Wow, I'd be just as mortified, the nerve of some people! The buyer's agent allowed his client to take advantage of a situation, definitely follow through on a complaint. I'd be interested to hear the results of the inspection report (if there was a professional inspection done), as it must of been difficult for the inspector to do a thorough and proper job with all that commotion.

You can justifiably be peeved, but, in my opinion, you don't have much of a case if nothing was broken or stolen. I think it is pretty common to bring a couple family members to view the house while the inspection is being done; these people took it to the extreme. What they did was inappropriate, but not criminal. As for the agent bringing his child, again, inappropriate but not unethical.

Yes, they used your toilet. Would you have felt better if they hadn't replaced the toilet paper? When we had an inspection, I left a note on the refrigerator telling my buyers to make themselves at home and to help themselves to drinks. And they did.

I would wait to see what the inspection report says. Maybe they were all too busy gawking at your house to uncover any flaws. It could work to your advantage.

Selling a house is stressful, and every annoyance gets magnified. Try to keep focused on the goal: to get your house sold.

Were your buyers and thier agent crossing the line? Of course.

But, don't let your reactions to their boorishness undermine your sale. As long as they didn't damage, break or steal anything, I'd take a deep breath and concentrate on what you need to do to complete the deal.

Sorry about the typo ...

How many people are buying your home? If this is an extended family purchase where more than two names are on the title these people may have had every right to be there.

As for the children.... if they were the buyer's children, that may have annoyed you, but the buyer's may not have had access to a sitter but needed to be at the inspection. As long as nothing was damaged, and they were indeed the buyer's children, I would let that go.

Otherwise, I would certainly complain to the realtor's board. I would think the realtor is ultimately responsible for the parade that happened in your home. If this person's commission is being paid by you, they ultimately work for you! The total disregard for your home/possessions is mind boggling.

Are home inspector's licensed in your state? Complain to their agency too - although I would think unless the inspector was the one with a child there, s/he was just as peeved as you. What kind of inspection could have been rendered with all those distractions? But its not your concern if the inspector missed a lot due to the chaos about him/her. Just the stupidity of the seller's to offer such a distraction when they are paying someone to discover possible problems with their new home.

Also, how willing do those buyers feel you will be to negotiate after using this episode?

I agree with Graywings. I don't like the sound of it either, but it may have actually worked to your advantage. If there were that many people, and children, I doubt they could have done a good job of looking for details. There would have been just too many distractions.

I understand wanting to bring family members for their opinions. But, in my opinion, children should be left out of the situation. These people are about to embark on one of the most expensive purchases of their lives, and they are willing to be distracted when they should be concentrating on every detail.

It was extremely rude and unprofessional BUT, I agree with the others here. Let it go for now...and after the sale closes, send a letter to the buyers agent and broker letting them know how rude you thought it was. It will make you feel better!

The buyer could have arranged a separate appointment to show the home to their relatives and kids. Would you have denied that request? Maybe they thought that since you were clearing out for the inspection they'd just do it then rather than asking for a separate appointment which would have inconvenienced you?

I think what you're really annoyed about is not being told there'd be people swarming around your house. You probably wouldn't have denied their request to see it if they'd gone through the proper channels.

You are under a sales contract that allowed for an inspection, right? Why would you think there should be recourse for this? Did you specifically limit the number of inspectors? This is probably a family who is so happy to soon have your home, they wanted to show it off. Or they could all be moving in. Remember - it will be THEIR house very soon. Let it go.

My inspection consisted of 8 people (3 with pest, 2 with inspection company, my wife, myself, and our daughter that we did not have a baby sitter to watch). If you would have "confronted" me about it - I would have executed my option not to buy at the last possible moment just for your rudeness.

BTW - I did cancel that contract for something MY DAUGHTER found: she heard a drip in the wall that the inspectors had missed. Turned out to be a very old leak from an inproperly installed AC. Who knows what it looked like in that wall. That house is still on the market 3 months later...

What would concern me is hearing the agent's remark that the buyer is "interested in buying the property," when, as your pointed out, she is already contractually committed to buy it. I suspect she probably shares her agent's view of her situation and is canvassing her friends and family for their opinions on whether she should go ahead with it. That's why they all showed up at the "inspection." Hopefully, they all liked the house, but if they urge her to pull out, that may well be what she tries to do.

It will be interesting to see the inspection report.

As for chiefneil's question, I would never agree to let the buyer bring relatives and friends to view the inside of the house once a contract is in place. The time to do that is either before she's signed the contract or after she takes possession. From the seller's point of view, there's absolutley nothing to be gained by agreeing to it balanced against the possibility of blowing the sale if the relatives disapprove. And as a buyer, I have never made such a request.

