Beginning January 1, 2008, home inspectors in Maryland will need to be licensed to operate.

If you receive a recommendation from a friend or relative for a home inspector, fine. If you don't know a home inspector, Homefinders.com will recommend a trusted and experienced home inspector to you. As buyer's agents, we want you to have a complete home inspection performed by an experienced practitioner. Home inspectors are not licensed in Maryland. However, as of January 1, 2008, ALL home inspectors will be licensed. This is good news.

Homefinders agents will recommend a home inspector to you. However, home buyers often rely on friends, relatives and neighbors for home inspectors. MAKE SURE THE HOME INSPECTOR YOU SELECT IS LICENSED.

HOME INSPECTIONS IN MARYLAND

Home buyers are all advised to get a home inspection from a qualified experienced home inspector. The Contract of Sale for the purchase of a home in Maryland provides for time for a home inspection and, following the home inspection, if the results are not satisfactory to the buyer, they can void the Contract of Sale and their earnest money will be refunded. They will lose the cost of the home inspection, but that may be preferable to buying a house with serious defects that the seller cannot or will not remedy.

GET TO KNOW THE HOUSE YOU'RE BUYING.
Homefinders.com is experienced with home inspection matters. We will accompany you to the home inspection and, when your home inspector has completed the Home Inspection Report, you, the buyer, will have the option of voiding the contract at that time without going any further and your earnest money will be refunded. You and your Homefinders.com Buyer's Agent can then begin your search for another home. If you decide to go forward with the contract, the Home Inspection Report from your home insepctor will be used to notice the owner / seller of the deficiencies and defects. Your agent will write a Home Inspection Notice advising the home owner / seller of the defects. There is no requirement that the seller make any repairs. However, most will because, once they know of the defects, the seller AND THEIR AGENT are then required to notice any prospective buyers of the defects if they are "MATERIAL", meaning the defect could pose a risk to the health and/or safety of the buyer. As a broker, I believe that all defects that could affect the value of the property is important and, while not necessarily deemed to be material, is surely important enough to be disclosed.

Homefinders.com agents pursue home inspection and repair matters vigorously. We believe that, unless the property you wish to purchase has been discounted for condition, the home should be in good repair and condition. It is our intention that you buy a home free of defects and to help in that goal, we will reimburse you for the cost of the home inspection after settlement up to $400 which pays for most home inspections. Don't forget, you will also get a FREE One Year Home Warranty on your newly purchased home.

FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN MARYLAND
HOME INSPECTIONS are an integral part of our job, whether we are the listing agent or selling agent. Home inspections are also, IMO, one of the most misunderstood parts of our job. Since our market is very transient, we have buyers from all over the country and they see wide differences in home inspections from state to state or, in the case of California, coast to coast. From what I've read of home inspections in California, there appears to be little in the way of limits or exclusions and, in some cases, time frames. Maryland home inspections, OTOH, are very structured.

We have three levels of home inspections:

1. The full home HOME INSPECTION CONTINGENCY in which the Buyer, by a time certain, will perform the home inspection and present to the seller a Home Inspection Notice listing defects. Once the home inspection is completed, the Buyer has the choice of requesting repairs or voiding the contract with earnest money refunded.
The goal is, of course, to have the Seller repair the "defects" prior to settlement or credit the Buyer with a sum of money at settlement for approximately the cost of repair of the defects. The Seller can accept the Home Inspection Notice and no further action is required. The Seller will make the repairs prior to settlement and provide the Buyer with paid receipts from the contractor making the repairs. Or, the Seller can, within 3 days of receipt of the Home Inspection Notice, counter the repairs by accepting some and rejecting some. Or, the Seller can, within 3 days refuse to make any repairs. At this time the Buyer can either accept the Seller's notice, counter, or notice that they will void the contract by a time certain. All systems, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, etc. must be in working order at the final pre-settlement walk-through. If the Buyer and Seller can't agree on repairs, the Buyer's earnest money will be refunded with a RELEASE of all parties.

This all sounds very complicated, but it is, in fact a very well designed Home Inspection Contingency that gives the Buyer an opportunity for an inspection and to request repairs, but respects the "as is" nature of home sales in Maryland. The Addendum is also completely self executing which makes it easy for buyers, sellers and agents to follow. The only problem is when someone neglects to perform within the times required in the contract and then things can get ugly. Earnest money is refunded of the Buyer voids the contract.

2. The GENERAL INSPECTION CONTINGENCY in which the Buyer can have the house inspected and, based on the results of the home inspection, accept the house "as is", or void the contract and their earnest money will be refunded. This is easy and, since no repairs are expected, the Buyer gets what he saw when he purchased the house or kills the contract early on and the Seller can get the house back on the market quickly. All systems, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, etc. must be in working order at the final pre-settlement walk-through.

3. The "AS IS" property inspection. In this option, all references to property condition at the pre-settlement walk-through are deleted and the Buyer, while he may have an inspection, accepts the property AS IS as of the date of contract or date of inspection and no repairs are expected AND the Property Condition paragraph providing that systems, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, etc. be in working order at the final pre-settlement walk-through are eliminated. This is the true "AS IS" contract.

Option #1 gives the Buyer the most options for repairs.
Option #2 gives the Buyer the opportunity to kill the contract if the inspection is not acceptable.
Option #3 MAY give the buyer an opportunity to negotiate a good price if they are willing to take the property "AS IS".

Of course, all of the above work in relationship to the property condition disclosure or disclaimer provided by the Seller to the Buyer prior to writing the contract.

What does "As Is" mean in a real estate purchase??

In Maryland and Virginia, ALL real estate purchases of resale homes are "AS IS" condition sales. The Contract of Sale will, however, also permit a home inspection by the buyer, following contract acceptance, if the home inspection is negotiated as a condition of the Contract. Most home buyers will want to do a home inspection by a qualified, experienced home inspector and most sellers will accept a contract with this condition or "contingency".

Components of a home that will be covered by the home inspection are the: structure, exterior, interior, mechanicals, appliances, plumbing and electrical.

Following the home inspection, the buyer can request certain repairs to be made. The seller may agree to make the repairs, decline to make the repairs, or a cash consideration may be negotiated.

What many buyers do not understand is that sellers do not have to make the repairs. What many sellers do not understand is that serious or "material" defects must be disclosed to a prospective purchaser BEFORE the contract is accepted.

In most cases, home inspections will not reveal serious defects. In most cases, defects discovered by a home inspector will be repaired by the seller.

Your Homefinders.com buyer's agent will arrange the home inspection for you. You may select the home inspector of your choice. Homefinders.com agents can also recommend qualified, experienced home inspectors.

Most home inspectors will also take the opportunity to "educate" home buyers about maintenance, life expectance of the components and general quality and condition of the home.

Enjoy your home inspection. It's an important feature of buying a home.

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