Here’s a huge reason to hire a real estate agent to help with your next home purchase: Paragraph 19 Section E of the South Carolina Agreement to Buy and Sell Real Estate says,
…The obligations of Seller terminate on the day of closing or on the day possession is given, whichever occurs first.
I bring this to your attention because of an issue that came up this week for one of my sellers. My seller never knew about it because I got it resolved through the wording in the contract (thank God she has a great real estate agent!) but here’s what happened.
When you are buying a house, you are strongly urged to walk through the property with your agent some time during the 24 hours before closing. The purpose of this event is to make a final inspection of the property so that when you are at the closing table you know exactly what you’re buying and the condition it’s in.
The buyer for one of my listings did his walk-thru the day before closing while the professional cleaning crew was still working on the house. The company seemed to be doing a good job, so he left the house, showed up at closing, and bought the house.
Four days later, he contacted me to complain about the condition of the house, saying it was not move-in ready. (I’ll never know why he did not work through this issue with his own agent – I expect all my clients to always call me before they call anyone else, no matter what the problem is.)
As much as I would have liked to help him out, two things prevented me from doing so: 1.) he has a client relationship with another agent; 2.) The wording in the contract (above) that extinguished any obligation from me and/or my seller.
In my opinion, that buyer’s agent did not look out for the client’s best interest and owes him a house cleaning.
We can all learn something from this. As a buyer, if you do your final walk-thru and find the condition of the house unsatisfactory, your agent must express your dissatisfaction in writing prior to closing. At that point the seller has an obligation to address the issues you have… prior to closing.
Once you’ve gone to closing and signed the papers and the house is yours, any grievances you have about the property are no longer anyone’s responsibility but your own. Never underestimate the importance of an inspection and final walk-thru… or two… or three.
