You don’t want to be there. While the inspector is inspecting, the buyers will also be there, talking about all the changes they’re going to make, being critical of the sellers aesthetic choices or DIY results, etc.
If the inspector finds something and either the inspector or the buyer ask you questions, you can get yourself into trouble for not disclosing, etc..
Listen to your agent, let the buyers inspect the home. They are making a HUGE purchase, they have a right to know what they’re getting.
Home inspectors are licensed and bonded, they’re not going to steal or break your property. They might tell the buyers things about your home that you don’t want the buyers to know, which is the whole point of the inspection.
Trying to control the inspection period will very likely scare your buyers off.
I just closed on a house this week, if the sellers had insisted on being at my inspection, I would have cancelled the sale.
I closed last Friday and 100% agree with everything you just said. The seller should not be at the inspection, and it would have made me hugely uncomfortable as a buyer if it was even suggested/asked.
Lies, fowl lies and slander!!
I might need the broken end bit from a thing I no longer remember. Or 3 dead AA batteries.
I have boxes in the cellar from when I moved to uni in 1990 something
Currently unpacking! We closed a month ago tomorrow but due to prior engagements only just moved in. We’re a week away from unpacked but no where close to put away and organized 😅
Solidarity! We have contractors in this week doing paint and fixtures, they’ll be done next week. In the meantime, we’re moving yard and pool stuff and other things that can be kept in the garage until the contractors are done.
Moving day should be just furniture and packed boxes.
Congratulations on your new house! It’s fun, but exhausting!
Same. I would leave any sale where the sellers insisted on being present at any point except closing, maybe.
I have no interest in listening to sellers trying to defend their houses decor or faults.
To add to it, ANYTHING the buyers inspection reveals to you, you are bound by law in many places to disclose that to any other future buyers up front. Which I'm all for transparency, but just something to be mindful of.
The seller was there for my inspection, but I see it as a liability for them. The inspector looks at the house and tries to find faults, but he could miss something. If he does, the landlord needs to correct him, otherwise he's saying further liability into himself.
Great answer, covered all the bases.
And the last one seems the most important - you could scare them off. If a seller insisted on being there and controlling the inspection process, I'd assume there was something shady going on and try to back out. Or I'd probably insist on the most thorough inspection imaginable and spend as long as possible there, assuming the seller was trying to hide something.
I will say, if you’re confident in the upkeep of your home and proud of the serious attention to detail you’ve paid your home, my parents bought from a personal seller back in the 2000’s and the guy was a great salesman and truly did take great care of his house. He showed my Mom and Dad all the little ins and outs and passed on his knowledge of the home to them and they were grateful for that. To be fair, I can’t be absolutely certain as to what part of the process that occurred but I remember the guy was very hands on and did take great pride in his home and it showed. So there’s something to be said about that. Mind you, this guy was very handy and definitely put a lot of elbow grease into maintaining his home. This was in the suburbs of a major city too. So was definitely abnormal for the time and place but it paid off because he did invest a lot into that home.
You don’t want or need to be there during the inspection. You have the opportunity to choose whether you will fix/repair/replace the items you are willing to do. We have asked for various things during the inspection when purchasing a home and have chosen not to do all the items or which ones we chose on a sale. It’s then up to either the buyer or seller to continue with the contract.
It's true. In the past it was common for buyer and seller to meet and both be present at inspections, but in modern day, real estate agents go out of their way to make sure the buyer and seller never meet (until potentially after the sale is complete).
They're not trying to pull any funny business, there's legitimate liability issues that pushed the industry in this direction. It also helps to avoid deals falling apart because the buyer and seller get into an argument, etc.
When we bought our home, we didn’t realize that the seller was also a licensed real estate agent and he was present at inspection. It was very, very awkward as he was trying to argue with the inspector’s assessments and had a “reason” for every flaw that was found.
You don’t want that. We almost pulled out of the purchase because of that. We only didn’t because we loved the house and had locked in a good interest rate.
Too busy robbing people and doing nothing. The only negative is your work weekends and evenings as an agent, outside that you make bank for showing houses which generally sell themselves, lenders and title officers do all the actual work.
Which is crazy. We listed our last house on Facebook in 2022 when homes were selling fast, and had an offer the next day. Super easy process. I think we paid the title company a couple hundred bucks, and they did almost all the work. Had we gone through an agent, it would have cost almost $22,000 for maybe an hour or two of work.
No. At least it used to be that if you as the real estate agent were actually the buyer of the house, you had to reveal that to the seller. An agent could persuade the seller to take a low-ball offer that actually came from that agent which was the reason the law was passed to protect the seller.. That used to be considered fraud. I would think that's still true, but it's been a long time since I took real estate law.
Maybe I misread, but it looked like the earlier comment said that they were the buyer and the seller was a real estate agent who was present at the inspection and didn’t disclose that he was both a real estate agent *and* the owner.
We only met the seller once, a week or so after the sale. He asked for a painting his mother had made, and he had mistakenly left along with some furniture that was included with the sale.
Of course, we let him have it, and we were glad that he came by and pointed out some of the house's quirks.
Seemed like a nice enough guy, even though we later found out that our neighbors referred to him as "Norman Bates."
If I ever showed up to a house for an inspection and the seller was there, the first thing I would think is that they are there to try and hide something or talk their way out of it. This would be a big red flag, big enough I'd probably pass on the house.
Yup, when we bought we never met the seller. Even after we moved in, we went through the seller's agent when we needed to get the seller's mail to them.
This might be the only valid exception, where the seller is the general contractor who built the house. I would be ok with this if it was new construction, but if the house was 20 years old and the GC showed up during the inspection it would raise red flags for me.
This is true, when I was buying in 2020 the owner of the home I was interested in came while I was doing a viewing. Lady that owned the home was not nice in kindest of words I can use. Being how she treated me while viewing her home I did not even bother offering her and her home sat on the market for another three months before being purchased. If she didn’t stop by while I was there I definitely think things could have easily gone differently.
I work in the security alarm industry, and lost count of the number of times that someone bought a house with an alarm in it but it wasn't disabled/removed and was unable to get in touch with the previous owner who knew the security codes to turn it off. So they'd set it off and we'd have to get them in touch with the installer to get it deactivated because they had no way to reach the seller.
Less common but even more aggravating was we'd get calls from new home owners who were getting invoices for the old owners because the previous owner left without canceling service.
When buying a house, make sure you have contact information for the sellers, especially if there's built-in electronics! Even if you never meet or speak with them, having that information can save you a lot of headaches.
Similar thing happened for us. We contacted our agent, who contacted the buyer's agent to get the passcode. I was perfectly fine with making those real estate agents do a little work after seeing what kind of commissions they got.
When I bought my home 20 years ago I and the seller were supposed to be there for the home inspection. I was there but the seller couldn't come and didnt tell us she couldn't be there. We went ahead with the inspection, which took 2 hours or so, and didn't find anything major. Then the seller shows up and gets pissed that we did the inspection without her being there. I came real close to walking from the deal but it was a very hot market.
I don’t blame them for using careful language, there is something about the concept of acknowledging that racism exists that brings out the shittiest people on this site.
If it doesn’t right now, I assume it’s because those people are busy trying to “explain“ to women that bears are more dangerous.
I had no idea what they were talking about when they mentioned liabilities, so I appreciated the other person clarifying.
And lots of people pretend racism is a thing of the past, not that they "forget" about it, but that they refuse to acknowledge it.
Yep. They constantly tell us "racism doesn't exist anymore" or "racism would just go away if you people would stop bringing it up".
I remember reading that sometimes black families hired white friends to show their homes and how the appraisals magically rise.
People don't realize redlining was littearly a thing less then 50 years ago .
It's what happens when you let a group of people who fought a war enslave their fellow men go back to their goals without any consequences.
I never met my seller and considering they had a Trump Pence campaign sign prominently displayed in the garage I am glad I didn't. They left the place in good condition and that's all I need to know.
Not doubting it but how would this work? The inspection doesn't come until after the offer is accepted. At that point the seller cannot back out without a severe penalty; where i live itvwould be tens of thousands of dollars.
When we sold, after the offer was accepted, the buyer paid for an inspection. This generated a report which was sent to us. Some of the issues were observations, some they requested addressing/remediation. At that point It became a negotiation situation. We agreed to remediate some of the issues and declined on others. The seller could have backed out at that point. I don't know specifically what penalty would have been in play without going back and looking at all the paperwork. Just because something appears in the inspection doesn't mean you HAVE to fix it. On the other hand, if the buyer had backed out, we had the benefit of an inspection we didn't have to pay for!
Interesting. When I bought my property I had an insoection done. Wasn't anything major (that i didn't know about; septic was a mess but was a known issue before offer). As the buyer, I could ask for the issues to be fixed, a price reduction, or walk away. If I asked for them to be fixed/price reduction and they refused i had no recourse but to accept or walk away. But the seller didn't have the option.
As a seller it generally isn't in your benefit to have (or be given results from) an inspection.
If the deal falls through, anything that's found that you didn't know about before is something that you're now required to disclose to future buyers.
Not from the US so I don’t know how it works there. How does it work for the buyer? Is the offer non-binding for them? What about things that come up during inspection?
When the seller accepts the buyer’s offer, there is usually an earnest money deposit held by a third party during a short window called “due diligence” where inspections and negotiations happen. Maybe 5-10 days. After this timeframe (specified in a signed offer) if the buyer backs out of the deal they typically lose the earnest money deposit but can back out of the deal before the due diligence period is over typically without a penalty. The seller is not bound to make any repairs or concessions unless the offer contract is amended during this due diligence period.
