Home Inspections: Navigating Equal Duty of Care, a Crucial Imperative for Real Estate

Navigating Equal Duty of Care: A Crucial Imperative for Real Estate

Are you tired of navigating the murky waters of property transactions, unsure of potential risks lurking beneath the surface? As a buyer, seller, or agent, the fear of undisclosed issues can weigh heavily on your mind. But fear not! Our comprehensive property inspection services offer a clear solution, providing peace of mind and facilitating smoother, faster transactions for all parties involved.

Real Estate Agents are often faced with a concern about certain aspects of a property that they are about to accept a mandate on. The concerns might be about a structural component of the building, the property condition, or its compliance status.

Agents have an equal duty of care and responsibility to the seller whose mandate they are about to accept and the buyer. Do they accept the mandate unconditionally with the limited Mandatory Disclosure Form as the sole record of the property condition or do they insist that the Seller engage a specialist to conduct a Pre-Sale Property Inspection? Do they identify the mandate as too risky and walk away? Do they accept the mandate in the knowledge that they are duty bound to inform a prospective Buyer of their concerns and encourage the Buyer to conduct their own independent inspection? 

The action that the agent takes could result in the loss of the mandate or might even result in a later claim against the Agent and the agency for failure to provide equal duty of care or even failure to disclose what they might have, should have or ought to have known. This could ultimately result in a cancellation of a sale and possible litigation by the plaintiff against the parties in the transaction chain.

The agent and the Agency have several options available to them at this point.

1. They can advise their client who at this point is the seller to fully understand the implications of nondisclosure and further advise a pre-sale property condition report by an independent and impartial property inspector. This inspection and report can then form part of the seller’s disclosure.
2. Should the seller refuse this option, the agent could then offer to pay for this inspection and report or share the costs thereof.
3. If the seller still refuses this option, this should be an indication that there are concerns surrounding the condition and compliance of the property and agents should bear this in mind when marketing the property and not just inform the buyer of their right to conduct an independent property condition inspection.
4. The moment that an agent commences the marketing of the property, the buyer also becomes the agent’s client and equal duty of care kicks in.

Given the scenario that is outlined here, the solution to this is always Inspect, report and disclose.
Agents and agencies benefit from this in several ways:

1. Reputations and credibility are built by this approach and through these actions, the news travels in the market. You will build a reputation as a solution driven agent and agency.
2. This will certainly result in more mandates and therefore more sales.
3. Sales transactions become less problematic, and the transaction velocity will increase.
4. Above all you would have reduced the risk of litigation or claim against you or your agency as well as limited the risk to both the buyer and the seller.
5. You can then move forward to the next deal and focus fully on that.

We strive to provide our clients with a complete and comprehensive inspection and report on various aspects of the property. This is what a client had to say.

​I wanted to take a moment to write a review and express my sincere appreciation for the outstanding work you have done as a property inspector. Your dedication, professionalism, and expertise have had a significant impact on our projects, and I am truly grateful for your contributions.

From the very beginning, it was evident that you possess an exceptional attention to detail and a deep understanding of property inspection. Your thorough assessment of properties, identification of potential issues, and provision of insightful recommendations have been truly impressive. Your inspection reports have been comprehensive, promptly addressing concerns and offering valuable guidance to our clients.

I must emphasize the incredible value you have provided us. Thanks to your thorough inspection, we were able to avoid purchasing a property with potential legal liabilities. This has saved us from the nightmare we could have faced had we proceeded without your expertise. The price we paid for your services is incomparable to the financial and emotional stress we would have endured otherwise.

Based on my experience, I wholeheartedly recommend Dave for his exceptional work as a property inspector. I would strongly advise anyone to utilize your services before signing any documents, including an Offer to Purchase.

