(Will cross-post to Houston board.)

Wifey and I are moving to Houston, have pending option on home which has stucco on the front side only. We asked for an invasive stucco inspection and seller denied it. Reason given is "it will potentially mar the cosmetics" and the "sealant could fail."

Their realtor emailed last night to say their inspector, when they bought it last August, he did a "non invasive" inspection. Of course, inspection report we have mentions nothing about that. We don't have any record of last time stucco was looked at. Home was built in 2014.

Other than just walking away, which trust me we are tempted to do, we're trying to figure out a way to make it work. We don't want to walk away over what might be perfectly good stucco but obviously aren't planning on walking into a huge bill.

I know we could ask for some money at closing for repairs but we don't know if there will be any repairs needed. We thought about saying we'll get it inspected right after we close, we're not trying to "harm the house" and then walk away, but we would need some contingency money set aside although I don't know if that's kosher.

Thoughts?

I don't have much to add other than a good friend bailed on a house after significant damage was identified during the stucco inspection in Houston. Sellers were not prepared to fix, so he bailed.

I only have one house with stucco but I've never heard of this. What are they looking for? Wood rot behind it? People are spending 10s of thousands to fix stucco that looks fine?

combat wombat said:

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If you proceed without the inspection, be aware that you may be signing up for some fairly significant repairs.

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Yep. I have several friends who bought homes that ended up with significant water penetration behind the stucco. It ended poorly for all of them.

Checking moisture levels behind the stucco.

we bought a house with EIFS similar to stucco and it was recommended we get a specific inspection. We paid for it but homeowner didn't deny it. That woulda been a red flag to me (Fort Bend County).

It's already been said but I'd be very wary of buying a stucco home in Houston. And if they wouldn't let you do the inspection, I'd run.

Why does the seller care so much about the "cosmetics" of a house already under contact? Seems there's something they are hiding

I'm not buying that house without the stucco inspection unless you're 100% prepared for any major repairs


I'd offer to bump the earnest money up to convince them you're serious and will close unless there's a major red flag with the stucco

Best advice my first realtor ever gave me was:
"don't fall in love with it until we close"
I live by it and repeat it to my clients.

I'll preface this by saying I'm firm in the camp of not buying stucco in houston.

But it's pretty obvious why a seller would say no to extra inspections when they probably have/or could have other offers where it's not stipulated, no?

Reminder this is a pending contract.

I'd call their bluff and make them contact the other people they already declined offers from.

Maybe those people are still in the market? Maybe they'll still come back with the same offer? Maybe, when told the other deal fell through because you denied another buyer a stucco inspection, they'll be fine not suspecting something is being hidden?

And the flip side is maybe the seller is calling the buyers bluff. I have a buddy who just bought a stucco home and this exact scenario opened. Seller called his bluff so he said ok and waived the stucco inspection.

Fact is it's still a sellers market in houston.

Again, not saying I wouldn't do the inspection. I'd walk. Hell, I probably wouldn't have put the offer in the first place. Just saying I disagree with your initial "if nothing was wrong they wouldn't deny the inspection" comment.

Any update OP?