I disagree.. especially on the buyers half. If you are buying a home, the buyer doesn't even have to pay for the realtor, the seller has to figure that out.
Also, realtors are trained on different ways to purchase a home, and ways to fight for their clients to get a full access to their rights, similar to a lawyer.
They know what demands a buyer can make such as inspections, and can be a huge asset.
They don't just pull up addresses on Google maps and show them to you.
Of course you also potentially miss out on homes by using an agent. Mainly FSBO that don't offer the preferred commission amount the buyers agent wants for themselves.
Sure, if your agent sucks..
The agent also needs to be smart because if they get too stingy on finding one that makes them more money they are just going to waste their own time because it might not be what the client wants.
The most successful agents fight for the clients first and just sell more homes.
I was considering buying a house & met my inspector there. The owner showed up out of the blue and immediately it was awkward. I felt like I couldn't speak freely with the inspector, and the owner was prying & explaining away serious issues. I did not buy the house.
The owner was present for my inspection. She actually left her toddler alone with me and the inspector while she did other stuff around the house - it was so weird. This was nearly 30 years ago so I’m sure that would not happen now!
We bought a house 8.5 yrs ago, we put an offer in but there was one other offer. Realtor said they’d decide or let us up bid. But during the 24 hr period she sent us a link to a similar house, as soon as I saw “ for sale by owner” I told her nope. We got the house for our original bid. The other offer came from someone that wanted a contingency clause and the developer wasn’t playing that game.
I’m not dealing with an owner that’s emotionally involved with their paint colors and kitchen tile choices. Too much peopling involved when it’s not needed. This is house number 14 and we just want a simple negotiation process.
You don’t want to be there.
If you learn everything the inspector finds, you the have to disclose those issues to any future buyers should this sale fall through.
You’ve hired a professional who is obligated to put your interests first. Trust them.
Seller does not have the right to the buyer's inspection report. Most selling agents will refuse the offer to view said report, as stated above, because of the deal falls through and there are issues they will have to disclose that to the next prospective buyer.
Our inspector that we hired for our last house purchase was also a trusted friend. He also was well aware of who our developer that built our house and the quality of houses he built. The ONlY thing found in our inspection was one screw missing out of a cover for an outlet. Granted it was a new build but that doesn’t mean there aren’t issues.
Our sellers were there. Took everything the inspector said personally. Offended at everything. Were vocal about his feedback and how they knew better.
It wasn't good.
The seller of my house was here every damn time we looked at the house, and refused to leave for the inspection even though my agent assured me he would be gone. He sat on the couch and argued with the inspector a few times, who then threatened to cease the inspection and leave. He was a single older guy, wife recently died so we were sympathetic but the whole process was way too personal.
If you don't trust your agent, they shouldn't be your agent. In this case though, they are giving you solid advice.
You being present will potentially compromise any faith the buyer has in that inspection with your ass hovering over everything. They don't need/want your commentary and this is a part of the process where they are using their inspector to protect their interests. You've got no business being involved in that regardless of it being your house or not.
How would they take advantage? You either accept or reject the requested fixes/improvements.
It's in everyone's best interest for you to not be there. This is standard protocol. It would be really weird if you were there.
In general it's a bad idea for you to be there, with a few very narrow exceptions.
Remember that from the buyers perspective the inspector is their expert advocate to make sure they're getting what they're paying for.
I'm sure it won't take much imagination to see how a seller could really get in the way of that process, even without malicious intentions.
From a personal example: a house I purchased a while back had a design flaw in the heating system where it might freeze over in really cold temperatures, just when you need the heating system the most.
I was able to have a candid conversation with the inspector about how serious the problem was, partly because I knew I could fix it myself with some guidance from a relative who was an HVAC technician.
But the seller didn't know I could fix it, and I didn't **want** them to know that -- after all they were (probably intentionally) trying to hide that from me since I was buying in the summer. I was able to negotiate a (small, but still notable) discount on the price because of it. But I would never have been able to negotiate that discount of the buyer was aware that I "know a guy who knows a guy". That's none of their damn business.
That's just one example, but see what I mean?
For the record, your example with the HVAC system would reassure a *buyer* asking this question, but it's likely doing the opposite here since OP is selling. So you're basically saying, "It's a bad idea, because you being there would prevent the buyer from needlessly nickel-and-diming you." This is probably exactly what OP is trying to avoid.
OP: issues like this are just part of home sales, and I'd advise against pushing the limits. If, when I purchased my home, the seller had attended the inspection and possibly argued with the inspector or taken a passive-aggressive stance to everything that was raised, I would **not** have taken kindly to that. An inspection is the buyer's time to get a thorough, unbiased overview of the house and every little thing that could possibly be argued against it. It's the inspector's job to go out of his way to be overly critical and raise every tiny issue. The current owner being a part of this process would be awkward, and the prospective buyer would likely not feel comfortable taking as active a role in the inspection as he otherwise may. As a matter of courtesy, you should give them this time to themselves.
You just disagreed with an answer that points out that the presence of the seller harms the ability of the buyer to properly determine the condition of the property and use that knowledge to influence their negotiations...then told a nearly identical story of how the presence of the seller harms the ability of the buyer to properly determine the condition of the property and use that knowledge to influence their negotiations.
The buyer being turned off by the presence of the seller is the whole point! It takes **two** parties to transfer ownership of a house, and if the buyer isn't comfortable with the seller creeping around while they look for problems then guess how much the seller gets? ZERO.
You might as well argue that allowing inspections at all is a losing proposition for the seller, so OP just shouldn't have them. If the seller is foolish enough to accept an offer $10,000 less than asking price because of an issue that the buyer knows they can actually fix for $2000, that's on the seller. What you call "nickel-and-diming" is what normal people call "bargaining power".
Our sellers were there. Took everything the inspector said personally. Offended at everything. Were vocal about his feedback and how they knew better.
It wasn't good.
I’m a certified home inspector and have done hundreds of inspections. The seller is almost never present, and when they are, it hinders the process and turns off the buyers.
You will scare of buyers if they know the owner is there. They will also be walking through commenting very critically on every awful design decision you made with your heart. Let the agent do their job
Especially if the seller has particular tastes that the buyer doesn't share, and the buyer says something like, "If we buy it, the first thing to go is the fugly avocado green shag carpet in the living room" and the seller gets traumatized because they helped their grandfather install said carpet and remembers so many special times when kids and pets were playing on that carpet...
I bought my house last month. We went into the house for the final inspection and the sellers are still moving out (annoying but whatever). While we are in there we start talking about painting and redoing floors as they are passing through packing. We finish and buy the house. The seller was a friend of a friend of our friend. We find out a week later that the seller had been super upset that we were making changes and disrespecting “her” house. If they had been there during the initial inspection with the stuff I was saying to my wife about the changes we would want to make it could have ruined the entire deal. It’s never a good idea to meet the opposite party. Always a chance for emotions or manipulation.
I once sold a house that was in a bidding war. The top bidder was a yankee lawyer from NYC. I chose to sell to the next highest bidder. The sales agent was not pleased.
Ive had listing agents meet us at inspection. We kindly asked them to wait outside and they obliged.
That is the buyers time to do their due diligence.
If the buyers happen to request repairs later then thats their right however you also have the right to deny those requests but they may walk based off your refusal.
Is this a buyer viewing the house or the buyer having the house inspected by a licensed inspector?
If you are living at the house, then you can stay there while the inspector inspects the house for the buyer. I suggest keeping your mouth shut and let the inspector do their job. An inspection of this nature can take up to three houses depending on the house. You are not entitled to a copy of the report, but often you will get a copy if they claim that there are problems and ask for a reduction of the asking price.
If you are not living at the house, and they send out an inspector, then I suggest you not be there.
It doesn't matter what their inspection report claims. You have the right to dispute any findings and if they are true, you have the right to repair them before completing the sale. Often the later is a better idea because you can save money by having the repairs completed by yourself or a vendor.
If you are talking about the buyer coming to the house to view it, often the industry prefers you to be gone. Secure your personal items and make sure the house is clean and ready to receive visitors. There is no law saying you can't be there when the house is being viewed by a buyer, but you can request that your agent be at the house during the viewing to represent you. Your agent might not want to be there either, but being an agent myself, I would tell my client that I would only be there if you are still living in the house. If the house is empty (you moved out), I would tell my client that there is no need for anyone else to be at the house during a visit.
This. Last home I sold, I was home while the seller’s inspector did their thing. I work remotely and couldn’t really take off work the day the seller hired them, which was only a couple days notice, and the only thing I said to them was I’ll holler at them when I have a gap between a couple of zoom calls so they can do what they need to do in the room my office was in and I can get out of their way. The buyer was out of state and wasn’t there anyways.
This was during the height of a big seller’s market and the buyer tried to nickel and dime a bunch of stuff on a pretty much new house. Told them pound sand if it wasn’t structural, plumbing, roof, or HVAC (none were). Had to send a couple of videos to dispute things where the inspector claimed they weren’t working but was too dumb to figure out how to operate (new dishwasher, new LG dryer, and shower head hose selector switch).
My gawd there are some stupid comments on here. Anyhow, there are several legitimate reasons you don’t want to be there, but the most critical is that if the inspector (or buyer) have any questions about the inspection, property, or possible deficiencies they will instinctively ask the seller (who may or may not know the answer). When put on the spot, it is very plausible that the seller makes an incorrect statement (on purpose or not), which will be considered material and/or potentially a warranty in court if there is an issue after the fact “oh that, don’t worry about it… I’ve never had any problems”. . Remember, the buyer has not yet removed conditions - and they make their decision to remove conditions based on all the information they have, including an innocent, off-the-cuff comments by the seller. If the inspector has a question, it can be asked through your agent, giving you time to respond appropriately or get further information.
