With this subject, it would be a natural segue to talk about the upcoming season for the 49ers! As much as I’d love to, I’ll keep this to real estate.
When it comes to the sale of a home, who doesn’t want the smoothest experience? Leading question, right?
You might think the biggest stress for a home seller is the buyer qualifying for the loan. Turns out, what causes the most animosity and anxiety is the buyer’s inspection and subsequent repair request.
The question is, if an agent knows this landmine is about to be stepped near or on and is the most common reason an escrow cancels, how can it be a standard practice to wait passively and not position their clients for success? I know, another leading question. You can probably sense I’ve put thought into this and how to make the experience of selling a home as smooth and low-stress as possible. Yes, low stress is attainable.
While it’s impossible for a home seller to disclose what they don’t know, they are required by law to disclose what they do know.
The two forms where sellers can make these disclosures are the Seller Property Questionnaire and Transfer Disclosure Statement. If these 2 forms are required to be filled out and shared with the buyer, why not share them with the buyer before they write their offer? Providing these forms along with pre-inspections of the home are standard operating procedure in the Bay Area.
After I started sharing these 2 forms with buyer’s agents before they submit their offer it has helped create very smooth escrows and much more easily negotiated repair requests after the inspections are completed. When these forms are shared with the buyer’s agent, I let them know to take any disclosed items into consideration in the offered price and to not ask for repairs or price reductions for these items when the buyer concludes their inspections.
While I didn’t invent this process, when I learned what my colleagues up North are doing, it made perfect sense to duplicate it. This has helped create smoother escrows and less stressful repair negotiations for my clients.