I *think* we had our children with us at the home inspection. We kept them right with us, though, and only one of them ended up getting to go see the inside of the house because there was tension, not inspection-related, with the seller. She was a psycho, though, so I didn't really care what she thought as long as I didn't violate my own internal code. I just didn't want to subject my children to her weirdness.

Six cars seems like a lot.

It's probably unorthodox, but I highly doubt I'd be leaving my house during an inspection of it. It's not a standard house and some of the stuff needs to be explained, anyway, but beyond that, I've heard too many horror stories of buyers poking holes in things that shouldn't have holes. I'd stay out of the way, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't leave. People always have questions about the systems here anyway. There are two septic systems, two A/C units, and almost everything here is totally custom. Plus, when we moved here we replaced the roof, but it had leaked prior to its replacement and there might still be evidence of that up in the attic. I'd want to make sure I was there to point out that any old evidence of roof leakage was just that--old. I don't think it's visible in the house anymore except in one spot, because we repaired it, but just in case.

Seems like this was one of those situations that you had to be there to understand, but it doesn't sound *that* bad. Definitely crossing a line with six cars and that many people, especially without letting you know ahead of time, and the agent was way out of line, but it didn't sound that bad.

The art of life is choosing your battles wisely. When it was time for the buyers to inspect our home, the buyers brought their three kids and both sets of parents. They were all proud of their respective son/daughter. It helped to solidify their buying decision.

Let it go.

There is a single buyer listed on the offer documents. I believe these people were her adult children, and one of the toddlers her grandchild. I certainly understand that sometimes a buyer needs additional advice or hand holding, I'm just not sure how a young grandchild and the agents young child were helpful toward that end.

I would be much less weird about this had a SHOWING been requested. I guess my problem is that I feel the run of my house was given over to this agent under false pretenses, and that my trust was violated at the point that the inspection turned into a family free for all. Furthermore, his flippant attitude of "how dare I question what's been going on in MY home" deserves a kick in the you know where and REALLY pisses me off. I'm shocked that a "professional" would conduct himself and his business in such a disgusting manner and then so rudely defend it in my face. Shame on him.

I would have granted permission for a second showing with no problem, even though we are/were already under contract, and any opinions these family members had of the home would have been moot anyway. As I understand it, they were present for her original showing as well. Certainly buying a new home is something to be excited about, and I'm not some kind of mean spirited, cold person that I wouldn't want to be accomodating of that....TO A DEGREE.

Inspectors in my state are not licensed, which of course, brings up a whole different issue with regard to professional standards.

I agree that perhaps this worked to my advantage, but at this point I could truly care less. I detest dealing with sleazy people, and at this point I feel that term is descriptive of both the agent and the buyer/family. It pains me to even have to give them the time of day, much less the commission $$. This was an unexpectedly fast, good offer, but it's also extremely inconvenient for us in several ways. If things dont' go smoothly following the inspection report, I'll have no problem walking away. We were only on the market a few days to begin with and our home is by far the nicest and best in it's price range so I know there's another buyer out there if we need one.

I appreciate all the input and believe the advice to not let it affect the sale is good. As far as I know, the buyers are clueless that this is even an issue. Perhaps they saw me sitting in front of my house waiting for them to leave, but the way they took their time leaving and getting things wrapped up tells me they have zero respect for other peoples property and didn't even consider for a second that they may have been over the line. They had all driven away at the point that I confronted the agent.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

See, I've been burned by the "inspecting" relatives. We got a contract within a week when we listed our first house. There was an inspection clause and the two "inspectors turned out to be the two father of the young couple who were going to by it. Guess what? They nixed the deal, even though everything was in working order, because it was an older house and some things hadn't been updated. That wouldn't have been so bad because we were in a hot market and figured we'd get another buyer, but our incompetant agent had marked the property as "sold" on the MLS and neglected to change it when the deal fell through. The house sat for six weeks without a showing before we figured out what happened and fired her. We got a new agent who sold it in a week. But due to the delay, we had to get a bridge loan to close on our new house.

So you might say I have an attitude.

I would've been annoyed too.
I guess this varies by area, but I expected that my listing agent would be at my home for all showings and for the inspection. If he couldn't make it, my husband or I was there. It's my house, the other people are strangers, and I want someone there representing my interests. It's easier to handle a caravan showing up at the house if you're there as they arrive, than to come home to find the circus in progress.

It worked out better that we were present for the inspection anyway. The inspector had a lot of problems that we were able to explain away - like he thought the cooktop was broken because it wouldn't heat and we showed that it was an induction cooktop and needed a pot on the burner before it would heat.

The one who dropped the ball was your listing agent. Complain to him/her. That is the person representing your interests and should have been there.

When I inspected my current home the listing agent was busy, but her assistant stayed for the whole inspection. She observed and made notes of the problems we found.

When I was getting a house inspected after I made an offer, I wanted my cousin to be there during the inspection. It was an older house and he builds and restores houses for a living.

