Required Pre-Sale Inspections - South San Francisco

Required Pre-Sale Inspections - South San Francisco

Just about every city in the San Francisco Bay area requires some sort of city mandated inspection or report prior to the sale of a 1 to 4 unit building.

South San Francisco requires a Home Safety Inspection by the Fire Prevention Division prior to closing a sale. They do offer a pre-inspection at no cost. This would identify things like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, water heater strapping, safety issues with exits or security bars, and work done without permits. I spoke with a very nice and well-informed woman at the Division yesterday regarding an upcoming REO listing.

In response to the initial pre-inspection, seller could do one of two things:

1. Have any noted items corrected. Then schedule a final inspection (cost is $125) at which time the Division will sign off on the corrections and issue a Certificate of Compliance.

2. With the pre-inspection items identified, market the property AS-IS with the understanding that it will be the buyer 's responsibility to correct the items after close of escrow. Once a buyer is on board a separate addendum would be required showing that the buyer agrees to remedy any code related issues within a certain time frame after close of escrow. This is then registered with the Fire Prevention Department. There is no pre-sale Certification of Compliance, but no Violations recorded either.

Approach 1 is obviously preferred, and where it concerns mostly missing detectors or water heater bracing, should be the approach taken.

Approach 2 would solve the problem in the case of a Short Sale (seller has no funds), seller has died, or in the case of an REO property. This would most likely come in to play in remedying non-permitted work, or illegal construction.