When the Gas is Shut Off

When the gas is shut off, Mark really can't do a thorough inspection. He can check for a leak at the meter, but that's about all. He won't be able to test the gas HVAC system, the gas fireplace or the gas water heater.

You would think this would be common sense, but apparently it isn't. The house Mark inspected this morning had the gas turned off and the meter locked. The buyer's agent is annoyed because he made it clear to the seller's agent that all the utilities needed to be on  for the inspection and the seller's agent assured him that they were. Now Mark will have to go back to reinspect those things that couldn't be inspected this morning once the gas is turned back on.

The buyer and the buyer's agent expect the sellers to pay for the re-inspection. All well and good except that the buyer just phoned me to let me know that the sellers are only willing to pay a little less than half our standard re-inspection fee. The buyer doesn't think he should have to pay because it wasn't his fault and he already knows he's going to have to replace the water heater. (Granted, I don't have to replace the water heater, but it wasn't my fault, either.)

We have a re-inspection fee for several reasons:

1. It costs money to go back. There are fixed costs and variable costs every time Mark leaves the drive. It takes the same amount of time to get there for a full price inspection as it does for a recall.
2. It takes time. Even though it won't take as much time as a full inspection, he'll still have to get there and set up the needed equipment, and
3. Call backs interfere with the scheduling of full inspections. If I can schedule an inspection at full price, why would I want to fill that time doing recalls for a fraction of the price?

The thing I find most annoying about this whole scenario is that the buyer expects us to accept the price the sellers are willing to pay. I don't recall opening the pricing up for negotiations. I understand that it isn't the buyer's fault. It isn't our fault, either. Aside from that, our service agreement is with the buyers, NOT with the sellers. It's my personal opinion that the buyers should pay it and collect the money from the sellers.

But that's not going to happen. I suspect that the buyers do not trust the sellers. These particular sellers took an extra day to execute the contract and we had to reschedule the inspection. (Apparently their agent did not school them on the principle that time is of the essence in a real estate transaction.) Now they're dictating what the inspector can charge to return to the property, which is necessary because of THEIR failure to have the utilities on. Yet the buyers want to believe that they will be able to negotiate repairs and price with these sellers. (I say "want to believe" because I detect a sense of doubt on the part of the buyers.) I have my doubts about it, too. I'd like to think that if I were the buyer, I'd tell the seller to return my earnest money and get stuffed. Then I'd start looking for another house, preferably with sane people selling it. But I'm not the buyer, and in the end we're going to do everything we can to help these buyers and their agent because, while we don't work for nothing, it's not all about the money.