Real Estate News with Terri Taydus, AHWD, CNA, CRS, GRI

Effective January 1, 2013, home buyers are now required to provide a copy of their Inspection Resolution Disclosure to their mortgage lender. This is causing some well-qualified home buyers to be unable to secure financing on a new home due to inspection items. Even if the buyer and seller are able to come to an agreement on inspection items, if the lender is not satisfied with the resolution, they can deny the loan or require that certain (typically bigger ticket items) be repaired prior to making a loan on the property.

This is changing the way we buy and sell homes, and is requiring home sellers to take a more pro-active approach to listing and selling their homes.

Because of this change, I am now offering my sellers that have committed to working with me, a complimentary pre-home-inspection from Scott Home Inspection, as part of their listing package. This pre-listing inspection is more of a “Major Systems Review” that will focus on the bigger ticket items that could potentially derail a potential buyer’s financing. The items that are checked during this inspection are:

· Roof

· Foundation

· Furnace

· Plumbing / Leaks

· Attic

· And just a general walk through

This pre-inspection is not meant to take the place of a full home inspection as it will not be looking for the smaller, less costly / easier to fix, type items. You are welcome to have a full pre-listing home inspection if you like (some sellers like to do this simply to alleviate any surprises). If you elect to do so, I will contribute the amount that it would have cost me for your “Major Systems Review” pre-inspection to the cost of your full pre-listing home inspection.

Buyers, Sellers and Realtors need to communicate more and work together. Not all Realtors are willing to step up and assist their home sellers in such a way. This is just one more example of my belief in putting my client’s needs first, and doing what I need to do to make their sale (or purchase) as stress free as possible and help them reach their ultimate goal of either selling their home or buying a new home.