Time to Deal With all the Conditions of Sale
You have an accepted offer on the home, you will now need to vist your mortgage broker or bank that day or the next morning, -ASAP. Provide a copy of the Purchase Agreement along with a copy of the listing, showing the legal description, tax roll number, property taxes, lot size, and zoning. The mortgage broker will then confirm with you the exact mortgage amount, the interest rate, the term, the payment frequency and will ensure all the necessary documents, such as verification of employment and proof of down payment have been provided.
The broker may order an appraisal and perhaps a survey. Depending on availability and location, an appraisal or survey could take several days to complete. Meanwhile, you or your Realtor will need to arrange for a home or building inspector to assess the house and property.
There are just too many horror stories where the inspector missed or just didn’t do his job thoroughly. If missed, many less obvious problems may not be discovered for several years. I prefer to go with the inspector to make sure that any concerns I may have noticed while viewing the home are addressed. A must piece of equipment the inspector should bring is a thermal imaging camera, or rent one from your local rental shop or hardware. There is no better way to know the thermal value of the walls and see where any heat loss is happening. I arranged with the seller ahead of time for permission to have access behind the basement paneling. Other “hidden” areas could be, plenums, above ceiling tiles, foundation skirting, attic and alike. My thought is if they won’t allow access, why not?. If the inspector does locate a problem, there are various solutions, depending on the severity.
- You could decide that the problem is minor, easy to fix and accept the property as is.
- You could negotiate reducing the purchase price.
- You could require the seller to fix the problem to your satisfaction.
- You could refuse to remove the ‘subject to satisfactory inspection’ clause and decline to purchase the home.
When all conditions have been satisfied, you will meet with your Realtor to sign a form to remove ‘the subjects’ of the sales agreement. This is now a binding contract which requires timely completion. Failure to do so can result in serious legal consequences.