1. Reduce the stress of selling your home
By getting an inspection before listing, you can help eliminate a lot of stress surrounding the sale. It is normal to worry that your home may have some hidden problems that you are not aware of. With an inspection, you will know if any such problems exist and have the opportunity to address them. You are also able to work on your own schedule with a pre-listing inspection as well. There is not a rush to get it done, because you only have to list when you want to list. With an inspection after the listing, you will have to meet the requirements of the sales agreement. This means making sure all of the issues are taken care of before the closing takes place. The home inspection will be one less reason why your sale could possibly fall through.
2. Help with pricing your home correctly
The price you set for your home is one of the most important parts of the sales process. Priced too high, you will keep buyers away. Priced too low and you will make less money than you could have. But how do you price something when you do not know what it consists of, or what state it is in? With a home inspection, you will have a much better understanding of any negative aspects of the house, and can price accordingly. You may also be able to price the home slightly higher if you discover that there really is nothing wrong.
3. It can help speed up the process
A buyer that knows you have already had the home inspected is going to feel a lot more comfortable making an offer. No one wants to buy a house that has a bunch of hidden issues. With the inspection in hand, you can demonstrate that the home is in great shape and worth the price you have set. And if there are issues, you can be upfront about them and make it clear that the reasonable price of the home reflects the knowledge of those issues. One of the top home selling tips that real estate agents often recommend to their clients is to make sure repairs are made to major items in the home. It makes perfect sense because what buyer wants to deal with the problems of someone else when they don’t have to? By addressing all the issues you can market your home to a buyer as being problem free to the best of your knowledge.
4. Allow you to make repairs
The inspection may uncover some problem areas that your real estate agent suggests you deal with before listing the house. You can have the work done and have the home re-inspected before you list it so that buyers know that everything is in good condition. Without a pre-listing inspection, you will not discover problems until the final inspection before money exchanges hands, which can throw a big wrench in your sale. Besides the general home inspection where the structure and mechanical items are checked it can also be important to get a handle of some of the other major issues that can be discovered in a home inspection like mold and radon. Remediation of radon or mold can be quite expensive but more importantly can cause a buyer to back out of a sale.
5. Avoid the need for renegotiation
The carefully considered offer from the buyer may be thrown out the window if the buyer’s inspection discovers any serious issues with your home. It can be upsetting to see the deal you were relying on begin to crumble, and salvaging such a deal can lead to renegotiation that ultimately leave you on the losing end. With a pre-listing inspection, you can avoid such a situation.
6. Help improve buyer confidence
Buyers are in a difficult position, so it is normal for them to retain a healthy amount of suspicion when considering a home purchase. For most people buying a home is the most money they will ever spend on a single item. A buyer will need to calculate what he or she can afford for the purchase price, as well as how much money will be required to live in the home and keep it in good repair in the future. If the buyer has any thoughts that the home might have hidden problems, the offer he or she makes will reflect that. A pre-listing home inspection can help eliminate much of the doubt about the home. Knowing that the home has already been examined and that there are no problems allows the buyer to make a confident offer.
7. Help your agent
With a pre-listing inspection, you make all of these tasks simpler for the agent, which allows him or her to get you better results. When the agent knows the exact state of the house, it is easier to compare it to other homes that have sold in the area, which leads to a more accurate price. The inspection also makes it easier for the agent to find buyers, because buyers are attracted to homes that have already been inspected and have very little problems. When it comes to negotiations, there are no unknowns. The price doesn’t need to be lowered very much, if at all, when it reflects that true state of the house.
Keep in mind that even though you have done a pre-sale inspection, the buyer will more than likely want to have their own inspection as well. Buyers are notorious for using a home inspection as a point of renegotiation. Often times buyers will try to negotiate for things that are non issues. The example I always use is the home inspector saying there is 3-5 years left of the roof and the buyer saying a new roof is needed. Insist on having your Listing Agent attend the Buyers Inspection. Having your agent there to hear exactly what is said is important. You are paying your agent a lot of money – make sure they earn it!
