Is it a good report? Why did this "prospective" buyer not follow through? Are they using it to show it's "pre-inspected"?

it was your average report. some good. some less good. and the buyer hasn't yet backed out. but how is any of that relevant to my question?

No, it's not. I'd have a conversation. It doesn't belong to the agent. It's not theirs's to distribute without permission. It belongs to whomever commissioned it. If the agent didn't ask you first, I'd be unhappy.

If this is your agent, you decide how you want them to conduct business. I've seen too many really bad inspection reports through the years. I would not want my agent to share the report. If something needs to be disclosed, I will take care of that when I complete the seller's disclosure report.

Of the nine homes I've owned, I think I got one previous report. It didn't say anything I didn't already know. I engaged my own inspector.

Some agents are proponents of the seller getting an inspection prior to putting a property on the market. I'm not a fan of the idea.

Time for a conversation. I'd put a stop to it if it were me.

You are correct. That report is the property of someone else. It's not the agent's to distribute.

and in the spirit of transparency. aside from the usual stuff like lack of GFCI outlets or vent pipes near combustable material. there was the discovery of a couple rafter cracks. things that an experienced buyer would know to investigate specifically. but to a first time, inexperienced or budget strapped buyer, might be an immediate deal-breaker.

Noob agent?

How did the agent get the report in the first place? I always say "I don't want to see it don't show me."

Way ne, as long as the buyer's agent received the proper permissions to distribute the home inspection report, I don't see it as a problem. If you feel strongly that you may have have been harmed as the seller, you might want to consult a local real estate attorney because local statutes vary.

jn3344, it's definitely smart to decline the home inspection report as the seller. However, once the report is out there for other prospective buyers to see, declining the inspection report creates a perception problem of its own.

I wonder why the buyer's agent in way ne's case is sharing the home inspection report. It's certainly uncommon.

Our agent has been in the business for 5+ decades, she arranged for all manner of small things to be repaired/replaced on our behalf before we went live on the MLS, but she went above and beyond to get our house ready and sold to a strong buyer who offered above asking. That buyer brought their own inspector and other than having the gas line connection to the fireplace tested to determine if it was 'live' by the gas utility (the lovely tech was nice enough to provide the 'key' that turns the gas on at the wall, an item that was not present even back in 2002 when I purchased the place for some reason...:P) there were no repair requests/negotiations because everything had been done and updated.

I think that this is an issue to raise with the realtor(s) in question, who may not have thought about why it's a problem to give away for free that which another party has paid for. If one prospective buyer was provided the HOA documentation which comes out of the seller's pocket, it would be nice if that same documentation could be shared without additional costs to the seller but that's not how it works. Luckily those $700+ sets of documentation are typically only made available to a buyer when the mortgage company appraisal happens, because handing them out to anyone who comes along with any offer at all would be HIGHLY expensive. ;) Inspector reports aren't free, but they usually aren't approaching (if not more than) $1K. An agent should understand that in the interest of fairness, the person who pays for the inspection should be the ultimate decider of whether to share the report with anyone not themselves or someone who is a necessary part of the transaction in a capacity that seeing it is a crucial aspect.

Jenn, I'm not sure if way ne's agent or the first buyer's agent got the proper permission(s) to distribute the home inspection report. They may have but we don't know the details.

If I were way ne, I would definitely have a conversation with my agent about distributing the home inspection report. I wonder if way ne is now obligated to attach the home inspection report to his disclosure if his own agent is distributing the report.

Like others have said, the inspection report belongs to whomever commissioned the inspection. If the buyer provide a copy to the agent, then the agent needs to get permission from the buyer prior to distributing the report to anyone (including the seller). Of course if the buyer isn't savvy (or really doesn't care) he/she may have granted carte blanc to an agent to use however they wished. However, if the buyer doesn't own the property, there might be some recourse for a seller to prevent distribution of a report about their property without their consent. I would think professional courtesy between all parties would also dictate how freely the inspection report is distributed and I highly doubt that the inspector will validate any opinions in the report without compensation from whomever asks them questions/looks for validation.

I can't say why way ne would have any obligation to produce a report that isn't his.

A seller has a legal obligation to disclose all material facts that he or she knows about the property. This obligation includes any home inspection report in the seller’s possession. In fact, in some parts of the country, the seller’s disclosure notice requires sellers to attach copies of previous home inspection reports. If the seller or his agent comes into possession of a home inspection report in the course of a transaction, he or she has come into new material facts relating to the property. It doesn’t matter if the seller or the agent hasn’t read a single word in the report. In many cases, the mere possession of the report (and, in this case, the distribution of the report by the seller’s agent) obligates its inclusion in the seller's disclosure. Definitely consult an attorney in your area if you are thinking about NOT mentioning the home inspection report you have in possession now.

jackitriplett, I think it is difficult to make assumptions about the realtor or the seller in this case. We don't know the local statutes that govern real estate transactions in this case. It may sound odd or weird to us, but it could very well be something that is expected of the agent once he or she came into possession of the home inspection report.

I would have a very serious conversation with the realtor immediately and tell them to stop, or fire them. The realtor is your representative and not the buyer's. I don't care if they had permission or not, it is your call to make as the homeowner and not the realtor's to decide.

The problem with distributing the report is that other buyers may lack the perspective provided by the inspector or recommending realtor. Every inspector I have used insisted on a meeting to discuss the findings, I am a pretty experienced in construction and so I really didn't get much from that meeting, however, I suspect the average home buyer finds the discussion of the inspection to be more valuable than the report.

It seems as if the OP was concerned about prospective buyers reading about the rafter cracks and being scared off, as he said. I was wondering then, why not just repair that (because he would likely be asked to in any offer anyway). Then he could show documentation that it has been fixed.