In parts of Poway, the hardest negotiation on a house doesn't happen at the offer. It happens about ten days into escrow, when the buyer's septic report comes back.
Plenty of homes off Garden Road and Espola, and up toward Green Valley, still run on septic. Two houses a few streets apart can be on completely different systems. One is tied into city sewer. The other has a tank and leach field that nobody has looked at since the last sale. A buyer moving up from Carmel Mountain or Scripps Ranch may not know to ask. Their inspector and their lender will.
Some agents tell sellers not to inspect anything before listing, on the theory that what you don't know, you don't have to disclose. I disagree. California requires you to disclose what you know, and a buyer is going to find it anyway. The only real question is when you find out. You can find out now, with time to plan. Or you can find out with a contingency deadline running and a repair request sitting in front of you.
Before we list, here's what I want done:
- A septic pumping and inspection, or a sewer lateral camera scope if you're on city sewer - A roofer's opinion if the roof is past 15 years or so
Each costs a small fraction of the credit a buyer will ask for if they find the problem first.
It also changes how we price. A known issue with a contractor bid attached is just a number, and buyers can work with a number. An unknown issue is fear, and buyers discount fear far more heavily than they discount repairs. I've watched offers get cut by more than the cost of the fix just because nobody knew what the fix would cost.
When the repair request does come in, you're answering with paperwork already on the table. My general advice is to offer a credit rather than do the work during escrow. Buyers want control over who fixes their house, and a credit avoids the argument over whether your contractor did it right.
The Marine Corps and more than a decade in law enforcement taught me the same lesson: build the plan around what's most likely to go wrong. Selling a house works the same way. The block-to-block differences in a city like Poway are exactly where those surprises hide.
Find out which system you have before a buyer's inspector tells you.