So, you have received an offer, and now you wait for the sale to close.
What’s going to happen now?
Can I call the moving truck, make an offer on another house, start packing, plan my exit? Hold your horses….
DUE DILIGENCE PERIOD
This is called the due diligence phase of the process. Inspections! The buyer is free to order any and all inspections that they need to satisfy their “need to know” about the property. There are mechanical inspections, environmental inspections, pest inspections.
Disclaimer – expect the inspector to find things. It’s inevitable. It doesn’t mean that your home is imperfect, but it does mean that there are items that may need to be addressed with a repair or an allowance for a repair, based on how the buyer feels about the flawed items. It is going to feel odd that the inspector is showing you things about the house that you have been living with, day-to-day, that have not affected your day to day routine. Homes are not perfect. Inspections are not perfect either. These inspections are performed so that the buyer can find out things about the home that you and I cannot see.
This is the second part of selling your home – again. The buyer will look at these reports and will negotiate with you – what will you be willing to fix, what will you not want to fix…and how important is it to keep the transaction together based on these requests? It is important to understand that a contract can fall apart during this time period, and with the current Albuquerque MLS rules, the home is off the market during this period. No public eyes are on the property on-line and potential buyers may not know it’s available. It’s a good time to step back, take an assessment of the reports as well as your future needs, and come to another agreement with the buyer.
If you do not sell your home this second time, due to these inspection reports and requested repairs, the buyer can terminate the contract and they may get their earnest money refunded to them.
Best way to avoid these surprises? Have your home inspected PRIOR to putting it on the market. Let’s find out ahead of time what might come out in a report, and try to minimize the uncertainty.
Let’s get your home SOLD, shall we?
Next we will talk about “the appraisal”……the 3rd time you will be selling your home…
For more information about Albuquerque real estate, contact me anytime!
Linda DeVlieg, Associate Broker
COLDWELL BANKER LEGACY
505-440-7200
Linda@RealEstateInABQ.com
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