I'm NOT an Engineer

"Which of these walls are load bearing?" the women asked at my Sunday Open, pointing at the long hallway running down the center of the home.

"Well, certainly the exterior walls are," I said.

"I meant which of the INTERIOR walls are load bearing?" she repeated, clearly impatient with me.

"You'll need an engineer or a contractor to answer that," I said. "I'm not qualified on that topic." (Nor would I hazard a guess.)

"Then what are you here for?" she snapped. "My son and daughter-in-law are interested in the house, and I've come all the way from France!"

"Bon jour," I said, "but that still doesn't make me an engineer . . . "

Nor am I a professional inspector, contractor, architect, designer, builder, attorney, tax advisor, or CPA. My license allows me to gather information in several of these disciplines and to pass it along to prospective Buyers, but NOT to give advice beyond my purview and expertise.

To be clear, Sarah and I have LOTS of expertise in the field of REAL ESTATE, and we have tons of experience transforming homes, having prepped and sold literally hundreds of properties in our community. In other words, we're not entirely without relevant skills. Moreover, with two full-time project managers on our team, we've renovated countless numbers of kitchens and bathrooms, overhauled gardens, and taken a few properties nearly down to the studs. But even with two decades of experience under our belts, our scope is limited to what our CAR (California Association of Realtors®) license allows us to do . . . (or NOT do).

In the same vain, Agents shouldn't sell outside their known areas of expertise. As an example, I don't sell in other counties (although my license applies to the entire state of California), because I don't know anything about unincorporated areas, leech fields, or septic systems. I don't know where Wi-Fi is difficult to reach. I don't know who pays what in terms of title and escrow insurance, transfer taxes or the like. I don't know the local rates of property taxes, upcoming assessments or anything else that's going to be potentially significant. And given that Real Estate transactions are complicated enough, it helps to have some mastery over the subject property, which is almost impossible from a distance.

While Realtors® wear many hats from negotiating contracts, to preparing listings for the market, our roles shouldn't extend to areas where we are NOT trained. With all due respect, I can't tell you the health of the roof, the age of the foundation, or the condition of the framing. I can't tell at a glance if the fireplace is functional, whether or not there's any live knob & tube in the walls, or where the home could benefit from additional insulation. I don't know offhand, the life span of the furnace or water heater, and I certainly won't suggest which walls can easily be removed (although almost anything is possible with enough time and money), which is why we hire professionals to impart this important information. Almost all of the relevant answers you seek lie within the pages of those disclosure documents (I suggest you read them).

What can we do? (I'm glad you asked.)

We CAN create a "Comparative Market Analysis," speak to the overall health of the marketplace, point you in the direction of loan officers, connect you to excellent vendors for all manner of repairs, create and execute a marketing plan for the property, oversee renovations, meet potential Buyers for showings, host Sunday Opens, leverage interest, and negotiate diligently on your behalf. We CAN explain the disclosures, red flag areas of interest or concern, walk through the property with you, meet inspectors and contractors, offer our opinions, and collect bids for prospective work, but defining what walls support the weight of the house??? Sorry, we're not going there (and you don't want us to).

However, if you need to know how we plan to sell your home, care for it, and bring it to market in its best light, we have all kinds of ready answers that should easily align with your goals and our intentions. N'est pas?

Comment pouvon-nous vous aider? (How can we help you?)