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WHEN DOES THE HOME INSPECTOR CANCEL THE DEAL?

The daunting part of being a home inspector is delivering potentially bad news. I never know how landlords can take such news. Some owners will dust it off as no big deal, while others may feel that is a justified reason to not close the deal.

As such, confused real estate sellers and listing agents often ask can a home inspector cancel a deal?

Mostly, a home inspector can not cancel a deal. Only the buyer is allowed to walk away. But, as a home inspector pal once told “Some houses may commit suicide”. 

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HOW HOME INSPECTORS CAN AFFECT THE REAL ESTATE DEALS

After the home inspection, the buyer and seller can either negotiate on the terms or the home inspector can part ways completely. What can be the reasons which make the home inspector walk away? Here’s how:

Homebuyers Have High Expectations

No house can be ever perfect. In all my years, I have never gone to a house where I didn’t find anything unpleasant. Even a new home can be a nightmare. 

In Illinois, the median age of a home is almost 60 years old, with most being even older. Homebuyers need to know that even the best-looking homes can have certain issues that arise during the inspections process.

Yet, some homebuyers feel like a home should not have any imperfection, or are simply unaware of how many small issues the average home has. As I often inform my customers, yes, this home has these issues, but if the home inspector inspects every house on this street, he’d likely figure out the same issues over and over again.

Numerous times, I have customers who back out of the first deal, cancel the 2nd deal, and then after 3 home inspections, they realize the first inspection wasn’t that worst after all. 

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The Listing Has Oversold the House’s Conditions

Another most usual issue is home sellers have a strong attachment to their home, and how they perceive their home maybe not be similar to what others think of their home. A common issue is also the seller’s claims they just replaced the HVAC system. But the home inspector considers the HVAC system is 18 years old. Well, if I have resided in my home for 50 years, 18 years may feel just like now. What is “brand new” to one person may not seem “brand new” to the world.

Another house had listed that there was ample space in the yard to install a swimming pool. What the listing was unable to mention is the property was located on a hillside, making a pool very complicated to install. The home buyer didn’t even let us end the inspection before they canceled the deal.  

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Homebuyers Notice Aspects About The Home They Don’t Adore 

Another common issue is the homebuyers blame the home inspector, but not for what is mentioned in the report, but for other things that are only noticed during the inspection process. A great number of people view homes for sale, others will visit numerous homes, and generally only have 15-20 minutes for a house before it’s off to the next one. 

Then while the inspection is in process, they sudenly have a couple of hours or more to sit in the house. That’s when they begin to notice aspects about the neighborhood or the layout, or just the exterior is just a little bit outdated that they don’t like. These minor issues are not related to the home inspection but will surely persuade the buyers to cancel the deal. And blaming what the home inspector found is much simpler than admitting they made an offer on a house that they just don’t like because of a single factor. 

On another house, the buyer realized during the inspection he was purchasing a much larger house than he really required. He kept telling me about how cleaning and handling such a spacious home was more than he could manage. It became crystal clear to me he just didn’t want the house anymore. However, he informed his agent he was backing out due to a water pipeline issue he found.  Did the home inspection cancel a deal? No, but the process made the homebuyer cancel the deal. 

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What do you want to advise the first-time home buyers?

I always advise my customers to entirely understand the home inspection process. If any structural or mechanical problems were ruled out during the inspection, I believe it should be get fixed. Passing off these issues to a potential homebuyer is going to be very challenging, to say the least. Most homebuyers have the least expectations of what they are willing to get.

For home buyers, it can be upsetting to lose a house that they have already pictured themselves living in. Nonetheless, if after a home inspection I rule out some crucial fixes that I can’t deal with, the home seller won’t acknowledge the same. Maybe I require to simply pull back the house search and reopen it.

Real Estate brokers call these things deal breakers for a cause. Tons of people don’t want to deal with such issues when purchasing a house.