Why should a seller invest in a home inspection prior to listing?
Home inspections prior to listing a house make sense. ‘But why spend money on one when the buyer will most likely get their own?’ you may wonder.
Buyers will want to see a recent home inspection once they’ve decided they are interested in your property. A home inspection guarantees that they can rest assured there are no surprises awaiting them, and ultimately as a seller, you can justify your asking price with full confidence. It may even encourage serious buyers to make more timely offers by having that report for viewing.
The home inspection report establishes a sense of trust between the buyer and the seller from the start. It shows the buyer that a seller cares enough to get the details of any problems with the house detected and fixed prior to any offers. In fact, sharing the full report can help save a seller money by allowing time to bid out repairs, consider multiple solutions to an issue, and more. Sellers can avoid rushing to pay a higher price for work, or worse having to deduct from the contract price to allow the buyer to deal with the repairs after the sell is complete, by simply knowing any problems that are present.
It is very efficient to have the inspection report available along with the receipts of work that was already addressed. Also having a report readily available shows the buyer that you’ve most likely been maintaining the property all along, which is another plus when selling.
Sellers ought to have the home inspection reports and receipts of the work addressed readily available. Oftentimes, this will help the buyer understand how a property has been cared for all along.
Pre-listing home inspections should include radon testing. Higher than acceptable levels are common in this area, and mitigation systems are frequently installed prior to closing. Radon testing is typically completed with all the due diligence tests of the contract with a three day test; however, sometimes more accurate tests are longer. A seller can do these tests prior to listing and can save themselves the mitigation expense that can normally run $1500-$2500. Most home inspectors also provide radon testing in their package.
Mitigating risk is key when selling a home! In most cases, a pre-listing home inspection can help speed up the selling process and help secure solid offer pricing.
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