Seller Tricks

10 Most Common Seller Tricks

sellers tricks and issues — The photo was taken of one of the seller tricks! Sellers try to hide issues under scatter mats!

Unfortunately, it can be difficult when unscrupulous sellers use tricks to hide defects. Here are the 10 most common seller tricks, and how you can recognise each one of the issues.

A home may be the biggest purchase you’ll ever make. So it makes sense to do everything possible to ensure you’re making a sound investment.

Painting over problem areas.

Fresh paint itself is not a sign of dishonesty, but it can be used to cover water stains, mould and more. Many honest sellers use paint to update or freshen up walls. Take note if many areas were recently painted and mention that to the home inspector. You can also ask the seller for before-and-after photos.

Choosing to remain in the dark about potential problems are seller tricks.

By law, a seller cannot be held liable for problems he or she didn’t know about. Thus, a seller trick is not to allow home inspections to be performed when it’s time to sell. Another seller trick is not to agree to a reasonable inspection contingency time period. Some will even tell potential buyers they don’t want to know what the home inspection reveals. This is all the more reason to get a thorough home inspection. It’s a small price to pay to ensure you’re making a sound investment.

09/04/202002/10/2024

Home Inspections Kill Deals

Four Reasons Why Home Inspections Kill Deals:

buyer, seller and estate agent home inspection for houses — A buyer, a seller or an estate agent blames the house and the home inspector when a house sale falls through! Why?

A buyer may cancel a transaction after a home inspection! Sellers and agents may be tempted to blame an overzealous home inspector when a transaction falls apart after the inspection of some houses.

But there’s more to that situation than meets the eye.

Estate professionals know there are many ways that deals can fall apart, from credit, and financing to plain cold feet. But certainly, one of the more common deal killers is the home inspection.

But it doesn’t have to be!

Houses and Home Inspectors Do Not Kill Deals

Four home inspection situations lead to a cancelled transaction. Two things which are not on this list are the house and the home inspector. Some estate agents blame the home or the home inspector. However, let’s consider what happens in these situations.

Problems are caused when the home inspection report significantly alters the buyer’s expectations about what they thought they were buying. The client may say, “Gee, I thought I was buying a well-maintained home, but now that we have looked closely, I see the house requires a lot more maintenance than we expected”.

Therefore, the cancellation has everything to do with the client’s expectations coming into the inspection! Agents may wish that the home inspector had been less forthcoming about the condition of the house but this is not the solution! The solution to this problem is for buyers to have more realistic expectations before they sign the contract. My website and blog attempt to teach people skills that will help them look at houses and evaluate risk so they are more prepared to make an offer on the right house.

Here are the top four reasons buyers cancel a deal after the inspection.

1) Unprepared buyers

There are no classes in university or high school to teach people how houses work or where the risk lies. Even professional estate agents have little or no training to help them understand how to look at houses and identify issues. A new generation of homebuyers, many of whom did not grow up working on their houses with their parents, compounds this problem.

14/12/201827/05/2026

Consumers and the Property Practitioners Bill

Has the Property Practitioners Bill missed the point?

Are consumers offered more protection?

Parliament passed the new Property Practitioners Bill on Tuesday 4^th December 2018. This bill has been on the cards since 2011!

The Bill was supposed to finally provide buyers (consumers) more protection in the secondary housing market.

However, it appears the Minister of Human Settlements and his staff and the National Assembly totally missed the point!

Here is that portion of the Bill:

CHAPTER 10 CONSUMER PROTECTION

Mandatory disclosure form

A property practitioner –
1. may not accept a mandate unless the seller or lessor of the property has provided him or her with a fully completed and signed mandatory disclosure in the prescribed form; and
2. must provide a copy of the completed mandatory disclosure form to a prospective purchaser or lessee who intends to make an offer for the purchase or lease of a property.
The completed mandatory disclosure form signed by all relevant parties must be attached to any agreement for the sale or lease of property and forms an integral part of that agreement, but if such a disclosure form was not completed, signed or attached, the agreement must be interpreted as if no defects or deficiencies of the property were disclosed to the purchaser.
A property practitioner who fails to comply with subsection (1) may be held liable by any affected consumer.
Nothing in this section prevents the Authority from taking action against a property practitioner or imposing an appropriate sanction.
Nothing in this section prevents a consumer, for his or her account, from undertaking a private property inspection to confirm the state of the property before finalising the transaction.

This is the protection this Bill offers to buyers (consumers) who buy properties from sellers.

