I don't go into my office very often because I work from a virtual and mobile office. But I do make a point of going to my office at least once a week to attend our weekly office meetings. That's because I pick up new information and can share stuff with my fellow agents. I learned something interesting yesterday that could very well affect agents, sellers and buyers everywhere in the country, not just in Sacramento.
Most agents know that if their seller is not willing to pay for a pest completion, they probably should not include the requirement to pay for a pest report in a contract that is contingent upon financing. That's because the underwriter will ask to see the pest report and will call for a completion certificate if work is required. It's one of the reasons why trying to do a VA loan on a short sale is almost impossible.
In our California purchase contracts published by C.A.R., there is a place to insert the fact that the buyer is planning to obtain a home inspection. Yup, you know where I'm going with this one. Sure enough, some underwriter picked this up and demanded to see the home inspection. Not only did the underwriter ask to see the home inspection but the underwriter, as a condition of loan approval, required that the parties fix a laundry list of defects.
I don't know about every state, but in California a buyer always has the right to perform inspections pursuant to the contract and paragraph 14B1. It might not be a good idea to spell out specifically what those inspections are in the purchase contract. Because no home is perfect. Every home has defects. And if you have to hand over that list of defects to an underwriter, the seller or the buyer might be required to repair them.
I am no longer inserting nor identifying the type of inspections my buyers will perform. There's no sense in opening a can of worms where enough worms are already crawling.
Photo: Big Stock Photo
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