My cousin and his family came down, as we decided to make a day of it and take the kids to a museum for the rest of the day. The kids stayed in the car with their mom while my cousin, the inspector and I went through the house. Both agents were there, as well. No one, not even the kids, thought that the kids should enter the house.

I ended up not buying the house because of some pretty serious structural issues that my cousin caught, but the inspector didn't. The inspector did catch a lot of stuff with the plumbing and electrical. As I am probably going to be buying an older home, my cousin will be accompanying the inspector if I make another offer. (Just wanted to add--I did pay him for his time. And I'm grateful that he is willing to help out!)

The buyer has the right to have whomever they want and as many people as they want doing the inspection here. They must all come at the same time, since the right to inspection doesn't just go on and on.

It may not have appeared so chaotic if the small children were not there. I'm sure one of the sellers we made an offer to was amazed. I had the home inspector, a roofer, a plumber, a carpenter and myself. The homeowner was there with her small children, so it felt rather croweded, but I had some reservations about that home and I was going to get my usual guys in to get their opinion. The final opinion was NO for that house.

Fortunately, we've always been able to make arrangements for the kids, since in my experience the inspection has run about three hours. Our agent and the sellers agent have never stayed.

The house we ended up buying was much easier since I could already see it needed a furnace, a roof, etc. Just myself and the home inspector. When we were the sellers, the buyers had the in-laws come and be with the inspector since the FIL would be doing any work.

I guess I've been fortuate that everyone I've deal with was always polite and easy to work with. Lots of people for a one time deal is just the way it goes.

Gloria

I would have been seriously peeved too- sounds like they weren't having an inspection so much as a social get-together at your house.

Have to agree with those who recommend just letting it go and moving forward with the sale. IMO the real problem here is that so many people just lack common sense and basic manners.

When we were buyers and had our home inspected, it was just DH, myself, our agent, and the inspector. We all parked our cars on the street, the agent and I sat and chatted quietly at a diningroom table during the inspection, and DH followed the inspector around and listened to what he had to say. Despite the fact that this was to be our house soon, we had respect for the fact that this was still someone else's personal space. Some people just don't get that though.

It's clear you were upset about the inspection lasting longer than anticipated with more attendees than expected; however, I'm guessing this has more to do with your feelings about the home itself (and the fact that it is still legally owned by you) and perhaps your belongings than the fact that several people, including two small children (one of whom evidently belonged to the buyer's agent), were present for the inspection. Clearly you were bothered by people going in and out the door, by someone having used your lavatory, by seeing children at all. I suppose I wonder why any of that seems so incredibly "shocking?" Certainly, things did not play out on inspection day the way *you* imagined; however, it may very well have been *exactly* how your buyers planned it -- perhaps with parents, or siblings, etc., along to offer support, encouragement, excitement. A home inspection isn't exactly a covert mission or some kind of special event where a cover charge should be paid before entrance is allowed -- it's a means to ensure that your buyer is fully aware of the condition of what is expected to soon be *their* home.

Now truth be told, when we purchased our first home, my husband attended the home inspection and I remained home with our (then) two small children. It took several hours and was a learning experience for my husband, indeed (it was a 100-year-old farmhouse). When the time came time to purchase our second home, my husband again attended the inspection (we hired the same inspector) and the seller was present for every single minute of it (a FSBO -- an empty home). We didn't mind. I arrived at the end portion of the inspection with our (now) five children and spent the last 30 minutes or so at our home and the children wandered through, etc., as my husband and the inspector completed their exam. There were no "shocked" looks when I arrived with all my children in tow, and if there had been "outrage" that I had walked them into what would in a matter of two weeks' time become *our* home, it is *I* who would have been shocked! The seller would not have dreamed to dictate who was invited to the inspection, and we wouldn't have felt it necessary to ask permission.

That said, I do feel sorry that you were so upset, as selling a home/buying a home can be very stressful on a variety of levels. I hope the inspection did go well and that your sale continues to go smoothly. Perhaps if this current offer does go south for some reason, you might next time more prominently display your inspection requirements (e.g., "a limit of two adults and the inspector only to be present for the home inspection, and no children shall be allowed in the home"). It truly might help alleviate some of your concerns.

Best wishes.

No offense, but I think that you are over-reacting. I had to have both of my young children at the inspection (no babysitter).

There were probably seven cars at our inspection too. Ours, my dad's, our agent, the listing agent, the general inspector, the structual engineer and the termite inspector.

Was anything broken? Missing?

And I agree, your agent should have been there.

Our agent did not attend the home inspection for the house we are selling. It is not customary for the selling agent to do so here. Additionally, we did not require our agent to be present at the showing of our home. The buyers agent was here. It would be impossible for an agent with mulitple listings to attend every showing for every home!

