Sometimes shit things happen. And this was no exception. We were recently contacted by the buyers of a transaction that closed escrow not too long ago, in which we represented the seller, and only the seller. No dual agency situation here (not a fan!).
The buyers found a few things that needed to be repaired with the home they had just purchased. This is normal. Things go wrong in homes, especially older ones. But the new ones aren't immune to dysfunction either.
Even though we represented the seller, we were more than happy to help them look into their home warranty policy. They could have contacted the agent that represented them in the purchase, but I believe they felt comfortable contacting us since we were the local agents, and the agent who helped them was from out of the area.
We proceeded to look at their contract to find the information on the home warranty company. Uh oh! We found out that they did not have a home warranty after all. Why you ask? Well, for starters they (their agent) didn't ask for the seller to pay for one in their purchase contract that the buyers agent had issued to us, and additionally they didn't elect to pay for one themselves, either. Often times when a seller refuses to pay for a home warranty, the buyers will elect to pay for it themselves, just in order to have one! It's pretty customary in the Santa Clarita real estate market for the seller to pay for the one year home protection plan.
Understandably so, the buyers were quite upset that they did not have a home warranty to utilize for the items that needed to be repaired. I don't blame them for being upset one bit. There was nothing we could really do for them, though. We represented the seller. They were represented by a different agent and brokerage. It was that agents job to make sure his/her clients got what they wanted.
This could have been avoided. And you should avoid this type of situation too! When you're ready to buy a home, make sure that if you intend to get a home warranty, you ask your agent how to get one. It doesn't matter if the seller pays for it, or you, the buyer. Someone has to pay for it though if it's going to exist! A good agent will negotiate on your behalf, and try to get the seller to pay for it. As mentioned before, thats not hard to do, since it is pretty customary. But at the very least it must be included in the purchase contract. That would probably fall under the Real Estate 101 category.
Listen in, and watch as Brian explains the situation, here in our SCVRE360 episode 75!
Call us @ 661-964-1760 if we can help you with any of your Santa Clarita real estate needs.
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