So you are considering putting your house on the market? In years gone by we used to rarely do inspections up front. Now it’s common because (1) buyers expect it, and absence of inspections can lead to buyer reluctance (2) it can remove a negotiating card out of the buyer’s deck when they know everything up front (3) buyers are more inclined to write offers with no inspection contingencies if there are already inspections up front (4) you must do city resale and sewer inspections anyway.
CITY RESALE UPDATE: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the City of San Rafael will not be doing in person resale inspections effective through 5/16/21 https://www.cityofsanrafael.org/rbr/
Instead the City will simply be providing a list of existing pemits on file. The City has cut the cost in half for the Resale Inspection from $290 to $145. This means that it’s more important than ever for sellers to disclose any work that was done without necessary permits. If a buyer purchases a home with undisclosed work needing permits, the sellers could then be held liable by the buyers. If non-permitted work is disclosed, buyers may still ask for sellers to get permits or negotiate on these items.
LAS GALLINAS VALLEY SANITARY DISTRICT UPDATE: In the beginning of 2020 the LGVSD started making it mandatory for all sewer lines to be videotaped, and those videos submitted to the District for review. In a ‘Letter of Findings’ the LGVSD puts the sewer into four categories. Category 1 states the sewer is working fine with no defects needing attention. Category 2 states the sewer has minor defects and recommends monitoring in the future. Sewers in this category typically need snaking periodically. Category 3 indicates significant defects and recommends repair or replacement of the line. If you are snaking your sewer line once a year or more it could fall in this category. Category 4 is the only category that requires work be done. This is where there is an illegal hookup, line a roof downspout routed into the sewer. The sooner everyone knows the status of the sewer the better for all parties.
The cost for review is $250 with a 10 business-day turn around. Sellers can get an expedited review for $500 in 5 days. Sellers still need to pay for the cost to video the line, which is typically about $250 unless there is no cleanout. In the absence of a sewer cleanout typically a toilet needs to be removed to get the camera down the pipe, which comes at an additional charge. All this makes the process of a sewer inspection and review very costly.
TIMEFRAME ISSUES: These days the people doing sewer videos are very busy and it can take up to two weeks to get on someone’s calendar. With the review taking another two weeks it can be a up to a month between when you call to schedule a sewer video and when you have the results. For sellers looking to get on the market right away the sewer line video should be the first thing scheduled.
PEST INSPECTORS have been similarly backed up. It can take weeks to get on a pest inspector’s schedule. A resale pest inspection looks for property deficiencies and categorizes them into three sections. Section 1 is work that should be done right away, which includes things like treating termites and fungus. Section 2 is preventative/advisory. Recommended caulking, sealing and painting falls into this category. Section 3 is for items requiring further inspection. A good example of this is an attic that or crawl area with no access. Pest inspectors put prices on the Section 1 and 2 items which are often more than a contractor will charge. It’s still good for a buyer to have some idea of the work that might be needed on a house, even if it’s a bit inflated. These reports aren’t stopping buyers from getting into multiple offer overbid situations.
HOME INSPECTIONS: Home inspectors are not quite as backed up as the pest and sewer people. Home inspections are important to buyers because they go through every component (functioning or not) in the house. Based on a home inspection buyers and sellers may decide to get further inspections for things like the roof, drainage of the chimney. There is never a short of things to inspect on a house.