Who orders inspections?

[Ca6898]

Hello all. New to the boards. From California. I'm scheduled to take my exam on monday. I've been reading up on other materials that will help me once I have my license. Anyways, as for the question. Once the accepted offer is in escrow, who orders the inspections? Is it the Buyers agent, Listing agent? If the Seller has to pay, does he pay that out of his own pocket, or does the escrow company pay for it and then get reimbursed at closing?

The Escrow process is a bit confusing to me.

[Ca6898]

And another thing, why does escrow take 30 days? Can't they be done faster?

[RESteve]

In Texas, the buyers will usually pay for the inspection and I will go ahead and order it for them. We have a thing here called "option periods" which will allow the buyer to cancel the contract for any reason and get his money back (for a fee - that's the option period twist - usually like $10/day). We order inspections and verify insurability during this "period".

Not to say the buyer couldn't order the inspection himself; by all means he could. As his Realtor I feel that I can take care of this for him.

On the contrary, I've found it difficult to be the "back and forth" man trying to setup a time between the inspection company and the buyer to visit the home. Since then, I've called in advance to give the inspection company information on the home, obtain a quote, then have the buyer call to setup the time.

It works a little easier that way.

To your second question - why do you feel and where did you hear that escrow takes 30 days?

[Saodavi]

The only thing that slows down closing is financing. If you have cash, you can probably close in 2 or 3 days .... assuming you don't want a survey, inspection, title insurance or appraisal. I've done that before.

Everything else in the closing process is held up by the lender. They have tons of things to check out before they're going to give some stranger $150,000. However, we frequently complete the whole process in under 2 weeks. Sometimes though it can take 60 days if you have a complex situation. I'm with Eric. I'm not sure where your "30 days" is coming from.

FWIW, I present my buyers a list of home inspectors and ask them to call them and pick the one they want. Then we coordinate the inspection. Buyer pays for the inspection at the time service is rendered. It's HIS report on the property he's considering buying. He must pay for the inspection regardless of whether or not he buys the house. The inspection is a private arrangement between the buyer and the inspector. It is not directly related to or contingent upon the sale of the house. Most brokerages prohibit/discourage agents from selecting the inspector due to liability issues.

Good luck on the test.

[Gjtrafl]

The buying side should always be the ones ordering the inspection. I feel that the inspector should be someone who will do a great job and find everything there is to find.

As an agent, I always attend all of my inspections. It has enabled me to spot more issues on future home tours not to mention, my buyers know that I am truly doing the best job I can on their behalf.

[Agnafl]

The buyers side orders the inspection. Although, part of my listing pitch is that I pay for a home inspection for any property that I list so the home owner is aware of any potential issues. Proactive not reactive...

No such thing as 30 day rule. The power lies in the hands of the lenders and title co.

Matt

[darrenwoodard]

Home Inspections are great for buyer's representatives, but horrible when you are a listing agent like me. The norm is for the buyer to order and pay for the home inspection. The seller is to pay for a CL100 in our area. That is a termite inspection. I would make sure that your client is very aware of what is involved with a home inspection and make sure that they read the paragraph in your contract that covers home inspections.

[Sam Dodd]

Buyer Orders and Pays for Home Inspection. I personally as an agent wouldn't do this for my buyers due to liability issues that could arise later on. Its the same reason I recomend my clients interview 3 mortgage brokers.

[Saodavi]

Buyer Orders and Pays for Home Inspection. I personally as an agent wouldn't do this for my buyers due to liability issues that could arise later on. Its the same reason I recomend my clients interview 3 mortgage brokers.

That's excellent advice and I don't see enough people recommending that. We provide people with a list of inspectors, lenders and insurance people (3 to 5 of each) that they can call. This allows the Buyer to "shop around" but give us some amount of quality control since they're most likely calling someone we recommend and not picking some random guy off the street. Our E&O lawyers seem to be okay with this ... though they'd prefer that we don't recommend ANYONE.

I asked him about that. Specifically, as agents, we're hired for our professional counsel. If we fail to recommend competent professionals and/or allow our client to select inspectors/lenders whom we know are bad/dishonest/incompetent that ALSO exposes us to legal liability.

Dang lawyers. They don't want you giving recommendations ... but they don't want you NOT giving recommendations. I just do what I think is best for my client and I my broker/E&O carriers can deal with it if it becomes a problem.

[judyo]

I also give a choice. I remember giving my friend some business who just started as a loan officer. My buyer did not get along with the processor & I felt guilty that I suggested that my buyer use my friend's mortgage brokerage.

I have a fantastic loan officer/mtg. brokerage that I do give, along with 2 others, but I praise the one I like the most (even though I also like the other 2, my top mtg brokerage is simply the best)!