MT Shooter wrote:
Hmmm, ever compared a McDonalds burger to the poster on the wall????
That is a great anology!! If you want to be disappointed, look at food ads and then go buy the real thing!!!
We recently sold a house (in-laws place, they are deceased) and all the photogreaphy was done by smartphone. The shots of ours and others we saw were pretty good representations..... Now, can you leave out the "bad" and highlight the "good" sure you can, and vice versa.
We had more trouble with "faked" inspections by the "Buyer's" inspection representatives, defeciencies that didn't exist - roof needs replacement (passed thorough inspection by professional engineer, in fact, still under warranty), No Hurricane/wind mitigation (which was plainly visible, and passed inspection by an independent inspector), Septic Companies "failing" and indicating complete replacement (which of course they offer for around $10K) required for a Septic system (Black water/grey water) that when checked by an independent Septic Engineering Company passed with flying colors. Electrical "issues" that seemed to disappear when an independent electrician inspected and passed the place. I could go on, but that was the big negative part of our experience.
The Realtor (our realtor) was dutiful in presenting these "issues" to us with the prospective buyers claims and offers (very much lower for sure), but once she saw each report from the independent inspections, she started to lose respect for folks who she thought did honest reasonable work. Even she had to read some of the conflicting reports twice before she sided back with us, but I think it must just be easier to just accept the "buyers" inspection claims and reduce the price accordingly (Not on my watch, was not about to let them "dupe" us). My wife took care of her folks for free for over 25 years, and they left it to her for her efforts, no way she was going to be scammed out of thousands by (less than) "Professionals", professional at separating you from your money!.
While the "seller" independent inspections did cost us a few hundred dollars out of any profit, they made back thousands, nearly a $25K difference in what we ended up getting for the place, versus what we'd have to "settle" for, based on bogus inspections, possibly bad "realtors".
I will say this - If you are selling a home, make sure you are there when any "buyer" Inspectors are on site, and watch them closely. I photographed the inspections and watched them very closely. In two instances, the prospective buyer wanted the septic system opened, pumped, visually inspected, photographed, flow tested, and closed back up. All of which is fine, if done right and reported properly, neither company did, they just flat out lied for the replacement work. AND, both tried to leave the scene without refilling the septic tank. In our area, during the wet season, you cannot leave a tank empty, it will pop out of the ground like a submarine popping up through the ice - that would guarantee a replacement job. 3 years later the system is still operating just fine, as are all the other "bad issues" reported by these dubious inspectors. How do I know, I know the folks who bought the place.......talk to them regularly, they live on our street.
So with Real Estate - both the buyer and the seller need to do "due diligence", as trust seems to be a fleeting thing in that arena. Always get at least two opinions/inspections (your/theirs), it is definitely well worth it.