Comments on: Russ, NO! Please Say It Ain’t SO! http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/ Seattle's Leading Resource for Real Estate Information Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:01:18 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Staten Island Real Estate Agent http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-341786 Staten Island Real Estate Agent Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:45:04 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-341786 Ardell is would have to agree with your first poster Geordie where he said have the listing agent prove it. It would be extremely tough for them too do so. Great post! Ardell is would have to agree with your first poster Geordie where he said have the listing agent prove it. It would be extremely tough for them too do so. Great post!

]]> By: Robbie http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15252 Robbie Sat, 02 Sep 2006 15:40:04 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15252 I wanted to add, no dinner guests were harmed during the making of this post. ;) I wanted to add, no dinner guests were harmed during the making of this post. ;)

]]> By: ARDELL http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15052 ARDELL Sat, 02 Sep 2006 02:40:09 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15052 Robbie et al are coming to dinner in 20 minutes...we were going to invite Eric, but then we'd have to kill everyone at the end of the evening :-) Signing out. Have a good evening everyone. Robbie et al are coming to dinner in 20 minutes…we were going to invite Eric, but then we’d have to kill everyone at the end of the evening :-) Signing out. Have a good evening everyone.

]]> By: ARDELL http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15050 ARDELL Sat, 02 Sep 2006 02:35:54 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15050 Eric, Certainly enough for NWMLS to put a little checkbox for the option on the one and only standard inspection form. I have no clue Eric, the "data" is not available as far as I know, to answer that question. Most of my multiple offer situations were on newer townhomes and condos, where a pre-inspection would in most cases, be a joke. Sometimes I do no inspection, without a pre-inspection, and do the inspection if they get the house. When I do that, I take the personal risk to have the items repaired, if needed. I have a pretty good eye, and rarely have surprises. There are many ways to approach each sale. I am not advising anyone ever do the same thing every time, pre-inspection included. Pre-inspection has come in handy recently, as I have been in Seattle where homes can be built a very, very long time ago. On my own home, I did no inspection clause, and did the inspection the day before I signed my loan papers. Every case is different. What's best for this buyer and this house in these set of circumstances, today. Not "Oh, we ALWAYS do it THIS way." It's like people buying stocks and bonds, everyone has a different way to assess risk and a different risk tolerance. I have had a few clients who just had to buy the wrong house, pay top dollar and have an inspection. Just how they were. Nothing I could do about it. Not my favorite transactions. Eric,

Certainly enough for NWMLS to put a little checkbox for the option on the one and only standard inspection form. I have no clue Eric, the “data” is not available as far as I know, to answer that question.

Most of my multiple offer situations were on newer townhomes and condos, where a pre-inspection would in most cases, be a joke. Sometimes I do no inspection, without a pre-inspection, and do the inspection if they get the house. When I do that, I take the personal risk to have the items repaired, if needed. I have a pretty good eye, and rarely have surprises.

There are many ways to approach each sale. I am not advising anyone ever do the same thing every time, pre-inspection included. Pre-inspection has come in handy recently, as I have been in Seattle where homes can be built a very, very long time ago.

On my own home, I did no inspection clause, and did the inspection the day before I signed my loan papers. Every case is different. What’s best for this buyer and this house in these set of circumstances, today. Not “Oh, we ALWAYS do it THIS way.”

It’s like people buying stocks and bonds, everyone has a different way to assess risk and a different risk tolerance. I have had a few clients who just had to buy the wrong house, pay top dollar and have an inspection. Just how they were. Nothing I could do about it. Not my favorite transactions.

]]> By: seattleeric http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15045 seattleeric Sat, 02 Sep 2006 02:13:08 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15045 So...9 out of 10 buyers who had a pre-inspection had their offer accepted? It's a simple question, Ardell. I'm not trying to prove a point, or make a case why it may be a bad idea. I'm just curious. Your comment following 'brave new world' makes no sense in the context of my question. So…9 out of 10 buyers who had a pre-inspection had their offer accepted? It’s a simple question, Ardell. I’m not trying to prove a point, or make a case why it may be a bad idea. I’m just curious. Your comment following ‘brave new world’ makes no sense in the context of my question.

