In today’s real estate market, the home inspection creates much angst and concern for both the Seller and Buyer in the transaction. Why is this? Usually the home inspection is completed within 10 days or less after a contract is formally accepted, and then upon submission of the inspection addendum there is a 3-5 day settlement period to negotiate the outcome of the inspections! Honestly this creates a lot of stress on both the buyers and sellers.
One way to alleviate this tumultuous period is for the Seller to conduct the home inspection prior to listing their home! Here are the reasons to support this course of action:
1- The Seller will be able to address the issue on their terms and condition rather than waiting to see how the buyer wants to address them!
2- The Seller can correct the major defects before listing the home and in the process let potential buyers know that they are getting a home that defects that have been corrected!
3- The Seller will have a more salable property after completing the corrections found in the pre-listing home inspection!
4- The Seller can provide the buyer with a copy of the report indicating what items were corrected. If the Seller chooses to not correct an item they can reflect it in their asking price!
5- A pre-listing inspection increases the likelihood of the Buyer deciding not to have their own inspection or at the very least, the Buyer will know up front how the Seller is willing to address the issues of the report.
6- If the Buyer chooses to do a home inspection, then they the Seller can be reasonably certain the buyers home inspector wont find anything different. In most instances.
7- A pre-listing inspection could shorten the time frame for getting a house closed. The time period to do a home inspection may not be a factor if the buyer chooses to pass on the home inspection!
8- The Seller might want to consider allowing the buyer to discuss the inspection report with the home inspector who did the pre-listing inspection. This would give the Buyer confidence in the pre-listing inspection!
The reasons above are only a few, albeit, the main ones, that give support for the Seller doing a pre-listing inspection when selling their home! If your looking to sell your house in Cincinnati, I can put you in contact with a couple of ASHI home inspectors that could help!
Hi John!
I totally agree with you on having a pre-listing home inspection topic. Whenever Mike and I sell this is the route we will go. By doing a home inspection prior to listing it would give me confidence that the likelihood of there being any “surprises” would be reduced.
Thanks for writing on this topic.
By: Maria Mackie on March 16, 2010
at 2:39 pm
Thank you Maria! I wholeheartedly agree!
By: johndurso on March 16, 2010
at 2:48 pm