Once again, thank you for your outstanding contributions, Dave. Your dedication to excellence and your commitment to providing top-notch service have made a significant difference for us

Regards, 
Mbele Lebohang"

Order your Pre-Sale and Pre-Purchase Inspection here

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At Risk-Free Property Solutions we offer a range of services that will all but eliminate the risk to the Agent and the Agency in respect of the agent’s duties. These include but are not limited to:

1. Pre-sale Property Condition Inspection Reports. Not all sellers are the same and often the seller is reluctant to disclose conditions that are not patently obvious as they believe that this might impact the ability to sell a property or might influence the determination of an asking price. Presale Inspection allows agents to navigate the muddy waters and will clarify many items that influence the Mandatory Disclosure Form (MDF). Our Pre-sale report can be supplementary to the MDF and be attached to the Offer to Purchase (OTP) as an addendum. Agents are encouraged to request that sellers engage our services to navigate the tricky disclosure process.
   
   
2. Pre-purchase (buyers) Property Condition Inspection Reports. It is imperative that Agents emphasize the buyer’s right to an independent Property Condition Inspection. This is also the point at which the Agent can and should encourage buyers to exercise this option where sellers have been reluctant to do so. Pre-purchase Inspections are the same as Pre-sale Inspections. The difference between them lies only in the reporting. As Certified Inspectors we report on both latent and patent defects in this report type.
   
   
3. Property Compliance Audits. This is often part of either a pre-sale or pre-purchase report. Sellers are often unaware of the compliance status of their property as there are misconceptions related to:
   a. What the meaning of an approved plans is
   b. Whether approved plans reflect the “as built” status of the property.
   c. What “minor works” are and whether permission has been granted by the Local Authority.
   d. Occupancy Certificates and the absolute need for this to ensure compliance.
   
   
4. New property inspections, newly renovated property inspections and snagging. “New” property transactions are different in that it is difficult to inspect as defects are often hidden or have not yet surfaced. It is essential that these properties have a snag list as supplementary to the Offer to Purchase. Furthermore, a cession of the building contract to the buyer creates a nexus between the buyer and the building contractor. This is often overlooked in property transactions. Although and where there is a National Home Builder Regulatory Council (NHBRC) enrolment the contract is inherited by the new owner and the Home Builder remains responsible for the duration of the warranty period, it remains a difficult process to navigate and the option of ensuring that the nexus is legally transferred to the buyer remains the preferred option.
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5. Rental Entry/Exit Inspection. Inspecting rental properties and recording the condition is now mandatory. The entry exit process is simplified by the creation of a blueprint of the property condition. Many rental agents still choose to perform these inspections themselves although there are compliance issues that are often ignored in these inspections.

In an age where agents must jump through more and more hoops to navigate property transactions and where buyers have become more aware of their perceived rights, an immense amount of time is wasted on sorting out problems. At Risk-Free Property Solutions we strive to ensure that the sale of properties becomes fast, effortless, efficient, and risk-free. The following will change for you and your agency if you or your seller use our service offering. By encouraging a pre-sale or pre-purchase inspection:

• The risk of a claim against you or your Agency by a buyer or seller for failure to deliver “equal duty of care” is considerably reduced and all but eliminated.
• The Pre-sale Inspection and Compliance Audit make it easier for you to navigate around the Mandatory Disclosure Form.
• This will also contribute to assisting you to determine fair market value if you have a clearer understanding of the property condition and the compliance status.
• You can spend more time on promoting, marketing, and selling the property. This will increase the velocity of your property transaction, and this results in greater transaction/sales volumes.
• As soon as you, we are appointed, you have access to the details of the property and the outcomes may be shared with you if we are authorized to do so. This will provide you with everything you might need to know about the property and as a result allow you to promote the property with all the information you would require.

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Based on our experiences in this field, we can predict with confidence that these offerings if used wisely will contribute to an escalation in the volumes of your mandates and sales. Reputation travels fast in this sector and we strongly believe that following this model you will soon set the bar so high that your competitors will be playing catch-up. Be a leader and not a follower and you will certainly reap the rewards.

ORDER YOUR PRE-SALE AND PRE-PURCHASE INSPECTION HERE