Not being present for the buyers inspection is totally normal. That’s their time with the inspector so they can feel confident about dropping all that money on your house.
Unless your want to derail the sale, the seller should *never* be present for a buyer’s inspection. It’s bad form, intimidating for the buyer and invites confrontations. Any disclosures or pertinent information can be conveyed through the broker during negotiations.
I assume they’re afraid you’ll say something that could kill the deal. The owner of my home showed up during our inspection because he forgot a few things and literally went around showing me the shoddy repairs he was so proud of doing. This is usually why they wouldn’t want the owner there.
Nah, don't worry, man. Pretty common practice. Your agent's not trying to pull a fast one on you. It just makes things smoother. Think about it, you'd feel more comfy checking out someone else's house without them around, right? Same idea applies here. The buyer can ask candid questions, be honest about any concerns, that sorta thing. Plus, you not being there avoids any awkward face-to-face negotiations. Keep your chin up! Moving's stressful enough without extra worries.
It is their right to have a third party inspection without interference from you. They are paying for it and you have nothing to do with it. They are simply doing their due diligence to ensure the six figure investment they’re making is sound, and if it’s not then they will negotiate with you based on the inspection.
Also if you don’t have a realtor to ask this EXTREMELY basic question then you are doing it all wrong and good fucking luck to you
Yes, it is true. This is one of the things you get when you get an agent (whether you realize that or not!), they are there to make sure that the transaction is completed without weird personal biases between the seller and the buyer getting in the way.
If you think about it you can probably imagine why that is considered socially valuable.
There are actually a lot of detailed, formalized laws around this particular moment in the real estate transaction process. Partly they enable the agent to act in this way, by excluding you from certain parts of it. That can feel weird. But, partly they also highly constrain the agent, and subject them to a lot of requirements too. That is the tradeoff that people thought was fair when they set this up.
So you can be highly confident that this agent is not going to rip you off or take advantage of you.
It's not unheard of, it can happen, you are right to think about it as a hypothetical. But you shouldn't worry about it unless there is something specific that is a "red flag." If you think that your agent did try to pull something, there is a whole independent public process you can go through to file a complaint, get the matter reviewed, and so on. (The specifics will depend on where you live.)
If such a complaint is valid, it would be a serious problem for the agent, legally and professionally. So they will want to avoid that as much as humanly possible.
I was where you are at, and felt uncomfortable like you do, but did what everyone is suggesting... I stayed away.
However, to avoid surprises, I hired my own inspector to walk my house, and come back with a report for me. It was only a couple of hundred bucks, but let me know there wasn't something big looming.
Their guy's report and my guy's report overlapped about 80%? And nothing big was a surprise.
Good luck!
I was under contract to buy a house. Arranged an inspection and showed up. The owner refused to let him into the property. Called my agent who called sellers agent who called him. “This house is perfect don’t need an inspection”. It was in the contract. He eventually gave up and let us do the inspection. Tailed us for the first half. Kept trying to explain away problems like running an electrical cord to a panel for a hot tub. Finally found enough owners specials I gave up and I said we’d be backing out. He threw a FIT. threatened to sue me for breach of contract. Never happened. They eventually sold it. New buyers knocked down the house and built a bigger one on it.
The inspection is usually for the buyer and lender. If they wanted it and are paying for it then its their inspection to help them identify any potential problems with the house. It also allows them to discuss things freely without you being there potentially being defensive/argumentative. You should not be there
The buyers are paying for the inspection. It's for them, not you. You have no right to be there because you aren't paying for it.
By the way, as a seller you can actually pay for your own inspection and offer that to buyers who may decide to use that instead of (or in addition to) hiring their own. I just sold a house and that's what happened.
This is common. But remember they can ask for anything after an inspection, but you don't need to give them anything. Worst that happens is your property goes back out/stays on the market.
Buyers aren't entitled to a home with everything fixed, your house was priced based on how it is currently. Old roof and all.
In general, you - as seller - are not present during a buyer inspection. If the inspection finds problems, you can always challenge the discovery.
This is the way things work in the buy-sell-buy transaction.
You have little choice. Lose the buyer, perhaps. The word gets out and people will start to ask questions.
The real estate market isn’t very big. Agents and home inspectors talk to each other.
FYI it doesn't matter if, or how many issues the buyer presents to you after the inspection. It's just a negotiating tool. The last house I sold, the buyers picked on every single thing they possibly could and wanted a 1.2% reduction of the contract price. I emailed my solicitor and basically said to tell them no becuase they will find issues with every house they look at. It's all part of home ownership. No house is perfect. My house is good value and any imperfections or perceived issues are all minor and can be attended to over time as the need arises and I'm not reducing the price. Guess what? They bought my house for the agreed contract price.
Technically you can be present for the inspection-but it’s a bad idea. For one, the buyer will probably be turned off by having you there-it seems like you’re trying to hide something. Also, there’s too much risk to you as seller. You could say the wrong thing and kill the deal or open yourself to liability. For example, you have to disclose all known issues to buyers-so if you’re there for an inspection and issues come up that cause the buyer to cancel the inspection you will know about those issues and have to disclose those to future buyers. For that same reason you don’t want to see the inspection report.
There are a lot of other issues that can come up as well that others have mentioned. Your agent has your best interests (and closing the deal) in mind when they ask you to not be present. You hired them for a reason-listen to their advice.
You are over thinking it. The inspector will create a punch list that you need to correct. They will miss a bunch of stuff. Most of what they find will be easy; just do it. The big stuff (which will all be legitimate) will be used in a negotiation against you. Basically you may be able to fix it yourself for $1000, can pay someone $3000, or can deduct the house price by $2000. It’s just the way that it is.
My last house was hit with:
1) an outlet needed to be switched to GFCI. It cost me $20 and took an hour.
2) some roof flashing wasn’t fixed. I paid $150 to have someone else pound some nails while on a ladder.
3) a French drain was needed to address some flooding. It cost me $750 to have done.
OP, there are already good answers here, but just in case, I’ll provide a little different angle.
You want plausible deniability. While the urge to be there to defend your home and keep them from guessing or assuming things that may be ‘wrong,’ you want to avoid the buyers no matter what. You want zero contact with the buyers, because the more interaction there is, the more likely feelings get hurt and it turns into a pissing match. You don’t want to hear them criticize things with the house, you don’t want them asking you questions about things, and you don’t want the inspector spotting things for them to ask you about OR potentially miss things that the buyers then ask about.
In a perfect world, yea, I get it. You’d be there to make sure the inspector gets things right, and maybe even you could help. If inspector says the roof looks 10 years old, you could say it was replaced in 2018 and has a 20 year warranty with x company. That would be great. But, that’s just not how these things work. The buyers are looking at potentially the biggest financial investment of their lives, and want to minimize their risk and cost. You, on the other hand, want to maximize their cost and minimize your own risk. Let them have their inspection, and be ready for them to bring up issues and potentially have another round of negotiations to address concerns. My biggest advice is to not let it get personal. Hopefully you are two families just looking out for yourselves. Don’t let a $500 squabble break up a 6 figure deal. If they are worried about an old water heater or something, just meet them in the middle. Your realtor can probably help you there if they are any good.
Generally, I agree that it's not a good idea for the seller to be present. That said, I have a horror story that wasn't an inspection, but was inspection adjacent.
When selling, we proactively had an inspection done by the highest rated company in the area and made it available to all potential buyers. They could do their own inspection as well, but in hope of expediting things, here's this report.
We were under contract with the buyer accepting our inspection and waiving their own. Midway to closing, they requested several hours to have contractors come and give them estimates.
Their agent would coordinate and be present.
I was working from home and tried to stay invisible.
3 guys were on my roof inspecting a gas fireplace vent pipe, I heard them asking the agent if they really wanted to replace the pipe ( the pipe was fine) or if he just needed a number to drive the price down. I couldn't hear the response.
Electricians and plumbers came and went.
3 more guys from an HVAC company came and **took apart*** my 30 year old furnace. The gas manifold was on the floor. I was sitting around the corner when I heard one say to the other, '...just break it if it won't come loose.'
At that point, 3 hours in, I called my agent and had him tell the buyer's agent and his parade contractors to get the fuck out of my house.
The buyer pulled out and my agent advised me to return their earnest money since I was the one who kicked them out of their version of an inspection.
Before we listed our house, at our realtor's suggestion, we got our own home inspector to do a full inspection and report. We used it to adjust the price a few thousand, had it present at the open house, our realtor let people know about 1-2 minor-ish things that we felt whoever made an offer would make a big deal about at their inspection. Told them the list price reflected those minor flaws. Instead of guessing or wondering what BS people would try, we had the ball firmly in our court. The buyer said their inspection was a waste because ours was so much more thorough. And we sold our home for more than our target price.
I haven’t bought a house in over a decade, but I was present for three different home inspections on houses I purchased. I learned a lot and felt more confident with upcoming maintenance needs. The seller was not there during the inspection. 1999 (IL), 2008 (MO), 2010 (IL).
Inspectors are independent third party. But there’s rules and regulations. They aren’t trying to swindle you. And you will have things wrong with your house. And they will be legitimate. I’ve never sold one of my houses and there be nothing wrong. Same with buying. It’s normal.
The inspector WILL NOT want you around. And if you’re there trying to follow them around, might give them more reason to be petty since you’re going to be petty. Also the buyers will most likely be there. They don’t want you there either.
Do everyone a favor. Let them do their job without you there. Or you will push them away and you won’t sell your house.
