Going the Extra Mile on Inspections

I think every entrepreneur thinks to themselves at some point or another, "am I worth what I'm charging". There is always a certain amount of imposter syndrome involved when it is required for your job to be self promoting. So when I have a moment where I feel like "damn, I really helped there" I feel the need to lean into it a little bit. 

Recently I had two deals going on at the same time. On one, I was the listing agent, representing the individual selling their house. On the second deal I was the buyer's agent, representing the individual buying the house. One of the first big hurtles you cross in most real estate deals is inspections. The buyer usually gets 7-10 days to have inspections performed by a third party. Once those inspections comes back, the buyer looks through the report and decides what is important to them to have repaired before they close on the home. So I was guiding my clients through this process from two different standpoints at the same time, offering a unique perspective.

Client 1 (Buyer)

We get our inspection report back and there are two major concerns. The first was that nearly every window in the house had a broken seal or damaged frame (probably just needed new windows). The second issue was that there was a crack in the basement foundation wall. Usually not a big issue, however, it appeared that it had a leak through it at one point. 

So my first inclination is to have someone who knows what they are talking about take a look at these issues and give us a quote. I always find it easier to make less emotional decisions when you are looking at dollar signs, not problems. So by getting a professional to quote the cost to repair we are able to make a business decision, not an emotional one.

So with that information we were able to request a certain amount of seller contribution based on the quotes we received. 

Did I have to have contractors come give quotes on these things? No, I could have just been lazy and responded by saying seller must repair windows and basement foundation. But what kind of control does that give my client? If the seller receives that response, what are they going to do? They are going to go find their own contractors and do their best to get the very cheapest repair possible and that is absolutely no good for my client, so I went the extra mile. 

Client 2 (Seller)

So this time, it's not our responsibility to have the inspection done. We get to sit around and wait for 7-10 days for the buyer to send us an inspection response.

So we get the response. Did they have any contractors offer opinions on anything? No. Just a list of NEARLY 50 ITEMS for us to either say yes or no to. So where does that leave the responsibility? You guessed it... yours truly. After a full week of meeting with 4 different contractors on the house, to break down this list into dollar amounts as well as what is actually an issue and what is not, we had our response for the buyer. I felt like I had flipped a house after this week. 
Here's the not so fun part. After that whole week of work, and the seller agreeing to spend nearly $5,000 on repairs. The buyers still walked away. It happens. 

All this to show you two things. 

1. Your agent is (hopefully) doing more behind the scenes than you think they are. There is a lot to this and there are levels of service. Find a good agent who is going to go the extra mile for you.
2. Realtors don't always get paid for their work. In client 2's case, that was a week of work and a lot of gas in the truck for no pay check. 

Silver lining,  client 2 is currently back under contract with a new buyer and prospects are looking much better!