Experiences of a Fishers Realtor

by: Cindy Marchant

on: 29 Apr 2010

I’ve just completed the wildest two months I’ve ever had in the Fishers Real Estate market. I have put a dozen people under contract and am now in the inspection phase and thought I would share some of what I’ve seen. Inspection Issues

In the Purchase Agreement, there is a line that says “Completion of this transaction is contingent upon the Buyer’s ability to obtain homeowners insurance within ‘x’ days“. I am sure many Realtors ® blow right past this line saying, “be sure to get your homeowner’s insurance done”. Here is why that is important and what I tell my clients. We want to be sure you (buyer) aren’t claim happy and no one will insure you and we want to be sure there are no claims filed on the home you are buying.

Case in point, the house one of my buyers put under contract had a $42,000 claim on it and after investigating we found out the home had been hit by lightening and started a fire and burned through the basement and upstairs flooring (that would explain why they had those beautiful hardwoods!).

It doesn’t mean we left the transaction, but it does mean I talked to a fire fighter to understand the amount of water that might have been used (wanted to be sure I understood the potential for mold) and when the inspection happened we went over what was done and whether it was a concern. I also asked for and reviewed all the documents from the claim. We close in two weeks, and we are all on the same page about the fire.

I was looking at the exterior of another home a different buyer wanted and thought I saw LP siding, horrible stuff. If you have it, replace it. It is like a cancer, it may not show signs today but over time it will deteriorate. I asked the other agent if it was LP (because I am not the expert) and he said no.

When scheduling the inspection, I specifically asked the inspector to look at it. Guess what, it is! This buyer needs to be under contract by 4/30 to take advantage of the tax credit. So we issued our report this morning, I gave the other agent the name of a siding contractor who will go out this morning and give an estimate to replace. That should allow us enough time to move forward or move to another house. The other agent was going to need to Google LP siding to understand what it was! Readers, be sure to get a Fishers Realtor that knows what to look for and what the barriers are to closing a transaction. I am YOUR advocate.

These are two quick situations I have seen. In both cases, the buyers are thrilled to know that I am working for their best interest. Some Realtors are about holding the deal together, and that is always important, but never at the cost to my buyer.

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