]]> By: ARDELL http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15033 ARDELL Sat, 02 Sep 2006 01:31:32 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15033 Well Eric, I can tell you absolutely verbatim what the last one said, "Best $100 I ever spent" and yes we did repeat the process for the next one, but made it a full pre-inspection, and that one is in escrow. I do know a guy, whom I refer to as my "favorite non-client", who apparently has bought 4 or 5 at full price. End result is, he aked me to represent him in the future :-) Key is having the right inspector and understanding that we are not looking for $20 problems, just the big ones. We can always go to full inspection if it gets signed around to get the rest of the info. As to your specific question "% of buyers who have"...it's a brave new world, Eric. The best agents who are "good enough" will be making their own rules and not following same old, same old common practice. If it makes sense in your specific situation then DO IT and don't worry about the percentages and what other agents and their buyers may or may not be doing. Be one of the top 10% of agents and only do it in the cases where you need to. That would make the total percentage very low...and yet the benefit of doing so great, all the same. I DO NOT ever, almost never, recommend that a SELLER have a pre-inspection. But a buyer can often get a better price, even with no competing offers, if he drops the contingency by having the property pre-inspected. That doesn't mean you always do it, especially on occupied homes where it can be an unwarranted intrusion on the owner. Vacants are much better candidates for pre-inspections. Well Eric, I can tell you absolutely verbatim what the last one said, “Best $100 I ever spent” and yes we did repeat the process for the next one, but made it a full pre-inspection, and that one is in escrow.

I do know a guy, whom I refer to as my “favorite non-client”, who apparently has bought 4 or 5 at full price. End result is, he aked me to represent him in the future :-)

Key is having the right inspector and understanding that we are not looking for $20 problems, just the big ones. We can always go to full inspection if it gets signed around to get the rest of the info.

As to your specific question “% of buyers who have”…it’s a brave new world, Eric. The best agents who are “good enough” will be making their own rules and not following same old, same old common practice. If it makes sense in your specific situation then DO IT and don’t worry about the percentages and what other agents and their buyers may or may not be doing.

Be one of the top 10% of agents and only do it in the cases where you need to. That would make the total percentage very low…and yet the benefit of doing so great, all the same.

I DO NOT ever, almost never, recommend that a SELLER have a pre-inspection. But a buyer can often get a better price, even with no competing offers, if he drops the contingency by having the property pre-inspected. That doesn’t mean you always do it, especially on occupied homes where it can be an unwarranted intrusion on the owner. Vacants are much better candidates for pre-inspections.

]]> By: seattleeric http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15018 seattleeric Sat, 02 Sep 2006 00:18:46 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15018 Ardell - I'm curious..in your experience, what is the % of buyers who have paid $100+ for a pre-inspection that didn't get that house in the end? Of this %, did many repeat the process for their next offer? Eric Ardell -

I’m curious..in your experience, what is the % of buyers who have paid $100+ for a pre-inspection that didn’t get that house in the end? Of this %, did many repeat the process for their next offer?

Eric

]]> By: ARDELL http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15013 ARDELL Sat, 02 Sep 2006 00:04:48 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15013 So here's the deal. In order to not have to push on price, we DID do a preinspection to be more competitive, and reserved the Form 17, 3 day just in case. We did NOT have to push the price over asking, even though we were not the only offer and did get the counter based on NO inspection contingency. We did get into escrow, but the agent got ticked when he realized we still had an out over the long holiday weekend, based on the 3 days not counting Saturday, Sunday OR Monday. This gives us time to ask questions, get answers, and not risk losing the house based on the questions. Often a listing agent who gets a lot of questions, will counsel the seller to bypass the offer from the buyer with all the questions. So best to lock it up and THEN ask the questions. Point is Russ, there are no "one size fits all" rules in real estate, and we have to stay on our toes...at least we "in the trenches". Not that I'd mind being "in the trenches with you, should you ever decide to jump in here :-) I think the percentage of deals with no inspections was more significatnt than those with pre-inspections. But a quick, rather than full, 30% cost of normal inspection...ie. "pre-inspection" is a great tool that many should use more often. So here’s the deal. In order to not have to push on price, we DID do a preinspection to be more competitive, and reserved the Form 17, 3 day just in case. We did NOT have to push the price over asking, even though we were not the only offer and did get the counter based on NO inspection contingency. We did get into escrow, but the agent got ticked when he realized we still had an out over the long holiday weekend, based on the 3 days not counting Saturday, Sunday OR Monday. This gives us time to ask questions, get answers, and not risk losing the house based on the questions.

