The results of a home inspection can have a strong impact on the home’s sale, anything from the buyer requesting repairs or updates, price negotiations, to simply walking away from the deal altogether. Luckily, homeowners aiming to sell their home can choose to hire an inspector for a pre-listing home inspection. A pre-listing home inspection costs the same as a regular home inspection, varying with location, included warranties/protections, and whether or not the inspection includes specialized checks such as radon or wood-destroying insects. However smart home sellers are realizing that a pre-listing home inspection actually helps the seller put more money in their pockets and bank.
No matter what the real estate market is, a pre-listing home inspection will reduce the likelihood that a deal will fall through; bringing you ever closer to selling your home with as little sacrifice on your price and time frame as possible. Keep reading for more ways a pre-listing home inspection will help you!
Pre Listing home inspections are valuable because they provide you with all of the information you need to make educated choices on what action to take, and they allow you to confidently prioritize any pitfalls to selling. A pre-listing home inspection will provide the seller with a detailed report on the home before it officially goes on sale, thus completely avoiding any unpleasant surprises! It also gives sellers the chance to make urgent repairs before possible buyers have begun to tour the home. This prevents the chance that a deal will fall through due to a recently uncovered structural problem that you didn’t even know existed, because while you are probably familiar with a few of your home’s quirks, you are unlikely to be fully aware of every issue… especially if it’s deep in the home’s structure, inside the electric panel, in the attic space, or crawl space foundation.
With this information, you can either reflect any neglected maintenance in your home’s selling price, or you can choose to make the repairs. If you choose to make repairs, this is another area where a pre-listing inspection has given you more options and opportunities to save money! When negotiating with a buyer you are in contract with, any needed repairs will almost always require you to bring in a professional for any work to be done, regardless of how simple the work is. With a pre-listing inspection, you can choose to take on the simple repairs yourself. Instead of paying a few hundred dollars to hire a professional to replace a few outlets, for example, chances are that you can do it yourself just as well. On the other hand, with those larger fixes that will necessitate a professional (such as foundation repair), you’ve still got the upper hand when your home isn’t officially on the market yet because you have extra time. Instead of rushing around to find a professional within a certain amount of time to make the buyer happy, you can take your time to shop around for the best price and the best company to ensure that you are happy with the work and the fee. You are fully in charge of who you hire to work on your home.
Of course, sometimes there are things you simply aren’t able or willing to work on. You don’t necessarily have to fix all of the repairs, especially if you cannot afford to fix your home’s foundation problem or the issue is something you know the buyer will renovate anyway. Instead, any pitfalls of your property can be reflected in the price. Your real estate agent will work with you to determine the correct sale price for your home, taking into consideration any problems you cannot or won’t fix before they officially put your home onto the market. While the final sale price for a house will be lower, it may be better than putting money into repairs you may not fully make back by a buyer’s offer. Meaning that the home will be priced appropriately for the condition and situation.
Finally, the simple point that your property has already been inspected has a lot of appeals, and will likely help a sale along if you include this fact in the marketing descriptions of the home. Some real estate markets can be rough and buyers are forced to compete against each other; this means you may see a higher number of buyers who are willing to accept just the pre-listing inspection report and let an additional inspection slide just to move the process along faster.
The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNachi) has reported that homes that were pre-inspected actually sell on average two weeks faster than those that were not pre-inspected. Two weeks is half a month meaning that it can save you half a month’s mortgage if you are still making payments. This alone likely paid for the fee of the home inspection.
You should choose a home inspection company such as Habitation Investigation who provides warranties with their home inspection reports. These warranties can often be transferred to the new owner and will make new buyers feel a lot more comfortable accepting your pre-inspected home. One warranty that Habitation Investigation has is the 5 year Roof Leak Warranty that stays with the home therefore protecting the new owner when it sells.
Overall, pre-listing home inspections are more than worth it. They give you invaluable information about your home, allowing you to make educated decisions, and they give you significantly more options and control over how to go about fixing issues found. Not to mention the appeal and sense of confidence they have to a prospective buyer! What are you waiting for?
The Habitation Investigation company provides mold testing and home inspections in the Central Ohio Columbus and home inspection in the Dayton Ohio areas, Hilliard, Powell, Pickerington, Pataskala, New Albany, Delaware, Gahanna, Westerville, Galloway, Grove City, Worthington, Dublin, Marysville, London, Springfield, West Jefferson, Mechanicsburg and other cities surrounding Columbus, Ohio. The most/best-reviewed home inspection company in Columbus Ohio is Habitation Investigation LLC. The website is: https://www.homeinspectionsinohio.com
Written by Kaitlyn Troth of Troth Media
