Why Does an Agent Prepare an Agent Visual Inspection?

All real estate agents should prepare an a thorough agent visual inspection.

Agents who don’t prepare an agent visual inspection deserve what they get. For many real estate agents working in Sacramento today, the 1984 case of Easton v. Strassburger is nothing but a legal phrase they recall from a real estate exam and meaningless to them today. Since I had already been working for years in real estate when the California court of appeal ruled on this legendary case, the ramifications of Easton v. Strassburger struck fear in my heart and it’s never left. This landmark lawsuit changed the way I forever since have done business.

It’s odd for me to think back at that time and realize I practiced real estate for so many years before that ruling and I never inspected homes. I had team members who showed homes, but I handled the offer preparation and was responsible for all negotiation. I never personally looked at the home myself. My feeling back all those decades ago was the house had four walls, a roof and somebody would live in it, so what did I care? My job was to get our investors a good rental property. Prepare an agent visual inspection? Why?

After Easton v. Strassburger, I changed my tune. Easton bought a home on a hill in Danville from the Strassburgers. After escrow closed, the house suffered extensive damage from sliding soil and the Easton sued. The court ruled the broker had a duty to conduct a reasonable inspection and to disclose. Further, agents have a duty to disclose what they know or should have known, which could have been concluded from a routine physical inspection. There was evidence of previous slides that the Strassburgers did not disclose, which the agent should have picked up on. Ever since then, I inspect.

As Sacramento Realtors, we are not required to conduct a home inspection. But we are expected to walk the property, identify possible defects and point out areas that could become a concern. Sometimes, I shoot photos of defects I spot and include them with my agent visual inspection. If I spot a crack over a door, I note it. It could be a settling crack or it could be indicative of something more serious. I’m not a home inspector, so I wouldn’t know. Yet, I disclose.

Imagine my shock yesterday when I received a buyer’s agent visual inspection for one of my listings. The agent didn’t complete the inspection at all. The AVID was blank. Instead, the agent wrote across the face of the document verbiage to the effect that the buyer is advised to obtain a home inspection. Lazy-ass moron. I’ve encountered other difficulties in the past with this particular agent, things that left me scratching my head and wondering why this agent is not in jail. And here is yet one more piece of concrete evidence. A disaster waiting to happen. Buyers deserve so much better.