Neither inspection agreement covers the smart systems I'm buying

I'm under contract on two houses in the same suburb, closing 11 days apart, and I ended up with two different inspectors because of scheduling. So I have both agreements side by side, which I don't recommend as a way to spend an evening.

House A, inspector charges 625, agreement runs seven pages, and section 4 excludes "low voltage systems, security systems, network infrastructure, and automation controls." House B, 540, agreement is four pages, and the exclusion list is shorter but the standards of practice it incorporates by reference has the same carve out. Both of them will confirm the thermostat calls for heat. Neither will tell me anything about the rest.

The rest, in House B, is the part I'm buying. Sellers put in a whole automation setup: panel-mounted controller, eight zones of exterior camera, smart locks on three doors, a leak detection system tied to an automatic water shutoff at the main, and irrigation on a controller I've never heard of. Seller's disclosure says everything conveys and everything works. Their word for it is the only evidence I have.

The water shutoff is the one I care about. If it works it's a real thing for a rental. If it half works, it closes the main on a false positive while a tenant is in the shower, or worse, it does nothing while a supply line lets go.

A low voltage integrator quoted me 450 to come out for two hours and test it all, plus he says half these systems are tied to accounts he can't access without the seller's credentials and the seller has to transfer them. That's a closing document problem, not an inspection problem, and my agent's response was a blank look.

So two open questions. Is 450 on top of 540 worth it for systems that mostly have a warranty and a replacement cost under 3k combined, and how do people actually get automation account credentials transferred at closing so the cameras aren't still on somebody else's phone in March.

Answer

3devon_pierce Get yoursPRO5

The account transfer part is the whole thing and the 450 is nearly beside the point. Hardware you can replace for 3k. An ex-owner with live camera access to a house you rent out is a different category of problem, and the integrator can't fix it because the accounts aren't his to move.

What I'd do is put it in writing as a condition, a list of every account with the platform name, the email it's registered to, and a requirement that the seller factory reset each device and remove all users before final walkthrough, with you present when it's re-enrolled. Whether your contract can carry that as a covenant depends on your state's forms and your attorney, so ask them how to paper it rather than trusting a verbal at the table.

On the 450, I'd pay it for the leak detection and the shutoff valve alone and skip the cameras. A shutoff that closes on a false positive with a tenant in the house is a maintenance call at 11pm, and a shutoff that fails silent is the reason you bought it. Have him actuate the valve and watch it close and reopen. That's a 20 minute test and it's the only item on your list where the failure mode costs more than the device.

The fact that both agreements exclude it is not an oversight, by the way. The standards inspectors write to haven't caught up to any of this, and most of them would rather keep it excluded than carry the liability for testing something they can't verify.

Neither inspection agreement covers the smart systems I'm buying

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