Pest Inspections Follow Suit

In a few past emails I’ve waxed negatively on Home Warranties and Home Inspections.

As my wife and are in the process of buying a 1926 brick tudor, with me being my own agents… I just received the pest inspection from the listing Realtor. There were three distinct areas that the reporter said, unable to inspect due to seller’s storage being in the way. One area was the garage – not that big of a deal. The area that disturbed me, both on the side of the inspector and the owner, was the attic. The inspector should make every attempt to inspect, and the seller must clear a path!

I emailed the listing agent and asked when he was going to have the house re-inspected – to me this was an incomplete report. Of all areas, I want to know what’s going on in the attic! There could be a family of rats living up there for all I know. The listing agent emails me back and says, “I wasn’t planning on having a re-inspection.” He added that it was only the garage, failing to notice the main area – the attic. I clarified this with him and have not heard back.

I did receive a call from the seller apologizing. He conveyed that he was disturbed by the report too and it was only some hanging shirts that needed to be pushed aside to access the attic. He was more than gracious and offered to have the inspector come back out.

I was pretty pissed off at the response of the other agent. I received it as, “We are not going to re-inspect, deal with it!” However, the seller by simply calling and apologizing, offering to rectify the situation, made all the difference. I wonder sometimes, does the real estate agent make deals go sideways more so than seller and buyers? [did I just say that?] When I read the response from the other agent I told my wife, “we may walk away from this deal, are you okay with that?” That’s how disturbed I was – I don’t care if it is a $40k or a $5M dollar home, it must be inspected thoroughly (including the attic) before I move in.