Recently, I had a buyer who was in the process of purchasing a house that had hit the MLS on a Wednesday afternoon. When I presented him with his options, he chose to forego a property inspection in order to make his offer more competitive and increase his chances of securing the house and it worked. There were multiple offers with an offer deadline Friday afternoon, so he had to make this decision rather quickly. This is common in the market climate of today for a home in that location and price point. However, once his offer was accepted, he expressed a desire to visit the property multiple times.
This was a problem for the seller who had to clean and get people out of there to accommodate. It was a hassle that they didn’t (and should not have to) expect to encounter.
It is unethical for a REALTOR to bring people through the home anymore at this point without seller permission, and the seller can – but does not have to grant permission once the offer is signed, unless there is a contingency attached to the purchase agreement (that is the advantage of the non-contingent offer).
So, it is up to the buyer to thoroughly inspect, visit the home twice, take notes, open things, flush things, shut things, take photos, video, zoom, bring significant others, bring parents, or inquire about concerns to their satisfaction prior to writing an offer, prior to going under contact.
When a buyer has an accepted offer contingent on a home inspection, reasonable access is limited to inspection related visits. It is understood that the people who will be entering the home through a confirmed appointment at this point are the buyers, the buyers’ agent, and the inspector/s. Kids running around, dads climbing up on the roof, and best friends poking doing a vlog about the era that the home was built is a no – no. 1. We need permission to enter the property. 2. We must disclose the purpose of the visit. 3. Seller’s who agree in writing to allow inspections, must allow reasonable access for that purpose.
Once a property is Pending in the MLS, the sellers’ lives go back to normal or normal chaos, they begin packing and the other interested buyers will typically have moved on to other properties. Sellers expect their sale to be secure. It is upsetting to them when a buyer chooses this time to verify that their decision was right for them by doing the things that they should have done prior to writing an offer. Those things include questioning the Seller’s Disclosure, asking for repeated visits, asking seller to fix existing issues, refusing to abide by the contract, questioning features or measurements in the MLS, demanding radon tests, or changing lenders last minute risking the agreed upon closing date deadline.
However, if an unexpected event, such as a natural disaster significantly alters the property’s condition, negotiations between the buyer and seller or a cancellation may be necessary. Otherwise, the buyer is obligated to fulfill their purchase agreement for the property.
It is important for buyers to understand that when they make a non-contingent offer and/or release contingencies, they may not have the opportunity to revisit the property until the one final walk-through that is agreed upon in the purchase agreement. The purpose of the final walkthrough is to verify that the property is in substantially the same condition as of the date of the Purchase Agreement.
And Grandma should wait to play on the playset until after closing, too. That’s a joke this is actually my mom visiting after we closed on our first home.
