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Getting A
Pre-Listing Home Inspection
Even though most home
sales are contingent upon a whole house inspection, if you’re
considering selling your home you may want to have a home inspection
done before you put it on the market. Also known as a
“pre-listing home inspection,” such an inspection can help you avoid
headaches later on.
Here are six good
reasons why a pre-listing home inspection is valuable:
1) Find out what
your really need to do. It
boils down to this: Do you really know your house? You can tell pretty
easily if you need new fixtures in your master bathroom, but how do you
know that you don’t have septic problems? Or mold? With a pre-listing
home inspection, you’ll be able to see what repairs—both obvious and
hidden repairs—you’ll need to make.
2) Make sure the
repairs are done right—the first time.
Let’s say you decide to have your house professionally painted. Then,
after going through the entire selling process, the buyer’s home
inspector reveals that you have dry rot in many of your walls. There’s
nothing worse than shelling out cash for repairs—and then finding out
you’ll have to have them redone.
3) Avoid problems
with disclosure laws. Since all
states have varying laws requiring home sellers to disclose certain
flaws or defects, getting a pre-listing inspection may protect you from
problems down the road. As they say, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
4) Show potential
buyers that your house is in good shape.
With a pre-listing home inspection you’ll be sending a message to
potential buyers that your home is up to standards and is structurally
sound. If a buyer has to make a choice between two homes, that
pre-listing inspection may be the clincher. In other words, an
inspection may give potential buyers a higher comfort level with your
house.
5) Get a better idea
of what your list price should be.
Although a pre-listing home inspection won’t give you an appraised value
per se (since a home inspection is different than a home appraisal), if
you have an inspection and then complete the necessary repairs you may
be able to advertise these repairs as upgrades—and thus list your home
at a higher price.
6) It’s one less
thing you have to worry about...
Peace of mind may be the biggest benefit of all. For under $1,000, you
can be sure that you won’t have any surprises when the buyer has their
own inspection done—at the tail end of the selling process. What’s more
valuable than that? Try to think of a pre-listing home inspection as
having all of the answers before you take the test.
Although a pre-listing
home inspection is not always a necessity, the pros far outweigh the
cons. If you want every advantage possible in this somewhat difficult
selling market, having your home inspected before you offer it up for
sale is a wise decision. ∆ |
