We had a meeting today with the city of Eden Prairie’s building inspections manager, Steve Schmieg. He came to get input and talk about the possibility of implementing an Eden Prairie point of sale inspection program. This would make it a requirement by all residents to have their Eden Prairie home inspected prior to listing the home for sale. The idea behind a program like this is in theory to maintain a minimum level of home quality within the City of Eden Prairie. Steve believes it is something necessary for Eden Prairie as it ages, so that homes don’t deteriorate, diminishing both health and safety, but also property values.
Agents within the office brought up many good questions, both for and against such a program. One comment is that it is just a way for the city to raise money. Mr. Schmieg indicated that it is not a revenue generator, and in fact is more of a headache for the city. The cost would actually be determined by the cost of implementation, divided by the average number of homes sold per year. In other cities around the metro this inspection fee can range from $50-$200 dollars for the homeowner.
My concern as an agent is do we really need this program in the first place, and if so, what should be included on the inspection. Having dealt with other cities point of sale inspections, some of the items they look for are downright silly and unnecessary. I have also seen inspectors literally miss inspecting an entire level of a house. This is dangerous for a buyer because they become reliant on these inspections that they are getting a good home. While in theory the program sounds good, I would be concerned about the implementation, logistics, service and bureaucracy issues.
I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the idea of Eden Prairie point of sale inspections? For or against it? I will keep you posted as this develops.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Nate, being a Truth in Housing Evaluator, I’m obviously a biased party, but I’ll try to be objective.
Any home inspector that misses an entire level of a home is probably incompetent. Hopefully, the market will take care of them and they won’t keep getting business.
As I know you know, buyers aren’t supposed to rely on Truth in Housing / Point of Sale reports in lieu of a buyer’s inspection. The reports all say this at the top “This is not a buyer’s inspection”.
If Eden Prairie wanted to have a smooth roll-out of a program, they would copy another city’s existing program as much as possible.
Honestly though, Eden Prairie homes are usually in better shape than the homes in other cities where the TISH programs are in effect. I don’t think there is a huge need for this program in Eden Prairie, but I can understand their concern with the aging housing stock.
We have run across this same problem over and over – Thanks for great information.
Reuben, thanks for your response. The message from the city was that they wanted to be pro-active and not let things get too bad before installing this type of program. I like the forward thinking, just not sure what the program will be like when officially implemented. I like that they are looking for input, and are talking and looking at other city programs as you mentioned.
As you mentioned, I certainly don’t rely on just the Truth in housing program to protect my buyer clients. The buyers inspector did a good job in this instance to find some things that needed correction. I always recommend a complete independent buyers inspection on every purchase.
Unfortunately the inspector that missed the entire upper level is a city inspector so not sure how they ever lose their job.
Thanks for your comments!
Hello Nate…. like the idea of posting, and looking for additional impute. I have been a Certified Real Estate Appraiser for 13 years full time, and coming from a profession which has for years been miss understood by buyers and owner alike as ones inspecting a property to say a level of that of a housing inspector. It really should be made clear on any Truth in House or point of sale inspection, what it entails. Because as you know there are already several cities with some kind of program in place, ranging from simply checking the waste line from the property to the home like you see in the case of Golden Valley to more extensive inspection of the entire property like Minneapolis and St. Paul.
With that said I’m fully for cities having some program in place(more long the lines of a full property inspection) because it truly does add an additional level of safety. In many cases it’s not that million plus home in Bear Path where you see a problem, one because buyer in this market have no problem kicking out an additional $300.00 to $500.00 at closing for that housing inspection, let alone the fact that this high-end homes are in most cases maintained to a higher level then say that property in the two to three hundred range. Its this homes in that starter range where you see that home owner which has built his own deck or finished a basement, and never pulled a permit to save money, that you see safety or code issues with.
I’ve been a home inspector for nearly 35 years, starting my career with Minneapolis Truth in Sale of Housing. I’ve lived in Eden Prairie since mid-1987. I would strongly oppose a Time of Sale or Truth in Sale program in Eden Prairie for many reasons. 1. These programs are not full fledged home inspections of the type done by members of the American Society of Home Inspectors. (ASHI) The city mandated “evaluations” do not cover items in detail as would be done by ASHI Certified Inspectors. 2. My experience with the city programs is that the regulators make little or no effort to monitor the performance of the private evaluators doing the reports for the city. I have seen deliberate lies on these reports along with shocking omissions. 3. Finally, many of these programs place a burden on the home seller to make repairs and buy city permits for repairs. If a city wants to mandate certain repairs, they should mandate them for all property owners, not just those who happen to be selling. I can provide numerous examples for each of these reasons, and other arguments against these programs. I will gladly work with anyone to defeat such a program in Eden Prairie. Please inform me if it is actually introduced at the City Council.
Roger, thank you for your comments. I agree with you. I had a inspector in one city, that forgot to inspect the upper level of a story and a half home. Private inspector caught some wiring issues in the upper level, along with some basic issues that should have been caught on the city inspection. Called the city inspector and he said he didn’t realize there was an upper level!! Obviously this is not the norm, but I still don’t think Eden Prairie needs a point of sale inspection.
Good afternoon Nate,
As an Eden Prairie resident for 26 years I would oppose any ordinance from the city to require any mandated inspection for compliance before sale.
We just sold a house in Minneapolis covered by Truth In Housing, where the inspector wrote up a loose electrical junction box cover in the garage, but neglected to mention the wall studs on one side of the garage were rotten so badly they were no longer connected to the sill plates. Additionally, the door opener motor was split in half and hanging from the ceiling – I saw it but the inspector apparently didn’t. If that’s the quality of the proposed inspection then I don’t need that expense along with the other expenses of selling a house.
As for maintaining the “quality” of the housing stock in Eden Prairie; if the city enforced its existing codes with some consistency and diligence surely that would avoid this additional burden on homeowners and essentially “raise” all boats. Everybody in the city – owners and landlords would all be required to bear the cost of maintaining the neighborhood?
I agree with correspondent Hankery, somebody selling a house is bound by this inspection to financial cost, while a neighbor who isn’t selling, can sit there in relative squalor as far as the city is concerned.
If the inspection had some legal or warranty implication then it might become palatable, but I doubt the city will stand behind its inspections or inspectors.
Alan, thank you for your input. I agree with you completely! As of yet, a truth in housing for Eden Prairie has not been implemented. I too have seen some very poor inspections done in other cities.
The city did do a blanket inspection on sump pumps. While I understand they want to cut down on water being pumped into the sewer system, they are also making residents do silly things like enforcing pvc piping rather than the traditional black hose, amongst other things.