6 REASONS SELLERS CHOOSE A HOME INSPECTION PRIOR TO LISTING THEIR HOME

Many sellers dread the inspection…They spend sleepless nights wondering what mysteries their potential buyers’ inspector might uncover. Will it affect the profit of the home? Will it cancel the sale altogether? You may be wondering about those same things. But first, let me explain a home inspection.

WHAT IS AN INSPECTION?
A home inspection is a complete visual inspection of the structure and components of a home to find items that are not performing correctly or items that are unsafe. An inspection provides providers with a clear understanding of the home they are intending to buy. A key to a good home inspection is using an inspector certified by The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). AHSI-certified inspectors produce a thorough and professional report. A good report should have photos, circles, and arrows, lots of suggestions, and be available online.

REDUCE STRESS BY ELIMINATING THE UNKNOWN
As a seller, you can be proactive in this process by having a pre-listing inspection done on your home. Our sellers find comfort when they choose to perform the inspection before the listing or early in the listing process so they can eliminate the worry and concerns of selling their home. Sellers stand to save big when it comes time for a sale. Although the seller pays for the inspection (which is typically paid for by the buyer), the gains are numerous.

Remember there are two primary ways for a buyer to get out of a sales contract: The inspection and the appraisal or financing. Obviously, you will want to decrease the chances that your prospective buyer would cancel the contract on your home. Let’s go over some of the reasons to perform a pre-listing inspection:

SAVE MONEY (AND LOTS OF IT!)
Would you like to earn a return far closer to your initial asking price? When a buyer performs their own inspection, he or she may find undisclosed flaws. You stand to lose more money off your initial asking price than you may assume. We find that if a buyer’s inspection reveals a flaw that would cost $1,000 to repair, you stand to lose $3,000-$5,000 off your asking price. Buyers see flaws found during their inspection to be far worse than if those flaws were disclosed upfront. It really comes down to a cost-benefit analysis: For a small price of a pre-listing inspection, a seller could save thousands more than the costly perception of an undisclosed flaw.
NO SECOND-PARTY INVOLVEMENT
It’s possible that the inspection will reveal a problem with your home. By using a reputable and experienced inspector for your pre-inspection, you will be able to identify these problems without a buyer involved. It won’t affect your asking price or involve any negotiation between the two parties. You will have the opportunity to either disclose this problem up-front or fix the problem before a buyer is involved. Our team will help you evaluate your options and find reputable contractors that are affordable and do a great job.
PAY FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR REPAIRS
Having the pre-listing inspection completed before an offer is received on your home gives you considerable leverage in the negotiating process. You will already have a full report on the condition of the property, allowing you to determine which issues are worth fixing on your own and which are better left to the future owners. Many changes that need to be made are inexpensive, affording you the opportunity to nip them in the bud before they can become more expensive by being apparent to others. This allows extra time for you to seek out reputable repair professionals on your timeframe and budget. You will have time to shop around for a fair price for any needed repairs. Last-minute repairs — such as those done during the selling process — typically cost much more than those done with more careful planning. You typically only have three days to deal with buyer inspection findings. What makes it worse, is those three days are usually two weekend days, making it impossible to make an informed decision before the deadline.
PROVIDE BUYER CONFIDENCE
By completing and providing those pre-inspection details you are also telling your potential buyers that you care about the condition of your home. A pre-listing inspection can say you want to show your home in its best light, just as much as performing regular maintenance, a fresh coat of paint, or anything else that shows. This will give potential buyers confidence that you have shown the same attention to detail in every aspect of your home, and show that you are honest and upfront about your home’s details. When you share the findings of the report, you seem to appear knowledgeable about the true condition of the house. The transparency of the situation increases the buyer’s trust and the creditability of the seller. From the eyes of a buyer touring a dozen homes, this really stands out to them and becomes very appreciated in their decision-making process.
YOUR HOME BECOMES MORE MARKETABLE
A completed inspection summary report includes pictures that you can leave on the table during home showings. Not only does it allow you to have full disclosure of a problem, but it also becomes a marketable part of your home listing. Setting aside any problems the home inspection might find, think of all the things that will get good marks. You’re then telling your potential buyers about the good roof, quality plumbing, lack of termite damage, or whatever the inspection finds. The positives can be as important as any negatives the inspection may reveal. Buyers also look at it as you may be saving them money if they decide to accept your inspection without paying for their own (8 of 10 buyers generally accept the report as their own or have the inspector walk them through the house during their inspection period, either one is a benefit to you). Inspection reports give you control over issues that are found, and make your home stand out compared to your competition.
STREAMLINE THE PROCESS
Your pre-inspection will streamline the selling process and eliminate some otherwise expected complications. As we stated, you’ll have the opportunity to make full disclosure of any problems in your home or fix them in advance. Also, you’ll be providing detailed inspection information to potential sellers before anyone enters into a contract. Now, a buyer may still decide to perform an inspection of their own, which will add to the time of completing the sale. However, if you’ve used a reputable inspector, you can feel quite confident that no major surprises are going to be revealed delaying your sale further. In our experience, 8 out of 10 buyers accept the pre-inspection, and it saves an average of 15 days. Days mean dollars! In addition, our recommended inspectors will come back to the home and walk the buyers through the house for a small fee to the buyer. This keeps things moving and gives the buyers the satisfaction that they walked the house with an inspector. It’s a great solution for everyone!