What's your thought? Barry Stone of Inman News was recently posed this question. He brought out a few good points. But I thought that I would take it to the Active Rain community and see what our thoughts are.
For me, as a buyer, I would not want the seller there to muddy the water, or possibly make the inspection take longer on my dime. I feel that any questions brought up by the inspector could be addressed later.
As a mortgage pro, I'm always scared to death of inspections as they have the abilityto make a deal go south quicker then anything else. All it takes is the wording "Buyer to take care of all Inspection repairs." All too often the underwriter will want to see the inspection to see if there are any major issues. With that said, I could see where having the seller there to help explain, or agree to clear up, things could be helpful.
Larry Morris is a loan Officer with Equipoint Financial Network in Newberg, Oregon. He specializes in relocations and Sherwood, Oregon neighborhoods. He can be reached at larry.morris@equipoint.com. His website is www.PDX-Mortgage.com.
Larry Morris is a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist and Certified Mortgage Coach with Golf Savings Bank in Beaverton, Oregon. He specializes in USDA Guaranteed Rural Home Loans, FHA Purchase and Refinance, FHA 203k Rehab loans, FannieMae HomePath loans and conforming purchase and refinances in the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California.
He can be reached at 503-421-0096, or larry@PDX-Mortgage.com.



Larry
If you have a competent inspector you shouldn't need the seller there to answer questions
Larry,
I prefer the seller not to be there because if there is a major defect they get all offensive about it stating they lived here with this defect and it hasn't affected their ablility to inhabit the house. I also believe it makes it hard for the buyers to ask the inspector questions when the sellers are breathing down their backs. Good Question to ask though!
Terry - I agree. But often sellers want to be there.
Gary - Good point. I'm not so concerned about inspectors scaring off buyers. As a Realtor you have control over which inspector to pick and can steer away the "rough" ones.
Jim - Good response.
Ronda - Excellent points.
Larry:
I attend all inspections - As agent, I like to have an idea of where possible issues are. I never recommend my sellers attend, in my experience sellers attending the inspection tend to cause more damage than help.
Competent inspectors are fully capable of completing inspections without the sellers attending. If further information is needed, it usually can be provided by the sellers at a later time.
Sandra
I ALWAYS want to be in attendance at inspections ...even if I am the sellers agent...so I know what is a deal breaker and what is just cosmetic clean up.....
To be informed and be able to inform the client is TOPS in my book....
=-)
Edite - Thanks for your comment.
Joan - Excellent!! We could all learn a thing or two. I might consider attending a few myself on deals that I'm not a part of.
Dan and Sandra - Thanks for your valuable comments once again.
Alexander - I like your thinking. It helps you to know how serious something is and if it really should be a deal breaker or just a bargaining chip.