So what has changed?

05/12/201830/01/2025

Snag Inspection and Report

New Homeowners Should Have a Professional Snag Inspection

snag inspection, punch list — The NHBRC requires that a snag inspection or punch list is handed over to the builder within 90 days after the occupation of the building.

Do you believe that you are protected by buying from a reputable developer or builder? Will you be able to identify all the snags without a professional snag or punch list inspection?

What buyers don’t realise is that other building contractors subcontract to the developer or builder. Both the developer and builders are pressured to complete the units or homes within a contractual timeframe. Often, the builders take shortcuts resulting in best building practices falling by the wayside.

In addition, most new homebuyers believe the NHBRC, bank and municipal building inspectors provide them with this sort of protection.

This is not the case!

Inspectors duties

Bank inspectors

Your bank inspector determines the market value of property, land, and improvements for the bank. Therefore, the inspector is not concerned with the state of the property unless it affects the value of the property. If the valuation is within bank requirements, you will qualify for the bank loan. They don’t issue the builder or developer with a snag or punch list!

Municipal Building Inspectors

The municipal building inspectors check your building to ensure it complies with approved construction drawings, local bylaws and zoning regulations. In addition, they are also responsible for ensuring compliance with local and national building regulations. They will issue an occupation cetificate if they judge that the building is compliant. Snags and defects to finishes are not their problem!

Engineers

Structural engineers inspect and evaluate the structures of your home only. These are the foundations, slabs, walls and roof. They are not concerned with the snags and defects in installations and finishes which make up more than half the value of your house.

NHBRC inspectors

NHBRC inspectors inspect all new homes to check that the builder is complying with the NHBRC requirements on-site

The NHBRC Warranty Fund covers you against major and defined structural defects for up to five years. Enrolling your new home with the NHBRC is a statutory requirement. Theoretically, this affords you protection against contractors who deliver substandard design, workmanship and poor-quality materials.

As a new homeowner, you have the right to instruct your developer or builder with a snag list or punch list to rectify shoddy and defective work. This includes non-compliance or deviation from the terms, plans and specifications of your building agreement with him.

However, all the required NHBRC inspections are seldom done.

26/07/201812/10/2024

Home Warranty

Is a Home Warranty worth the money you pay?

A new way to “protect” home buyers and enrich insurance companies is available in South Africa in the form of a “home warranty” which will protect home buyers against future defects for 2 years!

The “Voetstoots Clause”

Thousands of homes are sold without any guarantee that the homes are free of defects. These homes are all older homes sold with the “voetstoots” clause in the “offer to purchase”. The Consumer Protection Act does not protect you, the buyer, in this case. Selling his home is not the seller’s normal course of business.

The seller’s disclosure is required to declare all known defects. Can you trust that document?

I would not!

You have to prove that the seller was aware of the defects and did not disclose them!

The defects could be maintenance issues or latent defects that the seller knows about, but that are hidden from view. Such defects can cost a lot of money to fix. Furthermore, the legal process is expensive and frustrating if there’s any doubt that the seller did not disclose known defects.

About the home warranty

An insurance company is offering a “home warranty” to protect you from issues and defects for two years. In addition, the premiums are determined on an individual basis according to the insurer. However, the cost of this home warranty ranges from R12,000 for a one million Rand home to R28,000.00 for a five million Rand home!

The seller can include the cover as a feature of the sale, or the buyer may insist upon the home warranty as a condition of the sale. In both cases, payment for the warranty forms part of the offer to purchase.

There are costs like certificates of compliance, levies and rates clearances, bond cancellation fees and the estate agent’s commission on the sale that all come off the selling price. Then there are the costs the seller has of buying a new property and moving to it as well!

I can only wonder how many sellers will want to cough up such a large amount of money.

This leaves you, the buyer, to protect yourself by buying into the home warranty!

But what does the “home warranty” work and protect you against?

The key benefits of the home warranty are a cover against:

Roof, structure or workmanship defects.
Defects with foundation design, structure or workmanship.
Faulty electrics, plumbing, drainage, sewerage and gas installations.

If you have a bond on the property you want to buy, your bank will insist you have a homeowner’s insurance. Furthermore, except for the foundation and structure, homeowners insurance will cover most of the defects mentioned above. This includes flood water or storm damage to the structure.

In addition, the insurer’s home warranty includes a property inspection beforehand!

Why buy a home warranty?

A home warranty will provide a professional inspection report that lists any exclusions or defects so you know what you are dealing with when it comes to negotiation time.