Our former owner was present for our inspection. I think part of the reason we got the house was she saw we were a young couple who loved the house and didn't want to knock it down.
I just bought a home. The seller was here during the inspection. She wouldn’t leave the inspector alone. She kept trying to bother me with questions and conversations while the inspector is trying to point out some rotted siding and problems with the exterior. Imagine that happening to you.
Most inspectors won't do a buyer's inspection with the seller present, because the seller is often disruptive and defensive. Also the buyer is often present, and part of the advantage of working through real estate agents is keeping emotions out of the transaction. I've always witnessed my buyer's inspections when buying and always stayed away respectfully for inspections when selling.
We had the seller insist on being at our last home inspection- found out through his bragging that he was withholding a BUNCH of information not on the seller’s disclosure, and lectured us about changing anything to fit modern standards (the house was built in 1918- filled to the brim with terrible electric and lead). Honestly, interacting with him so much made the decision much easier when inspection came back with a bunch of poor marks to kill the contract. You definitely don’t want to be there.
The potential homebuyer is paying for the inspection. Why would they allow you to be there?
And what would be the point? so you can dispute the home inspectors findings? the potential homebuyer is going to listen to the inspector not you
As a seller, you 100% do NOT want to be present for the inspection. Anything that comes up on that inspection, you will have to disclose to all other potential future buyers. It is much better to live in ignorant bliss.
Also, your agent doesn’t want you there, because you will inevitably argue
They arent trying to take advantage, its acually to avoid the opposite. If an inspector is going through and has negative things to say, many homeowners would want to argue and deny the issues they find and complicate the process. They need it to be as unbiased as possible. The inspector isnt on your side or the buyers side, theyre there to do an honest appraisal and inform the buyer of any work that may need to be done and when it should get done.
It generally makes it more awkward for a potential buyer, when the current homeowner is there during a showing. This is not the agent trying to take advantage of you. It's the agent doing what they can to make your home sell as quickly as possible.
The sellers weren’t present for our inspection. If I remember correctly, the inspector did his work, then we met him at the house and he walked us through his report.
Dude why the hell would you want to be there! It’s so awkward! Very common practice to be requested to not be present for the inspection, I have only had owners/tenants present for inspection out of dozens, and that one time was AWKWARD
Others have already kind of said, but it's normal.
Please hear me out on this next part, it is not to be racist, or sexist or whatever, but it really is partially involved.
Part of the reasoning is because if you (the seller) meet the buyer, and they happen to be a minority, or lgbtq, and you accept somebody else's offer for whatever reason you may find yourself in court for discrimination.
If the seller never meets the buyer, you can simply take whatever offer is the most attractive to you and be legally protected. And the buyer can know you denied their offer, based on the offer alone.
Home inspectors are licensed professionals. They have no interest either way. They were simply hired to do a job. To risk their license over being biased would be foolish in their part.
Well. It wouldn't really be an independent inspection if you were sitting there fucking third wheeling, would it? Wait for the results and dispute them if you choose to.
I wasn’t there for the inspection but I met our last buyer as well as the seller we were buying from after that house, who was at the inspection. It was really nice for us to meet. The house we were selling was 1740s and very special, I felt safe handing it over to the buyer who not only loved it, but had the attitude *and* the money to protect it. I gave her a handbook of all the surprising things I wished the sellers before had shared with us.
So you have sketchy stuff that you aren't disclosing and want to distract the buyer? Red flag 🚩🚩🚩
Good thing the seller isn't allowed in on the inspection
you're a shark (worrying about your buyer's motives when you and your realtor are basically robbing an potential buyer LOL). this is an extremely tough market on buyers, so instead of griping on the buyer, you should be more grateful of the fact that you are going to bank probably 200k over-appreciation like anybody else who is selling... so, who \*really\* is taking advantage? you, and your realtor. that's who.
I met the seller once because my mortgage company caught him in a slip up. I still paid less for the house because of his error and his wife trying to get more, lol!
There is no reason for the seller to be there. What would you do? You can't get involved with the inspector and you will receive a full report of the results of the inspection. If you were to try to "discuss" something with the inspector the buyer will surely become suspicious. It is like going to court, anything you say can and will be held against you.
Inspection is so buyer does get taken advantage. You might think you know everything about your home but you don’t. This a 3 party that is there to help you sell your home with integrity.
We were dumb and didn’t fuss when the seller was present at ours. He distracted the inspector and lied about visible water damage and several other issues we’ve had to pay for over the years. It was weird, but we were young and dumb. It was very manipulative
Don't know what the rules are like where you live but in the uk it's your house so they can't ask you to leave. They may want you to make yourself scarce so as to not interrupt them or intimidate the potential buyer but no you can't be forced to leave
I actually had the seller at the inspection. He was a retired Navy vet and I was active duty still. He offered me a drink during the inspection. No issues with the results. I even think it helped bc he was embarrassed with some of the results.
Any seller who is present at the inspection is going to be seen as there to try to distract from the findings, or excuse them, or otherwise cover something up. And agents know from experience that a good way to get a serious buyer to walk is to allow the seller to be present. Even if you only speak when asked a question, the buyer may develop the feeling that the inspection wasn't thorough and you somehow ensured that by your presence.
I don't see any way that being present can work in your favor. It can only hurt you.
I’ve bought 5 houses, and sold 4. I was present for all the inspections when I was the buyer, and I absolutely would not have wanted the seller to be there.
I wouldn’t have dreamed of being there when I was the seller. I was about to make a gigantic purchase, and I wanted to be sure to get an honest, unbiased report, without any interference from the other party.
If you're there it's not an arm's length transaction because you can exert undue influence. You can have your realtor be there, my wife almost always goes to inspections for her clients.
Our seller was present for part of the inspection, and that almost tanked the sale. We did not feel like we could talk to the inspector freely with him there, and it seemed like he kept trying to distract the inspector. He wouldn’t listen to his real estate agent when she told him to leave, so after I made it clear to the real estate agent that if he didn’t let us talk to the inspector alone for several hours, the sale would not be happening, the real estate agent called his wife, and his wife told him to leave 🙄 . And all of this was after he tried to prevent us from being present for the inspection at all.
Listen to your real estate agent. Let the buyer look at the item that they are about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on without feeling like you are looking over their shoulder.
i didn’t even get to be there as the buyer. i felt like he did a shit job. i also didn’t pick the inspector the realtor did. so no idea but that’s my experience. must be location based or something
In my experience the realtor lets the Inspector in and the buyers are not present either. The inspector will send his/her report to the buyers, because they paid for it. They may or may not give a copy to you, it’s up to them. It is standard practice for the seller to not be there.
It’s just so sad to me that your agent is unable to explain this to you thoroughly enough that you had to come to Reddit. If all your agent said was “No, you’re not supposed to be there” without any further elaboration, then it’s on your agent. Your agent knows that you shouldn’t be present, but probably doesn’t completely understand WHY themselves. Or is such a poor communicator they don’t see any reason to explain it to you. This is of minor consequence in this scenario, but I see this all the time. Knowing how to actually do the job isn’t even a requirement to being a successful agent.
Never understood the need for real estate agents anymore at all. You can get a cashier's check or do a money transfer for multimillion dollar vehicles and transfer ownership privately why not a house too and make properties cheaper but not needing several middle men to sell it...
You don’t want to be there. While the inspector is inspecting, the buyers will also be there, talking about all the changes they’re going to make, being critical of the sellers aesthetic choices or DIY results, etc. If the inspector finds something and either the inspector or the buyer ask you questions, you can get yourself into trouble for not disclosing, etc.. Listen to your agent, let the buyers inspect the home. They are making a HUGE purchase, they have a right to know what they’re getting. Home inspectors are licensed and bonded, they’re not going to steal or break your property. They might tell the buyers things about your home that you don’t want the buyers to know, which is the whole point of the inspection. Trying to control the inspection period will very likely scare your buyers off. I just closed on a house this week, if the sellers had insisted on being at my inspection, I would have cancelled the sale.
I closed last Friday and 100% agree with everything you just said. The seller should not be at the inspection, and it would have made me hugely uncomfortable as a buyer if it was even suggested/asked.
Congratulations!
This is the right answer
Congratulations!!
Thank you! Now we have to move all our belongings, I want to fast forward a month and be all in and unpacked. 😁
I still have boxes from 3 years ago to unpack...
I still have boxes from 3 moves ago to unpack and close on a new house in 3 weeks
Well good news! You know you don't need those, so off to the dump with them.
Lies, fowl lies and slander!! I might need the broken end bit from a thing I no longer remember. Or 3 dead AA batteries. I have boxes in the cellar from when I moved to uni in 1990 something
But I am le tired.
Ok have a nap…
And then fire ze missiles!
Fucking kangaroos
Currently unpacking! We closed a month ago tomorrow but due to prior engagements only just moved in. We’re a week away from unpacked but no where close to put away and organized 😅
Solidarity! We have contractors in this week doing paint and fixtures, they’ll be done next week. In the meantime, we’re moving yard and pool stuff and other things that can be kept in the garage until the contractors are done. Moving day should be just furniture and packed boxes. Congratulations on your new house! It’s fun, but exhausting!
Same. I would leave any sale where the sellers insisted on being present at any point except closing, maybe. I have no interest in listening to sellers trying to defend their houses decor or faults.
To add to it, ANYTHING the buyers inspection reveals to you, you are bound by law in many places to disclose that to any other future buyers up front. Which I'm all for transparency, but just something to be mindful of.
The seller was there for my inspection, but I see it as a liability for them. The inspector looks at the house and tries to find faults, but he could miss something. If he does, the landlord needs to correct him, otherwise he's saying further liability into himself.
