I disagree with the responses you have so far. The seller made her condition known, and it was upon that condtion that you moved forward. Now that you are not happy with the results, you want to "take back" what you agreed upon. Not fair. I represent many sellers who have stucco homes, and I advise them that if a buyer requests a stucco inspection, to decline offer up front and say Goodbye! This seller/realtor is trying to "straddle a fence", which is ill advised but understandable. Had I been her agent, we would have walked away from your offer with not testing. She should never have agreed to let you have stucco testing done. I can see why she tried to "straddle the line" on it, but she will end up being the loser in this transaction. Once that stucco testing is done, the seller is in a horrible situation. IF the "test" indicates a problem, which could be horrifically expensive for the seller, the seller MUST remediate to keep you in the deal, OR disclose to all future buyers that there is a "defect" , which, in reality, "blacklists" the home. I have a home sitting in my neighborhood now in just such a situation. I represent sellers. The entire "stucco" issue has become the "issue" of the year, and like so many other issues, is a moneymaker for remediation companies. It is an entirely questionable "issue" and will be replaced in the next few years with an issue "du jour". I would be willing to bet that your contract gives you the ability to OPT out of the deal if the inspection results are not satisfactory to you. Opt out. Move on. Be aware that if sellers are represented by smart and savvy and thoroughly professional realttors like myself, they are advised that they may not want to take your offer. They have much to lose. By the way, for all those realtors and inspectors who are going to say that this response from me is unethical or unprofessional, it is exactly the opposite. I have been a realtor and broker for 25 years and have never had one complaint of any sort as to unethical or unprofessional.

Oh my God. How horrible. No wonder the public thinks agents are so low on the ethics totem pole.

That is wrong. I would contact her broker. If she is the broker, well that's even worse.

She knows you had the test and doesn't want to face reality. I would agree that you should indeed send her the results, plus a reply to the inspections IN WRITING.

better yet, please copy and paste a link or portion of finding her, with the address and mls number,

sunshine will clean her up

so much of that realtor ethics bull that is allways spouted

Send the finding to her via certified mail, to her broker and to the her local board of realtos and to the local MLS to have her property disclosure / listing modified

Fraud is fraud, she cannot hid her head in the sand

This seller/agent is acting unethically and needs a reality check before it costs her her real estate license. Just because she is pleading ignorance doesn't give her the option NOT to disclose any findings. She knows now that there is a problem with the stucco, just because she's not concerned with the details makes no difference. What else is she not disclosing? She is creating a potentially huge problem for herself here. If you are still interested in purchasing the home, and it sounds like you are, then you should definetly pursue it further. Hopefully you are working with a buyer's rep and they can assist you with where to go from here. If you have no representation, then this seller/agent is digging her own grave. Yikes! Talk to the agent's broker about the situation. Good luck!

Hello Rocky,

It is a common technique and can be summed up as "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". Unfortunately as pointed out it is potentially neither ethical behavior for a RE professional nor legal. I just posted the following paragraph on a similar question. As stated there it is not legal advice but an opinion of how to handle this type situation. Have it verified by an attorney:

This is the paragraph:

I would have my Agent draft a written request for all of the items you wish to be repaired. In the written request make references to the specific wording in the inspection report by page number in the report only. Also in that same document make a specific remark that the inspection report is attached to the request. In the request also note that you want a WRITTEN response to your request. Then send that request and the FULL inspection report to the seller's Agent/Seller. At that point the seller now has the entire report and not just a specific section with your requested items. Since it has already been verified that they must disclose what they know they now know everything that was found in the inspection. If other items are on the report are items that must be disclosed, but you were not interested in having them repaired, then they are now on notice for those as well. If you do not purchase the home, for whatever reason, then the next buyer is potentially protected from non-disclosure.

Good luck on the search.

Emmanuel J. Scanlan
PS Inspection & Property Services LLC http://www.psinspection.com
214-418-4366 (cell)
TREC License # 7593
International Code Council, Residential Combination Inspector #5247015-R5 (Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing and Building)
Certified Infrared Thermographer (ASNT-TC1A Standards)
Texas Residential Construction Commission, Third Party Warranty Inspector #1593
Texas Residential Construction Commission, Inspector, County Inspection Program
Texas Department Of Insurance, VIP Inspector # 08507061016
Hayman Residential Engineering Services, Field Technician
CMC Energy - Certified Energy Auditor

Knowledge is power, but sharing knowledge brings peace!!

Rocky,

Bingo......you may have hit the nail on the head. If she is not aware of a problem with the home, she is not compelled to disclose it to future potential buyers.

This may be an issue that needs to be brought to the attention of her broker or the local board of realtor's grievence board. On the surface this sounds both unethical and unprofessional but as we are often reminded, access to the whole story and accurate information can make a difference.