real estate

[kardod]

We have recently sold our home privately to people who said they were pre-approved. It has been over a week now and they keep saying they are still waiting for approval. Now they want to perform their own home inspection. Is it legal or ethical for them to do so? Is it a good idea to let them do their own inspection?

[Romanice]

Typically a home inspection is done before the offer to purchase is finalized not after the fact. The ramifications of this is that the purchase price is altered depending on the outcome of the investigation or the sale is outrightly rejected. I would suggest that the potential buyer is buying time to find alternate financing. I would ask him straight up where he's at. I would hope you have a time limit on his ability to access financing. I might also suggest that you enroll the help of a real estate agent to organize the sale so that you aren't wasting time. The agent could charge you a lower percentage because much of the work is done. Depending on your current contract you might need the consent of the purchaser, you might entice him by mentioning that the agent has other financing options which they usually do. The agent would also have a sense of where the purchaser is at and how to move on if need be. The waste of time is to the purchasers benefit, if the house gains value in this slightly volatile market he wins by getting a bargain, if value decreases he wins by dumping the house back on you saying he is no longer interested. The market tends to increase in the spring and fall. Good luck.

[kardod]

Thanks for the advice. We have already asked them where they are at. The have until July 15 to sign their waivers. The problem is that now they say they are going on vacation until the 19th. Our instinct was that buying time is exactly what they are doing. It's not a problem for us to stay here if they back out but our concern is that they let us know. We feel that it is a very inappropriate time for them to go on vacation. How will they sign their waiver. When we asked them that they claimed that their mortgage broker would notify our lawyer and that they could sign the papers when they get back. This seems fishy to us. Could we refuse them their inspection since the purchase agreement stipulates that they had to have their inspection done by July 15 by a QUALIFIED inspector - as far as we know he's not one.

[Romanice]

Their mortgage broker would contact their lawyer, their lawyer would contact your lawyer who would contact you. Lawyers represent clients and all documentation goes through them first before it is passed on to the other party's lawyer. I hope they are represented otherwise that will cost you and things would start to smell fishy. I would ask your lawyer about the wording but generally if they don't sign the waiver by the 15th you can cancel the deal. If this is the case I suggest finding another buyer, the character you are dealing with leads you to frustration and I would bet it hasn't ended here. Frustration leads to emotions that don't work well in a business deal. A private sale is tenuous, it requires two people that are willing to bend over backwards to make the deal work. If you still want to deal with him at least consult an agent, you might even offer the agent your business in buying your next house for his help. If you allowed the inspection to go through after the 15th there is a lot of room for him to cause additional frustration ie., requesting you to replace the water heater, its too old, reduce the sale price, I want the furnaced cleaned, I would like the foundation inspected by an engineer at you expense, new shingles, aliens living in the attic.