My FIL was at the inspection for the house he built and it really bothered him when they pointed out things. So yeah, don't be there.
Make sure they prove they are licensed and bonded. When we sold our first home some jackoff almost burnt it down.
Yes, absolutely. Choose your contractors with a sense of seriousness.
Great answer, covered all the bases. And the last one seems the most important - you could scare them off. If a seller insisted on being there and controlling the inspection process, I'd assume there was something shady going on and try to back out. Or I'd probably insist on the most thorough inspection imaginable and spend as long as possible there, assuming the seller was trying to hide something.
I will say, if you’re confident in the upkeep of your home and proud of the serious attention to detail you’ve paid your home, my parents bought from a personal seller back in the 2000’s and the guy was a great salesman and truly did take great care of his house. He showed my Mom and Dad all the little ins and outs and passed on his knowledge of the home to them and they were grateful for that. To be fair, I can’t be absolutely certain as to what part of the process that occurred but I remember the guy was very hands on and did take great pride in his home and it showed. So there’s something to be said about that. Mind you, this guy was very handy and definitely put a lot of elbow grease into maintaining his home. This was in the suburbs of a major city too. So was definitely abnormal for the time and place but it paid off because he did invest a lot into that home.
You don’t want or need to be there during the inspection. You have the opportunity to choose whether you will fix/repair/replace the items you are willing to do. We have asked for various things during the inspection when purchasing a home and have chosen not to do all the items or which ones we chose on a sale. It’s then up to either the buyer or seller to continue with the contract.
It's true. In the past it was common for buyer and seller to meet and both be present at inspections, but in modern day, real estate agents go out of their way to make sure the buyer and seller never meet (until potentially after the sale is complete). They're not trying to pull any funny business, there's legitimate liability issues that pushed the industry in this direction. It also helps to avoid deals falling apart because the buyer and seller get into an argument, etc.
When we bought our home, we didn’t realize that the seller was also a licensed real estate agent and he was present at inspection. It was very, very awkward as he was trying to argue with the inspector’s assessments and had a “reason” for every flaw that was found. You don’t want that. We almost pulled out of the purchase because of that. We only didn’t because we loved the house and had locked in a good interest rate.
He committed an ethics violation by not disclosing he was an agent
Among many other violations that we only really found out about after. We reported him.
Real estate agents have ethics to uphold? Lol
Too busy robbing people and doing nothing. The only negative is your work weekends and evenings as an agent, outside that you make bank for showing houses which generally sell themselves, lenders and title officers do all the actual work.
Which is crazy. We listed our last house on Facebook in 2022 when homes were selling fast, and had an offer the next day. Super easy process. I think we paid the title company a couple hundred bucks, and they did almost all the work. Had we gone through an agent, it would have cost almost $22,000 for maybe an hour or two of work.
I used to have a real estate license and you're right. That's a big no-no not to reveal that you're the buyer.
I’m assuming you meant owner
No. At least it used to be that if you as the real estate agent were actually the buyer of the house, you had to reveal that to the seller. An agent could persuade the seller to take a low-ball offer that actually came from that agent which was the reason the law was passed to protect the seller.. That used to be considered fraud. I would think that's still true, but it's been a long time since I took real estate law.
Maybe I misread, but it looked like the earlier comment said that they were the buyer and the seller was a real estate agent who was present at the inspection and didn’t disclose that he was both a real estate agent *and* the owner.
We only met the seller once, a week or so after the sale. He asked for a painting his mother had made, and he had mistakenly left along with some furniture that was included with the sale. Of course, we let him have it, and we were glad that he came by and pointed out some of the house's quirks. Seemed like a nice enough guy, even though we later found out that our neighbors referred to him as "Norman Bates."
"Mother!"
So he painted the painting himself disguised as his mother?
Hmmm... Perhaps. I hadn't considered that.
makes the mothers painting a little more interesting 🤣
If I ever showed up to a house for an inspection and the seller was there, the first thing I would think is that they are there to try and hide something or talk their way out of it. This would be a big red flag, big enough I'd probably pass on the house.
Yup, me too. Huge red flag.
Same
Yup, when we bought we never met the seller. Even after we moved in, we went through the seller's agent when we needed to get the seller's mail to them.
[удалено]
This might be the only valid exception, where the seller is the general contractor who built the house. I would be ok with this if it was new construction, but if the house was 20 years old and the GC showed up during the inspection it would raise red flags for me.
This is true, when I was buying in 2020 the owner of the home I was interested in came while I was doing a viewing. Lady that owned the home was not nice in kindest of words I can use. Being how she treated me while viewing her home I did not even bother offering her and her home sat on the market for another three months before being purchased. If she didn’t stop by while I was there I definitely think things could have easily gone differently.
I work in the security alarm industry, and lost count of the number of times that someone bought a house with an alarm in it but it wasn't disabled/removed and was unable to get in touch with the previous owner who knew the security codes to turn it off. So they'd set it off and we'd have to get them in touch with the installer to get it deactivated because they had no way to reach the seller. Less common but even more aggravating was we'd get calls from new home owners who were getting invoices for the old owners because the previous owner left without canceling service. When buying a house, make sure you have contact information for the sellers, especially if there's built-in electronics! Even if you never meet or speak with them, having that information can save you a lot of headaches.
Similar thing happened for us. We contacted our agent, who contacted the buyer's agent to get the passcode. I was perfectly fine with making those real estate agents do a little work after seeing what kind of commissions they got.
When I bought my home 20 years ago I and the seller were supposed to be there for the home inspection. I was there but the seller couldn't come and didnt tell us she couldn't be there. We went ahead with the inspection, which took 2 hours or so, and didn't find anything major. Then the seller shows up and gets pissed that we did the inspection without her being there. I came real close to walking from the deal but it was a very hot market.
Let's not forget racism. Some people may refuse to sell or buy a home with a Black family on the other side of the transaction.
….yeah I mean that’s exactly the liability issues they mentioned. Nobody is forgetting it.
“liability” is a very non specific term. I appreciate specific examples .
I don’t blame them for using careful language, there is something about the concept of acknowledging that racism exists that brings out the shittiest people on this site. If it doesn’t right now, I assume it’s because those people are busy trying to “explain“ to women that bears are more dangerous.
I had no idea what they were talking about when they mentioned liabilities, so I appreciated the other person clarifying. And lots of people pretend racism is a thing of the past, not that they "forget" about it, but that they refuse to acknowledge it.
Yep. They constantly tell us "racism doesn't exist anymore" or "racism would just go away if you people would stop bringing it up". I remember reading that sometimes black families hired white friends to show their homes and how the appraisals magically rise.
People don't realize redlining was littearly a thing less then 50 years ago . It's what happens when you let a group of people who fought a war enslave their fellow men go back to their goals without any consequences.
lol people are constantly forgetting
People dismiss racism all the time. It's usually worth pointing out when relevant.
It was specifically not mentioned.
That is one of many issues they didn't mention, and never would have occurred to many if not most people, myself included!
I never met my seller and considering they had a Trump Pence campaign sign prominently displayed in the garage I am glad I didn't. They left the place in good condition and that's all I need to know.
Agreed on not self inflicting wounds.
Not doubting it but how would this work? The inspection doesn't come until after the offer is accepted. At that point the seller cannot back out without a severe penalty; where i live itvwould be tens of thousands of dollars.
When we sold, after the offer was accepted, the buyer paid for an inspection. This generated a report which was sent to us. Some of the issues were observations, some they requested addressing/remediation. At that point It became a negotiation situation. We agreed to remediate some of the issues and declined on others. The seller could have backed out at that point. I don't know specifically what penalty would have been in play without going back and looking at all the paperwork. Just because something appears in the inspection doesn't mean you HAVE to fix it. On the other hand, if the buyer had backed out, we had the benefit of an inspection we didn't have to pay for!
Interesting. When I bought my property I had an insoection done. Wasn't anything major (that i didn't know about; septic was a mess but was a known issue before offer). As the buyer, I could ask for the issues to be fixed, a price reduction, or walk away. If I asked for them to be fixed/price reduction and they refused i had no recourse but to accept or walk away. But the seller didn't have the option.
As seller, I was able to decline addressing the issues. I couldn't walk away, just the buyer could.
As a seller it generally isn't in your benefit to have (or be given results from) an inspection. If the deal falls through, anything that's found that you didn't know about before is something that you're now required to disclose to future buyers.
Not from the US so I don’t know how it works there. How does it work for the buyer? Is the offer non-binding for them? What about things that come up during inspection?
When the seller accepts the buyer’s offer, there is usually an earnest money deposit held by a third party during a short window called “due diligence” where inspections and negotiations happen. Maybe 5-10 days. After this timeframe (specified in a signed offer) if the buyer backs out of the deal they typically lose the earnest money deposit but can back out of the deal before the due diligence period is over typically without a penalty. The seller is not bound to make any repairs or concessions unless the offer contract is amended during this due diligence period.
Agents are trying their best to make buyers and sellers think we can't do anything on our own, to justify their high commissions.
I disagree.. especially on the buyers half. If you are buying a home, the buyer doesn't even have to pay for the realtor, the seller has to figure that out. Also, realtors are trained on different ways to purchase a home, and ways to fight for their clients to get a full access to their rights, similar to a lawyer. They know what demands a buyer can make such as inspections, and can be a huge asset. They don't just pull up addresses on Google maps and show them to you.
Of course you also potentially miss out on homes by using an agent. Mainly FSBO that don't offer the preferred commission amount the buyers agent wants for themselves.
