Thanks,
Jane

The second time the buyers wanted to arrange the inspection for a specific day and I suggested the following day since we would be out of town the following day. I was busy doing laundry and packing for a house hunting trip out of state. Again, laundry for a family of 6 isn't a small ordeal and is pretty time intensive. The buyers couldn't schedule for the next day and said it was okay for me to be there for inspection. I stayed out of their way, and had absolutely no interaction with the buyers. The inspector did ask me one question, but it wasn't anything that seriously needed my input.

All the other homes we sold, inspections were scheduled for when we were not at home. I think you can be there if you choose, but you may leave yourself open to questioning from the buyers or inspector. That may or may not be a good thing. On one hand you may answer an inspector's question which clarifies a potential problem, it's nipped in the bud before it hits the inspection report (signs of a plumbing leak, was it properly fixed etc.). On the other hand interaction with the buyers may inadvertently give them pause and some unknown reason to back out. To be safe, I think if you can be gone you should be. If you can't then be as unobstrustive as possible, stay out of their way and let them go about their business.

I recall reading a few stories on this board about the pros and cons of staying... the pros were if the inspector was clueless about something, the homeowner being there helped to show that something that was supposedly "broken" was just not being operated correctly by the inspector. Other pros included correcting the inspector if s/he aged something major incorrectly (roof looks to be at end of life when in fact it is 10 years old, etc).

The cons seemed to center around answering questions you may not want to be answering.

Good luck!

I told the first inspector to keep his ladder off my gutters, so he didn't leave two telltale dents and scraped paint. (When I deliver luxury homes, I have buyers who would insist on repair/replacement for that damage and they'll get it.)

The second inspector turned off the air conditioner for the hour he was there on a steaming day. When he decamped, it wouldn't switch on. As I suspected, a large bug had gotten into the contactor. I also enjoyed his big show of opening and closing all the windows on my six year old home--to see if they opened and closed.

You're there if they have a question. But generally stay out of the way, especially if the buyers are there too.

End of life does not always refer to age...it refers to condition. There have been a number of issues with defective shingles, failing way before their time.

That said, jane ny, do what works best for you...but if you choose to stay, best to refrain from participating in the process unless asked.

Best wishes that all goes smoothly.

I keep walking around the house looking for things wrong. I discovered a few little cracks I never noticed before...I just hope I survive this 'selling process.'

I guess I'll hang around and hide somewhere,

Jane

As a seller, I wouldn't want to be around. As a buyer, I relish talking to sellers! It is amazing what you can learn by asking a few innocent questions....

Your better off letting your agent field questions with responses such as "I'll have to ask the owner and get back to you". At least that buys time to come up with an acceptable reply.

They were in the house over 3 hours. They left my water running in all bathrooms (4) for 1 1/2 hrs. I thought I'd have a nervous breakdown because we have a well and I was worried we'd run out of water (we didn't, surprisingly). They did the dye test of the septic.

The buyers are Korean as is their agent. Their agent would come to me and ask a few questions which I had difficulty understanding. I felt embarrassed. I wasn't sure what she was asking and was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

When it was over, I heard the inspector telling the buyers about my fireplace and saying he would strongly recommend having it inspected by a chimney expert. I couldn't hear everything, but got worried as my fireplace was something I hadn't thought of as a problem. I also heard him tell them although the septic passed the dye test, he would recommend having a septic expert check it because there was no way to tell how well it was serviced over the 50 yrs of the house. I walked in and said I just had it pumped in May and it was fine. He asked if I had receipts and I said I did. He told the buyer to ask for all receipts and to call the company. I was shocked and said I'd be happy to turn them over to him.

When the inspectors left, I asked the buyers if they had any questions about the house, the husband walked to the fireplace and said the inspector said there were cracks and it could set the house on fire. He showed me the cracks. There are a few hair-line cracks in 3 bricks on the facade. I told the buyer they were there 'forever' and we always used the fireplace. He seemed concerned (broken English) said the inspector said the cracks might go through to the liner of the chimney. He said he would call a fireplace inspector to check.

When they left, I called my fireplace guy who I've used for years to clean the chimney. He said he would take a look at the cracks. He came next day and said the cracks were old settling cracks on the facade and were below the liner. He said our liner was Terracotta and he looked up the chimney with lights and said there were no cracks as all in the liner. I had him write it all down and gave his statement to my RA.

We are supposed to go to contract this week unless the buyer wants an independent inspection. We haven't heard anything further on the fireplace.

This is the first time I've sold a house. We are exhausted with it all and just want it all over. Still haven't had the appraisal from the bank yet and the buyers won't close until the end of Feb. They are renting a condo and can't break the lease.

Thanks for all the advice. What was surprising was the length of the inspection.

Jane

He takes a lot of pictures and shows them to me on his computer, right there. When I wasn't able to be there, and even with this upcoming inspection, he emailed me all his pictures and findings.

His inspections take abour 3-4 hours depending on the size of the house, I guess.

Hopefully, this 3rd inspection will go well, the other two I had to walk away from due to problems. If all goes well with this inspection, I'll order the pest inspection (again) and the chimney inspection (again)

I posted a while back, thank goodness for inspectors -and I'll say it again!!!