Set Yourself Free with Truth

Know your property. You’ll make the sale. The details you supply to prospective buyers matter. If a home inspector finds items that contradict what the listing agents puts on the disclosure form, or, even worse, the sales brochure, you can lose a sale. 

If a person buys the house, even though the flyer says “information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed,” you are in trouble. If you screwed up and listed something wrong, especially on your sales brochure, your client and you are on the hook to provide it.

Real Costs Hurt

You may think “buyer beware” gets you off the hook, but you and your client may be liable for thousands of dollars in expenses. If an agent has an inspection done on the property as the listing agent, and they don’t make the corrections to their listing and sales brochure they may be toast.

A few simple words can cost you thousands. For example, sales brochures say (but reality is):

1. Double pane windows (Oops, they’re single pane, there’s $20K).
2. Plumbing is copper (Yikes, now $10K to replace the old galvanized).
3. Modern HVAC (Wow, a new heater, ducts, and a/c gonna cost $15K).
4. Solid structure (Oofah, that foundation job is over $100K)

You want to make the sale and present the home in its best light, but extending reality can come back and bite you. 

Avoid Headaches With a Home Inspection 

Your home inspector looks at the entire house from top to bottom with an unbiased, professional eye. The report is documentation of the current condition. Read the report! 

If you find discrepancies between what you say in your brochure and disclosure and the actual condition of the house, you need to take action. You have choices:

1. Change the description to match the actual condition of the property.
2. Make repairs to align the description and the state of the house.
3. Adjust the pricing.

Find a balance between these actions to represent the property correctly and close the sale. 

You ordered an inspection. The report told you the property was Y when you said it was X — many times, many items — and you didn’t fix it? Your reputation, your business, and your pocketbook are at risk. 

Avoid misrepresentation claims that can cost your money. When information provided by an expert, the home inspector, showing an error and a dated document, the inspection report, shows information was available to make the change, you are responsible. If the changes aren’t made, you don’t want to go to court against claims of being lazy, non-professional, negligent, or fraudulent. 

Your safest course of action is: align the representation with reality. You get that reality with a home inspection.

Stop Burning Money, Save Your Deal

Order an inspection to make sure you (the listing agent) and your client (seller) are not saying inaccurate things that people will later hold against you. The investment is worth the thousands of dollars that may be at risk.

Find the right inspector at Inspect.com. All you need is the property address or town. We’ll hook you up with a professional to save your professional life and your money.