Sure, if your agent sucks.. The agent also needs to be smart because if they get too stingy on finding one that makes them more money they are just going to waste their own time because it might not be what the client wants. The most successful agents fight for the clients first and just sell more homes.
lol I got my house for a steal because of attitudes like this. There’s a reason professionals exist. It’s for both party’s benefit.
I was considering buying a house & met my inspector there. The owner showed up out of the blue and immediately it was awkward. I felt like I couldn't speak freely with the inspector, and the owner was prying & explaining away serious issues. I did not buy the house.
The owner was present for my inspection. She actually left her toddler alone with me and the inspector while she did other stuff around the house - it was so weird. This was nearly 30 years ago so I’m sure that would not happen now!
That’s batshit insane
We bought a house 8.5 yrs ago, we put an offer in but there was one other offer. Realtor said they’d decide or let us up bid. But during the 24 hr period she sent us a link to a similar house, as soon as I saw “ for sale by owner” I told her nope. We got the house for our original bid. The other offer came from someone that wanted a contingency clause and the developer wasn’t playing that game. I’m not dealing with an owner that’s emotionally involved with their paint colors and kitchen tile choices. Too much peopling involved when it’s not needed. This is house number 14 and we just want a simple negotiation process.
You don’t want to be there. If you learn everything the inspector finds, you the have to disclose those issues to any future buyers should this sale fall through. You’ve hired a professional who is obligated to put your interests first. Trust them.
They will learn those things from the inspectors report anyways. I don't think this is the reason
Seller does not have the right to the buyer's inspection report. Most selling agents will refuse the offer to view said report, as stated above, because of the deal falls through and there are issues they will have to disclose that to the next prospective buyer.
If I was a buyer and the seller insisted on being there, I would assume that the seller is trying to hide something about the house from me.
I had an owner bribe my inspector right as we were coming in. There is a reason for this.
Our inspector that we hired for our last house purchase was also a trusted friend. He also was well aware of who our developer that built our house and the quality of houses he built. The ONlY thing found in our inspection was one screw missing out of a cover for an outlet. Granted it was a new build but that doesn’t mean there aren’t issues.
Our sellers were there. Took everything the inspector said personally. Offended at everything. Were vocal about his feedback and how they knew better. It wasn't good.
The seller of my house was here every damn time we looked at the house, and refused to leave for the inspection even though my agent assured me he would be gone. He sat on the couch and argued with the inspector a few times, who then threatened to cease the inspection and leave. He was a single older guy, wife recently died so we were sympathetic but the whole process was way too personal.
If you don't trust your agent, they shouldn't be your agent. In this case though, they are giving you solid advice. You being present will potentially compromise any faith the buyer has in that inspection with your ass hovering over everything. They don't need/want your commentary and this is a part of the process where they are using their inspector to protect their interests. You've got no business being involved in that regardless of it being your house or not.
How would they take advantage? You either accept or reject the requested fixes/improvements. It's in everyone's best interest for you to not be there. This is standard protocol. It would be really weird if you were there.
It's standard practice for the seller to not be present, but there's no rules or laws about it unless you've signed something saying otherwise.
In general it's a bad idea for you to be there, with a few very narrow exceptions. Remember that from the buyers perspective the inspector is their expert advocate to make sure they're getting what they're paying for. I'm sure it won't take much imagination to see how a seller could really get in the way of that process, even without malicious intentions. From a personal example: a house I purchased a while back had a design flaw in the heating system where it might freeze over in really cold temperatures, just when you need the heating system the most. I was able to have a candid conversation with the inspector about how serious the problem was, partly because I knew I could fix it myself with some guidance from a relative who was an HVAC technician. But the seller didn't know I could fix it, and I didn't **want** them to know that -- after all they were (probably intentionally) trying to hide that from me since I was buying in the summer. I was able to negotiate a (small, but still notable) discount on the price because of it. But I would never have been able to negotiate that discount of the buyer was aware that I "know a guy who knows a guy". That's none of their damn business. That's just one example, but see what I mean?
For the record, your example with the HVAC system would reassure a *buyer* asking this question, but it's likely doing the opposite here since OP is selling. So you're basically saying, "It's a bad idea, because you being there would prevent the buyer from needlessly nickel-and-diming you." This is probably exactly what OP is trying to avoid. OP: issues like this are just part of home sales, and I'd advise against pushing the limits. If, when I purchased my home, the seller had attended the inspection and possibly argued with the inspector or taken a passive-aggressive stance to everything that was raised, I would **not** have taken kindly to that. An inspection is the buyer's time to get a thorough, unbiased overview of the house and every little thing that could possibly be argued against it. It's the inspector's job to go out of his way to be overly critical and raise every tiny issue. The current owner being a part of this process would be awkward, and the prospective buyer would likely not feel comfortable taking as active a role in the inspection as he otherwise may. As a matter of courtesy, you should give them this time to themselves.
You just disagreed with an answer that points out that the presence of the seller harms the ability of the buyer to properly determine the condition of the property and use that knowledge to influence their negotiations...then told a nearly identical story of how the presence of the seller harms the ability of the buyer to properly determine the condition of the property and use that knowledge to influence their negotiations. The buyer being turned off by the presence of the seller is the whole point! It takes **two** parties to transfer ownership of a house, and if the buyer isn't comfortable with the seller creeping around while they look for problems then guess how much the seller gets? ZERO. You might as well argue that allowing inspections at all is a losing proposition for the seller, so OP just shouldn't have them. If the seller is foolish enough to accept an offer $10,000 less than asking price because of an issue that the buyer knows they can actually fix for $2000, that's on the seller. What you call "nickel-and-diming" is what normal people call "bargaining power".
Found the comment to validate OPs worry.
Our sellers were there. Took everything the inspector said personally. Offended at everything. Were vocal about his feedback and how they knew better. It wasn't good.
I’m a certified home inspector and have done hundreds of inspections. The seller is almost never present, and when they are, it hinders the process and turns off the buyers.
You will scare of buyers if they know the owner is there. They will also be walking through commenting very critically on every awful design decision you made with your heart. Let the agent do their job
Yes so the owner doesn’t interfere with the inspection.
Selling agents never want the seller and purchaser to meet. Reason being that it can queer a deal in a heartbeat.
Especially if the seller has particular tastes that the buyer doesn't share, and the buyer says something like, "If we buy it, the first thing to go is the fugly avocado green shag carpet in the living room" and the seller gets traumatized because they helped their grandfather install said carpet and remembers so many special times when kids and pets were playing on that carpet...
I bought my house last month. We went into the house for the final inspection and the sellers are still moving out (annoying but whatever). While we are in there we start talking about painting and redoing floors as they are passing through packing. We finish and buy the house. The seller was a friend of a friend of our friend. We find out a week later that the seller had been super upset that we were making changes and disrespecting “her” house. If they had been there during the initial inspection with the stuff I was saying to my wife about the changes we would want to make it could have ruined the entire deal. It’s never a good idea to meet the opposite party. Always a chance for emotions or manipulation.
I once sold a house that was in a bidding war. The top bidder was a yankee lawyer from NYC. I chose to sell to the next highest bidder. The sales agent was not pleased.
It can do what to a deal
Shit can get gay *real* quick
Hah! my thoughts exactly.
I’ve seen it used like that in like…18th century books….
No, you’re not supposed to be there. It’s in part to prevent *you* from taking advantage.
Ive had listing agents meet us at inspection. We kindly asked them to wait outside and they obliged. That is the buyers time to do their due diligence. If the buyers happen to request repairs later then thats their right however you also have the right to deny those requests but they may walk based off your refusal.
Don't do it, you don't need to be there since it should be impartial.
Yep. I wouldn’t want the seller there to argue about stuff.
You're not meant to be there, no. That's weird and will put someone off. Don't do that.
It's true. When the seller is present, shit goes south.
Just dont
The inspector does not work for you. Nor is he obligated to lie to benefit the buyer. It’s the way it works.
Is this a buyer viewing the house or the buyer having the house inspected by a licensed inspector? If you are living at the house, then you can stay there while the inspector inspects the house for the buyer. I suggest keeping your mouth shut and let the inspector do their job. An inspection of this nature can take up to three houses depending on the house. You are not entitled to a copy of the report, but often you will get a copy if they claim that there are problems and ask for a reduction of the asking price. If you are not living at the house, and they send out an inspector, then I suggest you not be there. It doesn't matter what their inspection report claims. You have the right to dispute any findings and if they are true, you have the right to repair them before completing the sale. Often the later is a better idea because you can save money by having the repairs completed by yourself or a vendor. If you are talking about the buyer coming to the house to view it, often the industry prefers you to be gone. Secure your personal items and make sure the house is clean and ready to receive visitors. There is no law saying you can't be there when the house is being viewed by a buyer, but you can request that your agent be at the house during the viewing to represent you. Your agent might not want to be there either, but being an agent myself, I would tell my client that I would only be there if you are still living in the house. If the house is empty (you moved out), I would tell my client that there is no need for anyone else to be at the house during a visit.
This. Last home I sold, I was home while the seller’s inspector did their thing. I work remotely and couldn’t really take off work the day the seller hired them, which was only a couple days notice, and the only thing I said to them was I’ll holler at them when I have a gap between a couple of zoom calls so they can do what they need to do in the room my office was in and I can get out of their way. The buyer was out of state and wasn’t there anyways. This was during the height of a big seller’s market and the buyer tried to nickel and dime a bunch of stuff on a pretty much new house. Told them pound sand if it wasn’t structural, plumbing, roof, or HVAC (none were). Had to send a couple of videos to dispute things where the inspector claimed they weren’t working but was too dumb to figure out how to operate (new dishwasher, new LG dryer, and shower head hose selector switch).
