Broken Trust

A lack of trust is what causes most relationships to fail. No different for buyers and sellers of real estate. Mark saw it happen on Saturday. The inspection required that he turn on a faucet that had been shut off. When he turned it on both the faucet and the shut-off valve started to leak. Since the house was vacant he asked the buyer's agent to phone the listing agent and let her know about the problem.

Within the hour the seller and one of his friends arrived at the house and started talking arguing about how to fix the problem. The two of them discussed whether they needed to call a plumber now, or wait until Monday when the plumber wouldn't have to be paid the weekend rate. They discussed getting a handyman instead of a certified plumber. In the end, they called the plumber but the damage was already done.

I'm not talking about damage to the house. I'm talking about damage to the relationship with the buyer. You see, the buyer no longer trusted the seller to repair all the things that were wrong with the house. The buyer feared that the seller would cut corners and not have the work done properly and decided to walk away from that house and look for another one.

It happens all the time. Sometimes it's because the inspection turns up something that wasn't on the seller's disclosure but the buyer feels certain the seller had to know about it. Either way, the buyer no longer trusts the seller and the whole sale ends up in the toilet.

I don't understand why sellers are reluctant to disclose the defects. If you disclose them, the buyer has to assume that you took the defects into account when you priced the house. Taking a chance that the inspector won't find them is very risky and can cost the sale.