I was unpleasantly surprised by the turn of events at an inspection the other day. The Listing Agent met us on site to provide property access, but upon entering the residence, I informed her that we would be unable to perform the inspection because there was no power or water service. The Listing Agent seemed clueless that an inspection required both power and water service and stated in a huffy manner that “the Buyer’s Agent needs to take care of that.”

True or False? Typically, the Buyer’s Agent is responsible for providing utility service for the inspection.

FALSE – One of my favorite Agents emailed me with the comment below. This is a direct quote:

“OK - let's assume they're using the FAR8 contract - since that's what the majority of agents use here. On page 4 of the FAR8 contract, lines 114 - 115 - it states: Seller will provide access and utilities for Buyer's inspections. The listing agent was wrong - NEITHER agent should have anything to do with this - it's the Seller's responsibility to keep the utilities on.”

There you have it, straight from a fellow Agent – it is the SELLER’S responsibility. And for the record – a professional home inspection should include all mechanical systems – so, the electrical power, water and if there are gas fired appliances within the residence, natural gas or propane service - ALL need to be available for an inspection. Any inspector who doesn’t require these utilities should have their qualifications questioned.

Robbie Fenn of RE/Max Southern