Some home sellers are proactive in their approach to getting their home ready for sale and sometimes that includes getting a termite inspection report. Recently, a couple did this on their home and the report came back that their rear deck was damaged beyond repair due to dry-rot and so they had it replaced.
Additionally, the couple also ordered a roof inspection and the roof inspection reported indicated that the roof was very old and needed to be replaced. So the couple replaced the roof for fear that if potential buyers found out about the roofs condition it could severely hinder the successful sale of the home.
The couple's home was beautiful, it showed that it was properly taken care of through pride-of-ownership and it was correctly priced for the market. As predicted, the home received multiple offers within the first week and a half.
Unfortunately, there was a catch. The house went into escrow and the buyers had their own inspection report done on the house. Sadly, it was noted on the inspection report that the house needed major drainage work. The drainage contractor quoted a price of over $21,000. The sellers were very upset because they recently had corrective drainage work already done.
If you are the seller or the buyer don't panic if you get a troublesome inspection report. At this point no one is in a position to decide if there is a big problem to deal with or not until there is at least a second opinion to get a clearer picture of the situation.
This situation is quite typical for older homes and the corrective drainage work was most likely adequate at the time. It was discovered that there had been an unusual amount of rain recently which caused flooding in the basement. Even with the corrective work completed only a couple of years ago, drainage technology has since advanced and is now more expensive and may provide a better result.
After much discussion it was decided that the buyers and sellers would split the cost of the drainage work in half and both parties felt that this was a fair and good solution.
Unfortunately, not all solutions are this easy, particularly when different inspectors cannot agree. It should be understood that there is an element of subjectivity in the inspection report process. For instance, two inspectors might conflict on the course of action that might be needed when one inspector is saying replacement is needed while the other is indicating that a repair would suffice.
Inspectors are people too and they are sometimes wrong. It happens.
Sometimes the solution to a problem may be as simple as finding the right expert to give their opinion on a suspected problem with the home. It's always a good idea to get a second opinion and to work with the other party to find a fair solution to a problem that was discovered in a home inspection. Both the buyers and the sellers should feel satisfied that the problem was dealt with professionally and that the successful sale of the home can proceed.