Selling your Houston home ? In Texas, the residential real estate process is driven by deadlines. The home inspection process has to fit inside the time constraints and the seller plays a big role in determining those constraints. We are going to explore the option period and how it affects home inspections and how you can help to smooth the process.
The biggest first step is to make sure your house is ready for inspection prior to or shortly after listing your home for sale. You can do most of this preparation yourself, assuming there are no major issues with the home. This series is devoted to providing detailed information on preparing your Houston home for inspection.
Let’s skip forward a bit. You have prepared your home for listing and the eventual buyer inspection. Your agent has brought you an offer from a prospective buyer. Part of the offer negotiation process is the Option Period. The [Option Period]https://www.har.com/blog_57531_what-is-the-option-period-in-texas is written into the [real estate contract]https://www.trec.texas.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-forms/20-14_0.pdf, most commonly in Texas the ONE TO FOUR FAMILY RESIDENTIAL CONTRACT (RESALE) and is the period of time after execution of the contract (Accepted Offer) that the buyer can back out of the contract for any reason.
You may feel the option period should be as short as possible and that is a valid consideration. However, be sure you plan to provide enough time for the buyer to have the house inspected by a licensed real estate inspector and review the results.
Here are the things to consider when deciding on the option period.
* How ready is your house for inspection?
* Are there any restrictions on when the inspection can occur?
* Is access to the home provided?
If you are still living in your home, it may not be completely ready for inspection. You may need to move furniture or other personal items to make sure the inspector can properly inspect all areas. If the house is vacant, are all the utilities on? Many people try to economize by shutting of some or all of the utilities. It is best if you aren’t at home when the inspector is at work, so plan for that. And be sure you provide easy access and leave the alarm system off. A Supra lock box is the best way to be sure only qualified and licensed Texas inspectors can access your home. If you use another type of lock box, be sure it is in good condition.
Once you accept the offer, the buyer must then schedule the inspection. At Spot On Inspection, we understand the time sensitive nature of the real estate transaction and make every effort to accommodate short notice inspections but there are only so many hours of daylight and it may be 24 to 72 hours before an inspector can get to the property.
Spot On Inspection provides same day reports using HomeGauge software but not all inspectors are able to generate high quality inspection reports the same day.
Once the buyer receives his report, there may be a short time period for consideration of the report contents.
Overall, three day option periods are the shortest feasible. During the busy periods, a seven day option period is more reasonable. The very common ten day option period is always a good idea for a comfortable contract process.
© 2018 Patrick Miceli
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