My gawd there are some stupid comments on here. Anyhow, there are several legitimate reasons you don’t want to be there, but the most critical is that if the inspector (or buyer) have any questions about the inspection, property, or possible deficiencies they will instinctively ask the seller (who may or may not know the answer). When put on the spot, it is very plausible that the seller makes an incorrect statement (on purpose or not), which will be considered material and/or potentially a warranty in court if there is an issue after the fact “oh that, don’t worry about it… I’ve never had any problems”. . Remember, the buyer has not yet removed conditions - and they make their decision to remove conditions based on all the information they have, including an innocent, off-the-cuff comments by the seller. If the inspector has a question, it can be asked through your agent, giving you time to respond appropriately or get further information.
If you're worried. Get your own inspector and compare the two.
Not being present for the buyers inspection is totally normal. That’s their time with the inspector so they can feel confident about dropping all that money on your house.
Unless your want to derail the sale, the seller should *never* be present for a buyer’s inspection. It’s bad form, intimidating for the buyer and invites confrontations. Any disclosures or pertinent information can be conveyed through the broker during negotiations.
I assume they’re afraid you’ll say something that could kill the deal. The owner of my home showed up during our inspection because he forgot a few things and literally went around showing me the shoddy repairs he was so proud of doing. This is usually why they wouldn’t want the owner there.
Seller is normally not present. The inspector should be reasonably unbiased. If they're not they don't end up getting much business in the long run.
Nah, don't worry, man. Pretty common practice. Your agent's not trying to pull a fast one on you. It just makes things smoother. Think about it, you'd feel more comfy checking out someone else's house without them around, right? Same idea applies here. The buyer can ask candid questions, be honest about any concerns, that sorta thing. Plus, you not being there avoids any awkward face-to-face negotiations. Keep your chin up! Moving's stressful enough without extra worries.
The buyer will most likely back out if you're there. Go have a lunch/dinner and let the professionals do their job.
It is their right to have a third party inspection without interference from you. They are paying for it and you have nothing to do with it. They are simply doing their due diligence to ensure the six figure investment they’re making is sound, and if it’s not then they will negotiate with you based on the inspection. Also if you don’t have a realtor to ask this EXTREMELY basic question then you are doing it all wrong and good fucking luck to you
True and you should get the same courtesy when you buy.
Don’t be there it’s weird… like really don’t do it.
Yes, it is true. This is one of the things you get when you get an agent (whether you realize that or not!), they are there to make sure that the transaction is completed without weird personal biases between the seller and the buyer getting in the way. If you think about it you can probably imagine why that is considered socially valuable. There are actually a lot of detailed, formalized laws around this particular moment in the real estate transaction process. Partly they enable the agent to act in this way, by excluding you from certain parts of it. That can feel weird. But, partly they also highly constrain the agent, and subject them to a lot of requirements too. That is the tradeoff that people thought was fair when they set this up. So you can be highly confident that this agent is not going to rip you off or take advantage of you. It's not unheard of, it can happen, you are right to think about it as a hypothetical. But you shouldn't worry about it unless there is something specific that is a "red flag." If you think that your agent did try to pull something, there is a whole independent public process you can go through to file a complaint, get the matter reviewed, and so on. (The specifics will depend on where you live.) If such a complaint is valid, it would be a serious problem for the agent, legally and professionally. So they will want to avoid that as much as humanly possible.
I was where you are at, and felt uncomfortable like you do, but did what everyone is suggesting... I stayed away. However, to avoid surprises, I hired my own inspector to walk my house, and come back with a report for me. It was only a couple of hundred bucks, but let me know there wasn't something big looming. Their guy's report and my guy's report overlapped about 80%? And nothing big was a surprise. Good luck!
I was under contract to buy a house. Arranged an inspection and showed up. The owner refused to let him into the property. Called my agent who called sellers agent who called him. “This house is perfect don’t need an inspection”. It was in the contract. He eventually gave up and let us do the inspection. Tailed us for the first half. Kept trying to explain away problems like running an electrical cord to a panel for a hot tub. Finally found enough owners specials I gave up and I said we’d be backing out. He threw a FIT. threatened to sue me for breach of contract. Never happened. They eventually sold it. New buyers knocked down the house and built a bigger one on it.
No need to be there
Listen to the person who knows how to sell houses, if you don’t think she going to advantage then funder a better agent
The inspection is usually for the buyer and lender. If they wanted it and are paying for it then its their inspection to help them identify any potential problems with the house. It also allows them to discuss things freely without you being there potentially being defensive/argumentative. You should not be there
The buyers are paying for the inspection. It's for them, not you. You have no right to be there because you aren't paying for it. By the way, as a seller you can actually pay for your own inspection and offer that to buyers who may decide to use that instead of (or in addition to) hiring their own. I just sold a house and that's what happened.
This is common. But remember they can ask for anything after an inspection, but you don't need to give them anything. Worst that happens is your property goes back out/stays on the market. Buyers aren't entitled to a home with everything fixed, your house was priced based on how it is currently. Old roof and all.
True. It can be confrontational.
In general, you - as seller - are not present during a buyer inspection. If the inspection finds problems, you can always challenge the discovery. This is the way things work in the buy-sell-buy transaction. You have little choice. Lose the buyer, perhaps. The word gets out and people will start to ask questions. The real estate market isn’t very big. Agents and home inspectors talk to each other.
You want it to feel like their house, not that they are a guest of yours
FYI it doesn't matter if, or how many issues the buyer presents to you after the inspection. It's just a negotiating tool. The last house I sold, the buyers picked on every single thing they possibly could and wanted a 1.2% reduction of the contract price. I emailed my solicitor and basically said to tell them no becuase they will find issues with every house they look at. It's all part of home ownership. No house is perfect. My house is good value and any imperfections or perceived issues are all minor and can be attended to over time as the need arises and I'm not reducing the price. Guess what? They bought my house for the agreed contract price.
Absolutely normal.
Technically you can be present for the inspection-but it’s a bad idea. For one, the buyer will probably be turned off by having you there-it seems like you’re trying to hide something. Also, there’s too much risk to you as seller. You could say the wrong thing and kill the deal or open yourself to liability. For example, you have to disclose all known issues to buyers-so if you’re there for an inspection and issues come up that cause the buyer to cancel the inspection you will know about those issues and have to disclose those to future buyers. For that same reason you don’t want to see the inspection report. There are a lot of other issues that can come up as well that others have mentioned. Your agent has your best interests (and closing the deal) in mind when they ask you to not be present. You hired them for a reason-listen to their advice.
Generally sellers and buyers don't meet face to face until you are signing the paperwork at the lawyers office.
You are over thinking it. The inspector will create a punch list that you need to correct. They will miss a bunch of stuff. Most of what they find will be easy; just do it. The big stuff (which will all be legitimate) will be used in a negotiation against you. Basically you may be able to fix it yourself for $1000, can pay someone $3000, or can deduct the house price by $2000. It’s just the way that it is. My last house was hit with: 1) an outlet needed to be switched to GFCI. It cost me $20 and took an hour. 2) some roof flashing wasn’t fixed. I paid $150 to have someone else pound some nails while on a ladder. 3) a French drain was needed to address some flooding. It cost me $750 to have done.
OP, there are already good answers here, but just in case, I’ll provide a little different angle. You want plausible deniability. While the urge to be there to defend your home and keep them from guessing or assuming things that may be ‘wrong,’ you want to avoid the buyers no matter what. You want zero contact with the buyers, because the more interaction there is, the more likely feelings get hurt and it turns into a pissing match. You don’t want to hear them criticize things with the house, you don’t want them asking you questions about things, and you don’t want the inspector spotting things for them to ask you about OR potentially miss things that the buyers then ask about. In a perfect world, yea, I get it. You’d be there to make sure the inspector gets things right, and maybe even you could help. If inspector says the roof looks 10 years old, you could say it was replaced in 2018 and has a 20 year warranty with x company. That would be great. But, that’s just not how these things work. The buyers are looking at potentially the biggest financial investment of their lives, and want to minimize their risk and cost. You, on the other hand, want to maximize their cost and minimize your own risk. Let them have their inspection, and be ready for them to bring up issues and potentially have another round of negotiations to address concerns. My biggest advice is to not let it get personal. Hopefully you are two families just looking out for yourselves. Don’t let a $500 squabble break up a 6 figure deal. If they are worried about an old water heater or something, just meet them in the middle. Your realtor can probably help you there if they are any good.
Of.course you're not supposed to be there.
Generally, I agree that it's not a good idea for the seller to be present. That said, I have a horror story that wasn't an inspection, but was inspection adjacent. When selling, we proactively had an inspection done by the highest rated company in the area and made it available to all potential buyers. They could do their own inspection as well, but in hope of expediting things, here's this report. We were under contract with the buyer accepting our inspection and waiving their own. Midway to closing, they requested several hours to have contractors come and give them estimates. Their agent would coordinate and be present. I was working from home and tried to stay invisible. 3 guys were on my roof inspecting a gas fireplace vent pipe, I heard them asking the agent if they really wanted to replace the pipe ( the pipe was fine) or if he just needed a number to drive the price down. I couldn't hear the response. Electricians and plumbers came and went. 3 more guys from an HVAC company came and **took apart*** my 30 year old furnace. The gas manifold was on the floor. I was sitting around the corner when I heard one say to the other, '...just break it if it won't come loose.' At that point, 3 hours in, I called my agent and had him tell the buyer's agent and his parade contractors to get the fuck out of my house. The buyer pulled out and my agent advised me to return their earnest money since I was the one who kicked them out of their version of an inspection.
