Termite Reports

Team Whitney highly recommends for Buyers to obtain both a termite inspection and a termite report when purchasing a property in the South Bay area in California, as many local properties attract termites due to the humidity of the ocean air.

Termite reports are divided up into 2 sections, called Section 1 items, and Section 2 items.  Section 1 items include active termite infestation, fungus, dry rot, etc.  An example of a Section 1 item would be if the property needs tented.  Section 2 items are repairs that are recommended to prevent termites in the future.  An example of a Section 2 item would be earth to wood contact.  For example, if there is a wood post under the property in direct contact with the soil, termites could eventually work their way up from the soil into the wood.  Termite companies usually recommend placing concrete between the wood and the soil, so termites cannot get up into the wood post in the future.  Another example of a Section 2 item would be cellulose debris in the crawl space under the property.  Cellulose debris is any material made of wood.  Termite companies usually recommend removing this debris that attracts termites.  

For single family homes and income properties with 2 or more units, it used to be custom for the Seller to pay for any Section 1 items, and for the Buyer to pay for any Section 2 items.  Termite work is no longer a part of the California purchase agreement.  Therefore, if you are a Buyer, it is very important for you to select a real estate team who can potentially pre-negotiate the termite work for you by adding extra clauses into the purchase agreement on your behalf.  Then, these negotiated repairs are already set in place before we even enter the escrow period.  If there are multiple offers, we will most likely recommend for you to obtain a termite inspection during your inspection period if we are successful in getting your offer accepted.  With multiple offers, we don’t want you to lose out on getting your offer accepted by trying to pre-negotiate the termite work up front.  After we obtain the report in escrow, we can then try to negotiate for the Section 1 termite repairs to be done by the Seller.  In regards to condos and townhomes, the great majority of HOA’s are responsible for the exterior termite work, including tenting, so we do not need to worry about negotiating the work up front as much as we do for single-family homes and units.  If you are a Seller, we may recommend for you to obtain a termite report prior to placing your home on the market, so potential Buyers can sign off on the report during our negotiation stages, eliminating the Buyer attempting to negotiate even more money from you during the escrow period.

For any further questions, please contact Danielle Whitney Moore with Team Whitney (Keller Williams Realty L.A. Harbor) at (310) 987-9103.