What is the worst thing that you have ever seen in a home? Often times, as a realtor, I see homes that need some work, or have been neglected and it's usually pretty evident that things need to be done. I recently went through a home with a client, and I think I am prepared to say that within 5 seconds of walking in the front door, I knew this was the worst thing I had ever seen in a house. Immediately I said to him "there's no way you can buy this house" but we then spent about 20 minutes looking at the rest of the home just out of curiosity.
So what made this "the worst thing I had ever seen"? It wasn't that this house was moldy, flooded or on fire. What made this the worst thing I had ever seen was the fact that somebody had done this on purpose: removed a load bearing wall. As soon as we walked in,, there it was. Roof sagging in the middle, plaster above cracking, and a strip of fake marble on the floor to cover up the gap in the flooring left behind after removing the wall. This was bad. There were a slew of other things that were wrong with the house, but the fact that somebody had gone out of their way to "improve" the house by removing a major structural component was what sent me over the edge.
People deal with flooding, insects, aging HVAC systems etc. all the time. But they didn't do that to themselves. This person really just shot themselves in the foot. It's hard to comprehend. But, they have turned their investment into an absolute real estate snake pit.
A client then asked, could the eventual buyers of the home sue the seller for this defect. My quick and simple response was "no". This was so obvious, any reasonable person would have been able to identify this issue within the course of a normal showing. And thus, this would have fallen under the category of "buyer beware".
During the course of a real estate transaction, the buyer has a duty to educate themselves on the condition of the property that they are hoping to buy. Most buyers will choose to walk through a home at least once before choosing to submit an offer to the seller and some will even decide to hire a home inspector to help educate them on the home. This is all due to a little Latin phrase from the legal world: Caveat Emptor or "Buyer Beware" to us laymans.
It is up to the Buyer to learn whatever they can about a home prior to entering into a binding agreement. You had better feel comfortable with the home before you decide to commit to it because once you do, you're in. So, the obvious structural defect mentioned above is evident and would fall under a Buyer educating themselves on the home.
In fact, most things that a Buyer might be concerned about (water damage, electrical issues, plumbing, etc.) are easy to examine during a showing. Now, I'm not a home inspector, but I do have a certain level of knowledge when it comes to home construction and the pitfalls therein. I'm a licensed Independent Designer under the Ontario Building Code and hold an Advanced Diploma of Architectural Technology. I also watch a ton of programming on HGTV but that is not as reliable as most people would like to believe, so I digress...
These are the things that I am most concerned with while viewing a home with a client. Where are the guts of the home visible, where can we learn the most about the home and start sussing out what we need to know about this home other than the kitchen is updated and the en suite bathroom is spa like. Unfinished spaces in a basement are usually a gold mine for examining foundation walls, structure, electrical and plumbing and that's why they are my favourite part of a house to look at. I will not leave a home without at least seeing the electrical panel, furnace, A/C and a plumbing stack if possible. That's bare minimum education before deciding if a house is worth pursuing and possibly paying for a home inspection on.
Alright, we've covered what a Buyer's responsibility is. What about the Seller? Surely there is some requirement of disclosure on behalf of the person that has been living in the home. Why yes there is! We will visit that topic next week.
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