Often a listing agent who gets a lot of questions, will counsel the seller to bypass the offer from the buyer with all the questions. So best to lock it up and THEN ask the questions.

Point is Russ, there are no “one size fits all” rules in real estate, and we have to stay on our toes…at least we “in the trenches”. Not that I’d mind being “in the trenches with you, should you ever decide to jump in here :-)

I think the percentage of deals with no inspections was more significatnt than those with pre-inspections. But a quick, rather than full, 30% cost of normal inspection…ie. “pre-inspection” is a great tool that many should use more often.

]]> By: Russ Cofano http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15006 Russ Cofano Fri, 01 Sep 2006 23:32:55 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15006 Ardell You are very right about desirability of the property. That said, your point can only have negative impact on buyers in deals that don't have an inspection contingency. Where there is an inspection contingency, the rescission period for Form 17 and the inspection period would run concurrently and the inspection period is usually longer. Do you at least agree with that? My guess is that the percentage of deals where the buyer is doing a pre-inspection is extremely low but then again, I am not in the trenches :) Russ Ardell

You are very right about desirability of the property. That said, your point can only have negative impact on buyers in deals that don’t have an inspection contingency. Where there is an inspection contingency, the rescission period for Form 17 and the inspection period would run concurrently and the inspection period is usually longer. Do you at least agree with that?

My guess is that the percentage of deals where the buyer is doing a pre-inspection is extremely low but then again, I am not in the trenches :)

Russ

]]> By: ARDELL http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15000 ARDELL Fri, 01 Sep 2006 23:21:56 +0000 http://raincityguide.com/2006/08/31/russ-no-please-say-it-aint-so/#comment-15000 "Many agents do things that have no substance in law" = the real estate market most consumers are, unfortunately, subjected to... As long as the agent says so, and the consumer doesn't have an attorney to tell them otherwise, or a savvy agent who tells them to go pound sand... In fact, many buyer's agents will side with the listing agent on that. Why? Because it gets them paid. We both know that. My logic is NEVER flawed, Russ. Nor is yours. NO ONE KNOWS for sure if the property is "highly coveted" until it is not highly coveted. By then, the buyer loses it if they wait around to find out. Property comes on market. No offers considered until a week from Thanksgiving. Seller reserves the right to "collect offers". Seller does NOT have to tell you what the other offers look like, even if he has some. You really have to start thinking more like an ESL or first time buyer with these advices. Not everyone is a Russ Cofano out there. Very few, actually. Most want the best advices they can get. “Many agents do things that have no substance in law” = the real estate market most consumers are, unfortunately, subjected to…
As long as the agent says so, and the consumer doesn’t have an attorney to tell them otherwise, or a savvy agent who tells them to go pound sand… In fact, many buyer’s agents will side with the listing agent on that. Why? Because it gets them paid. We both know that.

My logic is NEVER flawed, Russ. Nor is yours. NO ONE KNOWS for sure if the property is “highly coveted” until it is not highly coveted. By then, the buyer loses it if they wait around to find out.

Property comes on market. No offers considered until a week from Thanksgiving. Seller reserves the right to “collect offers”. Seller does NOT have to tell you what the other offers look like, even if he has some.

You really have to start thinking more like an ESL or first time buyer with these advices. Not everyone is a Russ Cofano out there. Very few, actually. Most want the best advices they can get.

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