Before we listed our house, at our realtor's suggestion, we got our own home inspector to do a full inspection and report. We used it to adjust the price a few thousand, had it present at the open house, our realtor let people know about 1-2 minor-ish things that we felt whoever made an offer would make a big deal about at their inspection. Told them the list price reflected those minor flaws. Instead of guessing or wondering what BS people would try, we had the ball firmly in our court. The buyer said their inspection was a waste because ours was so much more thorough. And we sold our home for more than our target price.
I haven’t bought a house in over a decade, but I was present for three different home inspections on houses I purchased. I learned a lot and felt more confident with upcoming maintenance needs. The seller was not there during the inspection. 1999 (IL), 2008 (MO), 2010 (IL).
Inspectors are independent third party. But there’s rules and regulations. They aren’t trying to swindle you. And you will have things wrong with your house. And they will be legitimate. I’ve never sold one of my houses and there be nothing wrong. Same with buying. It’s normal. The inspector WILL NOT want you around. And if you’re there trying to follow them around, might give them more reason to be petty since you’re going to be petty. Also the buyers will most likely be there. They don’t want you there either. Do everyone a favor. Let them do their job without you there. Or you will push them away and you won’t sell your house.
Our former owner was present for our inspection. I think part of the reason we got the house was she saw we were a young couple who loved the house and didn't want to knock it down.
You don't have to be there. You have to trust the agent to strike a good deal for you.
I just bought a home. The seller was here during the inspection. She wouldn’t leave the inspector alone. She kept trying to bother me with questions and conversations while the inspector is trying to point out some rotted siding and problems with the exterior. Imagine that happening to you.
If the sellers had been there when we bought our house…we wouldn’t have bought it. I would stay out.
I have no info on this however when I read this I read it really fast and thought it said “I am selling my mom”
Most inspectors won't do a buyer's inspection with the seller present, because the seller is often disruptive and defensive. Also the buyer is often present, and part of the advantage of working through real estate agents is keeping emotions out of the transaction. I've always witnessed my buyer's inspections when buying and always stayed away respectfully for inspections when selling.
We had the seller insist on being at our last home inspection- found out through his bragging that he was withholding a BUNCH of information not on the seller’s disclosure, and lectured us about changing anything to fit modern standards (the house was built in 1918- filled to the brim with terrible electric and lead). Honestly, interacting with him so much made the decision much easier when inspection came back with a bunch of poor marks to kill the contract. You definitely don’t want to be there.
The potential homebuyer is paying for the inspection. Why would they allow you to be there? And what would be the point? so you can dispute the home inspectors findings? the potential homebuyer is going to listen to the inspector not you
As a seller, you 100% do NOT want to be present for the inspection. Anything that comes up on that inspection, you will have to disclose to all other potential future buyers. It is much better to live in ignorant bliss. Also, your agent doesn’t want you there, because you will inevitably argue
Sit it out. You hire people for their expertise. Listen to them
They arent trying to take advantage, its acually to avoid the opposite. If an inspector is going through and has negative things to say, many homeowners would want to argue and deny the issues they find and complicate the process. They need it to be as unbiased as possible. The inspector isnt on your side or the buyers side, theyre there to do an honest appraisal and inform the buyer of any work that may need to be done and when it should get done.
This is the agents job. You’ll have enough on your plate
It generally makes it more awkward for a potential buyer, when the current homeowner is there during a showing. This is not the agent trying to take advantage of you. It's the agent doing what they can to make your home sell as quickly as possible.
The sellers weren’t present for our inspection. If I remember correctly, the inspector did his work, then we met him at the house and he walked us through his report.
Dude why the hell would you want to be there! It’s so awkward! Very common practice to be requested to not be present for the inspection, I have only had owners/tenants present for inspection out of dozens, and that one time was AWKWARD
How do you suppose they will take advantage of an inspection?
Others have already kind of said, but it's normal. Please hear me out on this next part, it is not to be racist, or sexist or whatever, but it really is partially involved. Part of the reasoning is because if you (the seller) meet the buyer, and they happen to be a minority, or lgbtq, and you accept somebody else's offer for whatever reason you may find yourself in court for discrimination. If the seller never meets the buyer, you can simply take whatever offer is the most attractive to you and be legally protected. And the buyer can know you denied their offer, based on the offer alone.
Home inspectors are licensed professionals. They have no interest either way. They were simply hired to do a job. To risk their license over being biased would be foolish in their part.
You should not be there. The report the inspector creates after the inspection should be shared with you, documenting any issues found.
Well. It wouldn't really be an independent inspection if you were sitting there fucking third wheeling, would it? Wait for the results and dispute them if you choose to.
I wasn’t there for the inspection but I met our last buyer as well as the seller we were buying from after that house, who was at the inspection. It was really nice for us to meet. The house we were selling was 1740s and very special, I felt safe handing it over to the buyer who not only loved it, but had the attitude *and* the money to protect it. I gave her a handbook of all the surprising things I wished the sellers before had shared with us.
This comment is actually pretty stinking cute. I LOVE old houses. I bet it was awesome! And providing the handbook is such a cool thing to do.
Why do you want to be present? Trying to hide something?
So you have sketchy stuff that you aren't disclosing and want to distract the buyer? Red flag 🚩🚩🚩 Good thing the seller isn't allowed in on the inspection
you're a shark (worrying about your buyer's motives when you and your realtor are basically robbing an potential buyer LOL). this is an extremely tough market on buyers, so instead of griping on the buyer, you should be more grateful of the fact that you are going to bank probably 200k over-appreciation like anybody else who is selling... so, who \*really\* is taking advantage? you, and your realtor. that's who.
I met the seller once because my mortgage company caught him in a slip up. I still paid less for the house because of his error and his wife trying to get more, lol!
There is no reason for the seller to be there. What would you do? You can't get involved with the inspector and you will receive a full report of the results of the inspection. If you were to try to "discuss" something with the inspector the buyer will surely become suspicious. It is like going to court, anything you say can and will be held against you.
Why do you want to be there?
Are you always concerned that you're being taken advantage of?
Inspection is so buyer does get taken advantage. You might think you know everything about your home but you don’t. This a 3 party that is there to help you sell your home with integrity.
Trying to take advantage of what exactly? The inspector is hired by buyer. They're impartial or they're not, you being there doesn't change anything.
We were dumb and didn’t fuss when the seller was present at ours. He distracted the inspector and lied about visible water damage and several other issues we’ve had to pay for over the years. It was weird, but we were young and dumb. It was very manipulative
Don't know what the rules are like where you live but in the uk it's your house so they can't ask you to leave. They may want you to make yourself scarce so as to not interrupt them or intimidate the potential buyer but no you can't be forced to leave
I actually had the seller at the inspection. He was a retired Navy vet and I was active duty still. He offered me a drink during the inspection. No issues with the results. I even think it helped bc he was embarrassed with some of the results.
Any seller who is present at the inspection is going to be seen as there to try to distract from the findings, or excuse them, or otherwise cover something up. And agents know from experience that a good way to get a serious buyer to walk is to allow the seller to be present. Even if you only speak when asked a question, the buyer may develop the feeling that the inspection wasn't thorough and you somehow ensured that by your presence. I don't see any way that being present can work in your favor. It can only hurt you.
When I hire an inspector as a buyer I want him to savage the property with a harsh look. Any owner lurking around would start spouting off. Stay away.
I’ve bought 5 houses, and sold 4. I was present for all the inspections when I was the buyer, and I absolutely would not have wanted the seller to be there. I wouldn’t have dreamed of being there when I was the seller. I was about to make a gigantic purchase, and I wanted to be sure to get an honest, unbiased report, without any interference from the other party.
Listen to your agent.
If you're there it's not an arm's length transaction because you can exert undue influence. You can have your realtor be there, my wife almost always goes to inspections for her clients.
Our seller was present for part of the inspection, and that almost tanked the sale. We did not feel like we could talk to the inspector freely with him there, and it seemed like he kept trying to distract the inspector. He wouldn’t listen to his real estate agent when she told him to leave, so after I made it clear to the real estate agent that if he didn’t let us talk to the inspector alone for several hours, the sale would not be happening, the real estate agent called his wife, and his wife told him to leave 🙄 . And all of this was after he tried to prevent us from being present for the inspection at all. Listen to your real estate agent. Let the buyer look at the item that they are about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on without feeling like you are looking over their shoulder.
That's normal but I've never understood why when buying the most expensive things in your life you can't see it talk to the seller.
i didn’t even get to be there as the buyer. i felt like he did a shit job. i also didn’t pick the inspector the realtor did. so no idea but that’s my experience. must be location based or something
You’re not supposed to be there at all
For actual inspections, you should be there. While buyers are walking through your home, you shouldn't be.
How could your agent possibly be taking advantage of you by doing this?
In my experience the realtor lets the Inspector in and the buyers are not present either. The inspector will send his/her report to the buyers, because they paid for it. They may or may not give a copy to you, it’s up to them. It is standard practice for the seller to not be there.
It’s just so sad to me that your agent is unable to explain this to you thoroughly enough that you had to come to Reddit. If all your agent said was “No, you’re not supposed to be there” without any further elaboration, then it’s on your agent. Your agent knows that you shouldn’t be present, but probably doesn’t completely understand WHY themselves. Or is such a poor communicator they don’t see any reason to explain it to you. This is of minor consequence in this scenario, but I see this all the time. Knowing how to actually do the job isn’t even a requirement to being a successful agent.
Never understood the need for real estate agents anymore at all. You can get a cashier's check or do a money transfer for multimillion dollar vehicles and transfer ownership privately why not a house too and make properties cheaper but not needing several middle men to sell it...