Real Estate Adjuster

Ontario Real Estate Source

The real estate adjuster is a new type of business professional. More frequently than not, consumers are turning to the internet for a solution to their problems. They try to do some research and problem-solving before making contact with a professional for assistance.

A buyer consumer purchases a renovated house in a nice neighbourhood. The buyer is sophisticated and arranges mortgage financing before going to the market. The next step is a realtor who is a buyer’s agent. To be careful, a lawyer is retained before a property is found and the offer submitted.

Finally, the right property is identified. The offer is submitted and the agreement is conditional upon home inspection, lawyer’s approval, and bank financing. The lawyer likes the offer, the bank confirms the mortgage approval and the home inspection goes well. So, the buyer “firms up” and closes the deal.

Three months go by, and suddenly the basement is filled with water!

What went wrong?

What could have been done to avoid this?

A contractor confirms the presence of mould, cracks in the foundation and continuing water damage. All of these items had been “covered up” with drywall, renovations, new flooring and paint.

Now, our buyer did just about everything that should have been done. So, whose fault is this? What went wrong?

The estimate for the cost of repair: $ 32,500.00, and that just puts things back to the way they were, no improvements.

What is the new homeowners next step? Call in a real estate adjuster! This is someone who can identify the problems, preserve the evidence, write a report, make recommendations and serve as a witness in later court proceedings should that be necessary.

Here, the list of possible defendants include:

1) The builder of the home
2) The municipality
3) The original owner of the home
4) The vendor and second owner of the home
5) The listing agent
6) The buyer’s agent
7) The home inspector
The lawyer
9) The mortgage officer

But, you can’t sue everybody. You need some friends here to testify on your behalf. So, who is the likely candidate for the lawsuit?

This is where a real estate adjuster can help! The only problem is that there aren’t too many real estate adjusters. There’s no profession, no standards, no accreditation, no association. Obviously, it is difficult to find somebody.

In a sense, the role is somewhat similar to insurance adjusting, except that there is no real underlying insurance issue. Nevertheless, the background of investigation is similar.

Many law firms will push the buyer back to their own devices to get an appropriate investigation undertaken. Fortunately, law firms will use insurance adjusting firms and private investigators for this purpose. However, as you can appreciate the expense with three parties involved at an early stage can easily mount up.

Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker is an author and commentator on real estate matters, if you are interested in residential or commercial properties in Mississauga, Toronto or the GTA, you may contact him through Royal LePage Innovators Realty, Brokerage 905-796-8888
www.OntarioRealEstateSource.com