So as of Feb 1, 2017, our purchase contracts have changed the way we are doing business when selling a home here in Arizona. There are no longer "WARRANTABLE" items in the purchase contract where a seller is responsible for fixing items… really we are just getting with the program with how the rest of the country buys and sells homes, which means AS IS. There was so much confusion with respect to the grey area of what was considered warrantable, that we had to have an attorney write an article explaining it to the licensed professionals out there because the majority of them were getting it wrong. Basically said, the home had to be in Habitable condition unless an AS IS addendum was used so if there was something wrong with the plumbing, electrical, AC, etc… the Seller was on the hook to repair them regardless. This new change is fantastic however what we are seeing now is more buyers canceling or demanding a price reduction as a result of things they find wrong in a home after a contract has been entered into since the seller no longer is required to fix these items.
When we are helping our sellers, we recommend finding out ahead of time what issues there may be in their home so they can elect to sell their home AS IS and fully disclose ahead of time any deficiencies in their home OR make those repairs themselves as part of the pre-list process. This ensures they won’t have ANY SURPRISES after they get their home SOLD, at least as far as their Buyer coming back either wanting to cancel or get a major price reduction as a result.
NOT all home inspectors are alike either!!! We have used also Rob Sell for years and when representing a Buyer, we really like how he takes the time to educate people on how the home they’re planning to purchase operates and not only does a thorough inspection of the home but explains which items are of most importance. Most home inspectors won’t take the additional hour or so Rob does walking people through the home and pointing things out.
Buyers don’t like SURPRISES either when buying a home, so no matter whether it’s before you sell or before you buy, we always want to see our clients get their home looked at by a licensed home inspector.
