I just got off the phone with one of my sellers who had checked his home after the buyer had finished the building inspection. The home owner was steaming, just like his furnace was when the buyers and their agent finished up the inspection, only it was 85 degrees outside!  The furnace was going full blast, the back door was unlocked, the lights were left on, and cabinets in the kitchen were left open. 

Buyers do you want to be able to negotiate on a home inspection?  Do you want to get a good deal and be able to focus on what’s important to you?  Then make sure you and your agent leave the home in the same condition as it was before the building inspection.

Here’s the list of the top ten things to NOT DO when leaving a home inspection:

1. Leave doors unlocked.
2. Leave lights on.
3. Trip the circuit breakers
4. Leave food and dirty food wrappers on countertops.
5. Leave a trail of crumbs on the floor.
6. Track dirt tracked on the carpets.
7. Mess up the children’t toys
8. Leave the TV on.
9. Let the cat or dog out.
10. Leave all the stuff removed from closets to gain access to the crawl space or attic out in the rooms or hallway.

You need to keep the focus on what’s important!  Don’t upset the apple cart and take the focus away from the real issues.  Respect the seller, the home, and leave the home in the condition in which you found it. It will help to keep the focus on negotiations and what’s important to you.

Hopefully, you’ve respected the seller and the home when you were looking at it before you made the offer.

What else have you heard happening as the result of a building inspection?  Do you have another “don’t” to add to this list?