A home inspection comes with many benefits that make selling your home a smoother process for all parties involved. It will save you time and headaches over negotiations, allow you to learn to be a better home owner, and give you a better presale profile. Surprises are not in your best interest, and a home inspection will minimize them.
Sales Contracts for sellers
Most contracts are conditional upon the house passing an inspection, without which you may get less for your home. A buyer will have an inspection performed and may find a problem that makes the deal you’ve vigorously negotiated for worthless. Once a problem is found you can either quickly make repairs or give in to a lower price. Save yourself a headache and get the home inspected yourself so you can make repairs before you negotiate a price. A second round of negotiations is harder to finish than the first, if the buyer doesn’t walk away before you get to this point that is.
Pick up home maintenance knowledge
Stay by the home inspector’s side whenever possible during the inspection and you will find out a lot about preserving a home. You’ll also learn which problems are easily repaired and which are more serious. The report the inspector will leave you with will be complex in the inspector jargon, so being a part of it and asking questions throughout will leave you enlightened and prepared to either make repairs or negotiate.
While this is a huge learning opportunity, it is important to note that respect for the job being done is even bigger. Stay out of the way as much as possible, and try not to interrupt too much.
Presale profile matters
Having a reference point to compare to the buyers home inspection can make or break a sale. If you have well maintained your home with an inspection report to back it up, the quality will be undeniable to buyers. It is the law in most states that sellers disclose any known issues with the home. A shorter list is always better, and a home inspector makes that possible as you can make any repairs needed. If you find out that an expensive project needs done (like a roof replacement), as well as some minor issues like siding, carpeting or light fixtures, then you can choose to fix the minor problems and lower the price of the house due to the roof. One problem looks a lot better than a handful.
This can also be a great negotiating tool as some buyers may demand a lower price and you can counter that price by stating that you’ve already factored in the cost of repairs and inconvenience according to your calculations.
The more power you have over a fair negotiation, the better your experience of selling your home will be. It’s best to minimize surprises and repair what you can to make your home look its best. You’ll learn a lot along the way and you can bring that knowledge to maintaining your next home.
Preston Sandlin is owner and founder of Home Inspection Carolina. He has over 15 years of experience in the home inspection industry, performing thousands of structural/mechanical inspections from 600 sq. ft. condominiums to over 60,000 sq. ft. commercial buildings. Preston is a proud member of the NC Licensed Home Inspector Association and the Charlotte Regional Realtors Association.