When is it reasonable for a Buyer to work on a home before owning it? While there is nothing wrong legally with a Buyer getting a head start on changes before the closing, in my experience you have to weigh the risk and reward. Sometimes it turns out fine, and sometimes it doesn’t.
To protect their privacy, I’m not going to name any names, but here is a story that I want to share.
The seller put his house on the market. The kitchen was dated with bright yellow counter tops. After several showings, the feedback was that no one could live with the color of the counter tops.
To fix the problem, the seller decided to replace the counter tops with granite. Since the house was still being shown, the Seller left a sample of the granite in the kitchen to show potential buyers what the future counter tops would look like.
10 days before the new granite counter tops were to be installed, a buyer came in, fell in love with the house, and decided to write an offer contingent on the new counter tops being installed.
Once the offer was made and accepted, the buyer understood the house would be theirs in about 45 days. However, the granite was going to be installed in 10 days.
The Buyer decided that they wanted a new sink and faucet to go with the counter tops instead of the old ones. Once the granite was cut and drilled for the old fixtures, the new ones wouldn’t work. The Seller said fine, but the Buyer would have to supply the new fixtures before the granite was installed. The total cost of the new sink and faucet was $500 dollars.
The installation was a success and the new counter tops and fixtures were beautiful. Unfortunately, just before closing, the Buyer learned that the home was in a flood zone. He no longer wanted the home, and opted to back out of the contract.
Now the Buyer had a problem. He had made a $500.00 improvement to a home he did not want or own.
On a good day the Seller could decide to reimburse the Buyer for the sink/faucet. However, it rarely works out that way. Most of the time, the Seller is frustrated the Buyer backed out of the contact, and they are not likely to reimburse the Buyer for a repair they would not have otherwise made.
In the end, the Seller chose not to reimburse the Buyer. Once the sink and fixtures were installed, they belonged to the seller.
It cost the Buyer $500 to walk away from the deal.
While I occasionally see situations like this turn out fine, after years of experience, I don’t recommend my Buyers make improvements to a house they don’t own. If my Buyer insists, I ask them how bad they would feel if they donated a new sink, faucet, or whatever to a stranger. If they are okay with it, then I’m okay with working on a house you don’t own too.