Buyer Access After Inspections

There’s never a dull day in real estate. We’ve all got stories and today I’m going to tell you one about buyer access after inspections and how the process works.

After viewing the house on three different occasions, Sally Buyer made an offer on a property we had listed. After the offer was accepted, she had a 14-day inspection and due diligence period. During this time, she had a home inspection, a termite inspection, and even a plumbing inspection done. She was in and out of the property a total of 5 different times before and after her offer was accepted.

A couple of weeks after the inspection period was over, Sally asked to view the house again, so she could show it to her family. The seller kindly obliged the request and Sally gave mom and dad a tour of her soon-to-be home. The following week, Sally asked to view the house again, this time to measure for curtains.

To her shock and surprise, the seller said no.

Can the seller deny a buyer access after inspections?

Absolutely. The purchase agreement outlines when the buyer has access to a property. When is that? Only during the inspection period and for the final walk through.

Any other requests can be denied, so here’s what we recommend.

Do you want your family to see the house before you’ve actually bought it? Then have them either come along during your house hunt (which we really don’t recommend unless you want them intimately involved in the process) OR have them tag along on the day of the inspections.

If you need to measure for furniture or window treatments, do it while the home inspector is doing his or her thing. If you attend the entire inspection, you’ll be there for at least a couple of hours, so there’s plenty of time to take care of these planning issues.

Maybe you’re just excited and want to look at the house over and over again? Well, it’s going to be yours soon and before you know it, you’ll be calling it home.

But for now, it’s still someone else’s home. Give them some space while they take care of their own packing and moving plans.