Couple learns the hard way that life outside Bay Area may not include the same attention to pre-sale details
Q: Our adult son and daughter-in-law are first-time homebuyers. They are trying to buy a home out of the area. After making several unsuccessful purchase offers, they finally entered into a contract with first-time sellers. After months of weekend shopping for properties with two kids in tow, they thought the homebuying process would soon be a distant memory. It would not be so. Their home inspector arrived five days after they ratified a sale and noticed the plumbing in the house was part of a significant classaction lawsuit. The home inspector and our son and daughter-in-law decided on the spot to cancel the sale. The home inspector graciously refused payment. Unfortunately, my son already paid for the roof, chimney and termite inspections. Meanwhile, here in the Bay Area, we spent four hours with our seller’s agent filling out seller questionnaires for our primary residence. We also scheduled seller inspections to avoid surprises. How could the buyer’s agent and seller’s agent working in the same tract homes allow this piping issue to go undisclosed? Especially while our son and daughterin-law are spending good money on inspections?
A: The California Association of Realtors real estate attorneys claim the Bay Area is the only place in the state with pre-sale seller inspections and disclosures. The strategy for home sellers to inspect, disclose, repair and enhance a property before hitting the market originated in west Santa Clara County and southern San Mateo County. Regarding home seller full disclosure, agents working the approximate 50 counties outside the Bay Area claim, “we don’t do that here.” So, the PEX piping lawsuit might go undisclosed. Additionally, the improperly coated cast-iron drain lines or plastic drain lines made with recycled materials could also end up a costly surprise. Now your son and his spouse need to make this expensive surprise pay them dividends. If their buyer’s agent does not disclose which housing tracts have costly plumbing surprises, instruct them to find one who will.