The Seller’s Home Inspection

You’ve probably heard real estate agents and experts touting the importance of a home inspection for buyers. And, while this is certainly true, not many real estate professionals let sellers in on a secret: the seller’s home inspection!

It may not make much sense at first to pay for a home inspection as a seller, but once you consider the many advantages of doing so, the purpose becomes quite clear. A seller’s home inspection puts you, the seller, in a position of power, and power is key when it comes to selling your home and walking away with a healthy profit (and minimal headaches).

Here are just a few reasons why it pays for sellers to perform a home inspection before they list their home for sale:

A home inspection means no surprises later on

Selling a home can be a stressful endeavor, so why compound that by waiting until a buyer performs a home inspection to find out there are major issues with your home? If you pay for a home inspection before the home is even listed on the market, you can discover any defects or problems with the property and correct them, even before your home goes up for sale. For example, finding out your home needs a new roof before you list it for sale will give you time to replace the roof without a buyer breathing down your throat. Further, once you are ready to sell and move on, you need not stop the process to deal with repair issues that can really slow things down.

A home inspection looks great in the eyes of a buyer

Disclosing to buyers your home inspection, and providing potential buyers with your home inspection report, along with the measures you took to correct any issues, shows buyers your commitment to selling your home and shows them that there are no hidden defects that will be found once their home inspection is complete. Although performing your own home inspection certainly doesn’t mean that the buyers won’t perform their own home inspection, it may very well attract a number of buyers to your home because, after all, buyers don’t want surprises during their home inspection, either.

A home inspection provides you with the time and the opportunity to make repairs and changes on your own

When a buyer performs a home inspection and home defects, deficiencies or flaws are found, the likelihood of selling your home for your original asking price takes a nose dive. You and the buyer may have a difference of opinion on what needs fixed versus what needs replaced, and you can be certain the buyer will come looking for concessions regarding the price of the home. However, if you take care of all repairs and upgrades before listing the home, the process of negotiating concessions, performing repairs, and the time required to do both, are eliminated. In other words, you will likely be able to breathe much easier when the buyers do their home inspection if you’ve already had a home inspection performed and all issues resolved.