

Tips for Lehigh Valley Buyers and Sellers about the Home Inspection.

This information will apply to you ONLY If you plan on working with a Real Estate Agent to buy and or sell a home in the Lehigh Valley PA area.  If you plan on selling your home as a For Sale By Owner..this may not apply to you. This ONLY applied to those who will be using the PA State regulated Residential Standard Agreement of sale for the Sale of Real Estate.

These Tips will help Buyer's Make stronger offers that will stand up against other competing offers and give Seller's ideas of key areas that they should consider with negotiating the offer they get on their home. In my opinion these Tips are beneficial for the buyer and the seller.

1) Buyers & Sellers - You have two options when negotiating the Home Inspection condition of the agreement of sale.

OPTION 1: Says "Mr. Seller I am a smart buyer and I am going to get a home inspection and no matter what the home inspection report says, I have the right to walk away and get my deposit money back"

OPTION 2: Says "Mr. Seller I am a smart buyer and I am going to get a home inspection and no matter what the home inspection report says, I will be forced to negotiate with you first BEFORE I walk away and get my deposit money back"

MY Opinion: Option 2 keeps everyone communicating and while the intentions of both sides is for the buyer to buy and the seller to sell...this is just a much better way to sign an agreement of sale with a home inspection condition in my eye's.

2) Buyer's & Seller's - When the offer is being negotiated be familar with the Home Inspection Exclusion Clause area of the Agreement of Sale...you should be keeping in mind if the home is being listed and sold with the roof needing to be replaced as an example or the buyer knows that the Furnance is at it's end of life and they plan on replacing it and this is the reason for their offer at lower than current market value...items that are not being considered to be conditioned on the home inspection should be written as an exclusion in the home inspection condition section.  This is really important when negotiating...because if a seller is going to give a buyer a large discount due to replacing the roof or doing any major mechanical items...then the buyer comes back and says..after the home inspection..well, the inspector says the roof needs to be replace...anything that is NOT in writing is NOT in writing.  Keeps everyone honest and also makes a buyer's offer stronger against other competing offers...because very few people use the exclusion field of the Agreement of Sale.  I have beat many competing offers due to adding exclusions to this area.

3) Buyer's & Seller's - You should know that there are a few different types of inspections that will be conducted the home for the buyer during the execution of the agreement of sale. Which can cause reasons for re-negotiations 2 to 3 times over before settlement.  There may will be the following inspections on the home depending on the Home Buyers Type of Mortgage, The inspection conditions requested by the buyer, Home Insurance Company selected, the Muncipality the home is located in.

Who may inspect the home which can cause a reason for future negotiations due to repair requests

1) The local municipality for a CO resale inspection
2) The Typical Home Inspector
3) The Mortgage Appraiser - Could be for FHA or Conventional apprasial
4) The Septic Inspector (unless it's public water)
5) A Water Test if it's well water (unless it's public water)
6) A Radon Inspector
7) The Homeowners Insurance Company
8) A Termite Inspection

All Inspections must be conducted within 15 days ACCEPT the appraisal. The appraisal needs to be completed prior to the Mortgage approval Date which is another deadline within the Agreement of Sale.

4) Buyers & Sellers - The Typical Home Inspection time Frame and Who should Attend? A Home Inspection for a home that is 2000 sq ft takes about 3 hours.  Seller's you really should not be home - Buyer's you should be there ...not only to learn about your new home, but to make sure the inspector is doing what he is suppose to be doing and I even believe the Buyer Agent should also be present just in case there are issues ...so everyone can get a visual of the problem and negotiations can be conducted in a clearer and more professional manner.

Other Lehigh Valley Real Estate and Home Buying and Selling Questions
10 Top Home Buyer Questions
Top 5 Lehigh Valley Seller Questions
What is a buyers Agent?
10 Things you should know about Buying a Foreclosure

* Lehigh Valley Homes & Real Estate - The Home Inspection 4 Things Buyers & Sellers should Know* Moriah Martin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

2 comments • Moriah Martin - Lehigh Valley REALTOR® • November 07 2009 04:23PM

Comments

I find it interesting that the piece is written from the standpoint of a realtor, and not necessarily what is in the best interest of the buyer. It matters not what is told up front, but rather what is discovered during the course of the inspection. The notion that a dwelling is sold "as is" is novel, but the purpose of the inspection is to discover what it really means. A buyer should be able to walk at any time, providing that it is written that way by contract.   It is also important to recognize that laws differ from state to state, and sometimes real estate customs vary from region to region or market to market.   At the end of the day it is important to recognize that an honest inspector is the sole disinterested party to the transaction.
Posted by joe farsetta (Inspection Arbitration Services) 4 months ago

Hello Joe!

Thank you for your comment but this blog is written in the best interest of the buyer and seller.  I never mentioned anything about buying a home as is.  I totally agree with getting a home inspection and try to require all my buyers get one.  A buyer needs to be competitive when there are other offers on the table an they are do not have the ability to offer more in price...I am teaching my local consumers here in the Lehigh Valley area that - I did mention that this information ONLY applies to consumers in the Lehigh Valley AND if those consumers are working with a Real Estate Agent and using the PA Agreement.  I totally agree with you regaring the inspector...but I think you must have not read my entire Blog...I was simply explaining the options one has to when making the home inspection condition as part of their offer.  At the end of the day...it is up to the buyer and what they feel most comfortable with.  AND at the end of the day...if the seller does not agree with the buyers requests in making repairs or giving credit...the buyer can walk anyway.

Again Thank you for your time and comment...it is greatly appreciated.  My goal is to help.

Posted by Moriah Martin - Lehigh Valley REALTOR® (RE/MAX real estate) 4 months ago

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