I have a client who is getting ready to bring a home on the market. The home is part of an estate so very little is known about the home. My seller is a very thoughtful person and wants to make sure that the basic systems in the house are functioning as they should be. She called a company that was offering a free sewer line inspection. Free as long as there is an easily accessible clean out opening. Free as long as you do not want the DVD of the inspection. (The city of Tacoma requires the DVD to review the inspection) Almost $500 dollars later my seller is told that the side sewer is in need of repair. Almost $8,000 worth of repair. My seller is collecting additional bids and will have the work completed as she feels it is important. Now that we know the sewer line is broken it is material fact so this is a good thing to have done.
Here are some take away items from this little story.
- Side sewer inspections will be expensive for the seller to have done
- Sewer repairs are not going to be inexpensive to have repaired.
- Waiting until the last minute will cause your home sale to take longer to close.
- Buyers will be nervous that if the sewer line is broken what else is?
- Lenders are going to be requiring the work to be completed and then they will most likely want to make sure the work is done prior to releasing the funds.
- In Tacoma we now have another hurdle to get over to close on sales.
I am leaving out short sales, and REO’s. Who will pay for this if there is no money to pay for the inspection or repairs?
Just helping get you ready for buying and selling homes in Tacoma. Being prepared will help you make the best decisions. Get things taken care of prior to bringing your home on the market. Buyers knowledge is power too!
When you are ready to buy or sell a home in Tacoma please give me a call. Together we can put together a plan to help insure the success of your purchase or sale. I can be reached at (253) 219-1194
Good stuff, Scott. Those who wait until the last minute to be compliant will be in a world of hurt. I’m not in Tacoma but I’m in a market full of restrictions and make-new-rules-as-you-go so I can definitely sympathize. Best of luck.
Hi Scott. I’ve been seeing quite a few aritcles from you regarding this situation. You seem really involved and active in the community. I’m the owner of a new plumbing company (celebrating our first year anniversary pretty soon!). We started the company because we were tired of seeing people gouged by the prices of the big name plumbing companies. Our price for doing a camera inspection is $250.00. And that does come with DVDs (NO extra charge). And if there’s an easily accessible clean-out, we’ll also do the locates for no additional charge. I’ve seen prices for this ranging from $300-$650. And you’re right, this is outragous. Our techs all have over 10 years of experience and are really good at exlaining problems to home owners. I would really like to talk to you some more about this situation. I think it’s a great new law…we’ve seen a lot of folks get taken with bad sewer situations on the short sale scenario. It’s rough! Thanks for letting me share this.
Lorrie Uhlman
President
Aardvark Rooter, Inc.
http://www.aardvarkrooter.com