Another follow-up inspection has disastrous results!

I generally try to stay away from doing follow up inspections, especially on the morning of the closing. One good reason is that if things have not been rectified, it is somewhat late to do something about it.

I went to Hampton Bays, New York this morning to do a follow up inspection for a couple who wanted mold, roofing, boiler, and electrical items noted in the report repaired. In the report, I stated originally that 'licensed contractors evaluate the issues, and perform the needed repairs'. Of course, here on Long Island, nobody wants to pay for any kind of real contractor to do work, they want to do it themselve to save money. Who cares if it is done right? Right??

Well of course that was the case today. The mold issues were not completely remediated, as mold was still left behind, and I showed the client the photos on the back of my camera to prove it. The seller probably did the work himself, and I am sure was not a mold technician. The damaged shingle on the roof was not repaired, nor was the improper type gas line that feeds the gas boiler replaced, nor the electrical work I noted. I could not even remove the service panel cover as some idiot srewed the molding back on the wall around the panel so it could not be removed.

In this case, I had previously told the client I CANNOT and WILL NOT pass off anothers electrical work, or plumbing work, roofing work, or gas boiler work. I recommended they insist (and their lawyer should too) on receipts from a licensed contractor, this way if an electrical fire occurs for example, there is a means of recourse.

But it turned into a shouting match between the listing agent and the buyers. I stayed well away from being in the middle of it. I don't think the closing happened later that day, especially the way they were arguing, but there's no way for me to know. It is none of my buisiness anyway.

There were no receipts, because no one was hired to fix anything.

Why can't the right contractors get hired? Why can't realtors get their homeowners to fix things right? Why do homeowners insist on doing things they cannot do properly? Why are people so damn cheap?

And as for the buyers:

Why can't people be realistic about buying an older home and realize some things are the way they are due to age and previous use? Why do they walk into a house from the 1950's and expect everything to be up to modern building codes and standards? Why do they back out of deals for a measly $800 repair?

If you were selling your house after repairing wiring in the service panel, and you read in the newspaper a month later that someone's child died in an electrical fire in the house YOU JUST SOLD a month ago, how would you feel?