Sellers Beware: Home Inspection Complete and Abatement Requested

Sellers see this all the time. A Buyer makes a conditional offer. One condition involves a home inspection.

Of course any seller of an older property in the City of Toronto will be concerned about what gets revealed during the inspection and how the Buyer reacts when the Inspector reviews his findings.

The Inspectors in the City are pretty good and from my experience, very few are out there to ruin a deal. Some are though. Most inspectors pass on their findings and then the concern is how the Buyers take this information.

Here's an example. I sold a property (my listing) a few days back. It was a 60 year old detached. The wiring had been updated over the years. It had an oil tank and an old furnace. As well as an older roof. Otherwise the property was in impeccable condition for its vintage.

I've explained this before in a different blog; mechanics in a home have a lifeline. Major mechanics like a roof may last 15 years, a furnace 15-20 and windows 15 yrs. The hope of any Buyer interested in a specific property is that the mechanics have been updated recently. In some cases it's a total victory. In others, the mechanics may all be reaching their natural lifespan. In the latter case, there's going to be a caution from the Inspector that the major mechanics may last a week after closing or months but even years.

Often Buyers will go back to the Seller asking for an abatement (money off the purchase price). So...should the Seller comply?

Well that all depends. How much demand is their for the house? How much are the Buyer's asking for? Is it a good deal and worth losing some money to finalize this deal? These need to be explored.

Technically speaking...the Seller is responsible to deliver the house in working order including all mechanics. If the day of the inspection the mechanics are in working order, they should be in similar working order on the date of closing.

A resale property is just that. It's not really the responsibility of the Seller to see to it that they purchase a new furnace for the Buyer or a new roof for that matter.

This issue creeps up a lot. Its a delicate line. Deals can fall apart over this; require further negotiations and certainly close to the Seller standing pat or giving in to some form of an abatement.

Its been said many times but a "good deal" is one where both parties feel they've "won".

Cheers-
Michael Gruenstein MBA CSC
http://www.TheSmithsBuyAHouse.com
mgruenstein@trebnet.com