When we toured the home we are buying we brought our two children and my in laws who happened to be in town. My two small children attended nearly every showing we went on. It is not convenient for me to get a sitter at the drop of a hat. And the children did not wander off, get into things or break or touch anything.

I'm sorry you were so upset, but short of them being in your home longer than you wanted, what HARM did they do? Is it worth not selling your home just to "serve them right?"

There was an inspection clause and the two "inspectors turned out to be the two father of the young couple who were going to by it. Guess what? They nixed the deal, even though everything was in working order, because it was an older house and some things hadn't been updated.

What on earth was in your inspection clause? A properly written clause would not allow a buyer to back out because an inspector noted the house was "older" or had not been updated, but only for significant structural or system failures, and even then, you'd have had a chance to mitigate. You should have called your attorney to hold the buyers to specific performance under the contract. They buyers were aware the house was older and did not have updated features; that is not a proper subject for the home inspector to address. Older houses, and older features, still functioning, are not valid reason to cancel a sale contract.

"Inspectors in my state are not licensed, which of course, brings up a whole different issue with regard to professional standards."

True..but irrelevant in this case. The home inspector is hired by the buyer to inspect the home...period. He is not there to police the buyers actions, nor to tell them what to do or not to do......other than to ask them to not distract him from his job.
He is also not there as the sellers representative, and therefore has no authority over this situation whatsoever.

Bottom line is the buyers were presumptious, and the buyers agent unprofessional and rude. You could report him, but chances are he will get a wrist slap at most....so it probably will not be worth the phone call.

Once the sale has gone through, and you are in your new digs, their obnoxious behavior will hopefully recede into being nothing more than a dim memory.

"You could report him, but chances are he will get a wrist slap at most....so it probably will not be worth the phone call."
At least let his broker know, maybe he has a track record of being stupid and this will come to a stop.

You are absolutely right, spewey, but it's been . . . let's see, maybe 20, no . . . more like 25 years ago? I don't think we'd even hear of inspection clauses back then, much less a "properly written" one. I know we were dumb, but gosh darn, there wasn't even an Internet then! So we trusted our agent, who proved to be incompetant.

Of course we're all so much smarter now, aren't we? Nevertheless, I still have the attitude.

I would not get upset about it. You're trying to sell your house, and if bringing 7 relatives helps convince them to proceed, then so much the better. As long as they don't break or steal something.

I would not have the nerve to bring the whole clan, but that's just me.

Totally agree with the other who say to let it go. Out of all the many things in this world to get peeved over ... this ain't one of 'em. :-)

Spewey you are 100% wrong regarding inspections - at least with respect to the state of Maryland. A buyer doesn't have to negotiate anything with the seller when it comes to the inspection report. It is the buyer's sole discretion to determine whether the house is still acceptable and whether he or she wants to follow through with the sale. Here is the verbatim language for the General Inspection Contingency Clause for use with all Maryland Association of Realtors' Regional Sales Contracts:

"This contract is contingent until 9 p.m. on the _____ Day after the Date of Ratification ("Deadline") for satisfactory inspections of the property by the Buyer, a home inspection firm and/or other representative(s) at the Buyer's discretion and expense. The Seller will have all utilities in service at the time of inspection(s). In the event of an unsatisfactory inspection, AS DETERMINED BY BUYER IN HIS SOLE DISCRETION, BUYER MAY, BY NOTICE TO SELLER, DECLARE THIS CONTRACT NULL AND VOID IN WHICH CASE BUYER'S DEPOSIT SHALL BE REFUNDED IN FULL. (emphasis by way of all caps by me) In the event such Notice is not given by the Deadline, this contract will remain in full force and effect."

You are right Bethesda, in Texas a buyer can cancel the contract for ANY reason during the option/inspection period. No reason needed.

After the option period/inspection period is over, then the seller would have some right to sue for specific performance, but not before.

Also, the seller is not required to pay for any repairs or defects found during the inspection. The buyer may request that these items are fixed, but the seller is not required to fix them. It's all negotiation. If the buyer really wants your house they will still buy. If you think it will cost you the sale, you may want to contribute towards repairs.

It is one thing for the buyer to bring her kids(although her grandkids are pushing it), but another thing altogether for her agent to bring his kids. That is completely unacceptable and unprofessional. If he couldn't get a sitter he should have sent someone else from his office or rescheduled.

And your agent should have been at the inspection. When we bought our home, it was my husband and I(we got a sitter for our kids), our agent, the inspector, and the seller's agent. She sat in the kitchen and made phone calls and did paperwork while we were doing our thing. She was there to oversee and answer questions if they arose.

LKAngela,
What ended up happening with your sale?
IMHO, you were NOT overreacting. I'n not sure that I would have been able to be as composed as you were in dealing with that "agent".
R/
Lisa A.