How Do You Know If Inspection Repairs Have Really Been Completed?

A current buyer of mine came to agreement with the seller of a property to have some repairs completed to the property before closing. One of the repairs was to have a totally missing vent pipe installed in the attic area. Apparently the builder and county inspector missed the fact that the six foot vent pipe was never installed. The other significant item needing attention was the removal of attic insulation from all soffit vents. Presently the attic is five or six times hotter than it should be because attic ventilation has been eliminated. - Apparently the builder, the builder's insulation contractor and the county inspector missed this too. (A side note is that during winter months, the entire attic area will become damp when the air can not circulate. Hot moist air from the home quickly condensates when it is exposed to the unheated air within the attic area.)

The issue for you to decide is how would you suggest that the needed repairs have actually been completed in a professional manner?

1. Would you trust the seller and listing broker when they confirm in a phone call that the work has been completed?

2. Would you personally take a look to verify these and other negotiated repairs have been completed as a part of your final walk-through inspection? How far in advance of the closing would you do your walk-through?

3. Would you trust that the work has been completed if the seller and listing broker provided you itemized paid contractor receipts for the work?

Do you have any other ideas on how you would become verify the repairs have been completed?

Now, let’s make the process a bit more interesting. Let’s suppose, as is the case with my buyer who is closing this Friday, that the listing agent just informed us that the seller’s brother owns a handy-man service and that the seller’s brother has personally completed all required repairs. Which method would you use to verify all items have been completed?

I suggested to my buyer that he should re-hire the home inspector to verify that all repairs have been completed in a professional manner. Assuming any of the items have not been completed, the buyer would have a strong unbiased outside professional backing his request for further work. It is a lot less likely for the buyer and seller to get into a “he said, you said, they said” disagreement between each other if the original home inspector did the verification inspection.

A future blog will report on what this friendly inspector finds and how buyer and seller reach final resolution on the inspection items - if indeed the repairs have not been completed. My guess is the licensed home inspector will not be satisfied with how the agreed repairs have been completed. Let’s see if I am right or wrong.

Perhaps you might want to consider re-hiring your home inspector to complete your final walk-through before your next closing.