Are
seller's inspections just as thorough as a buyer’s inspection?
A home inspection is only as good as the home inspector. A thorough inspector
who wants his business to grow will perform an unbiased inspection with
integrity.
But my house is "clean"
and has no problems so do I need a Seller's Inspection?
YES. It is great that your house has no problems so lets prove it! Display your
inspection report at the home: for walk in or appointment showings and open
houses. Ask your Real Estate agent to provide copies via email, thus tracking
potential interested buyers. The Home Inspection Report can be used as a
valuable selling tool to help get your house sold faster!
Is the home inspection
transferable from the Seller to the Buyer?
The home inspection should reveal the condition of the home at the time it was
inspected. Components and materials age and can fail at anytime. The information
is naturally transferable to anyone who reads it. There is no warranty or
guarantee and components will fail regardless of whether or not a home
inspection was performed with the Seller or the Buyer. If the listing ages
before the buyer come along, the buyer can elect to have a fresh inspection at
the normal cost. A re-inspect is only to inspect any items that were repaired.
The Report looks great,
but some areas show significant damage to certain areas of the home. How can
this be a good thing to show with my listing?
Your inspector will review with you the inspection results. If issues exists you
can elect to repair or correct certain issues and have a re-inspect to clean up
the report before it is included. Why wait until you spend countless hours to
bring a buyer, who in turn brings a home inspector, only then to discover the
damage and face all the negatives of inflated estimates, losing the sale, and
your time spent. Have your home inspected now!
OR,
As soon as the Seller's Inspection is performed, it's then time to talk with your agent. Only now, you and your agent are at the best advantage point in the whole process. If significant damage or a major defect exists then you both know something has to be done. Either lower the price or make repairs. This will save you a big heartache of discovering there is a problem after you found your new dream home and have begun packing. Once you make the necessary repairs, the home inspector can return re-inspect and send a new report. Now, you are set to coast downhill to closing!
The above steps are for when there is significant damage or a major defect found. However, when the home is clean, showing only normal adjustments for a door or a window, or typical items found on most homes, the report will be a selling tool. When buyers are intrigued about a home they are looking to buy, a main reservation is wondering about the condition of the home. Seeing the report should answer questions that help keep the buyer’s interest, rather than automatically moving on to the next house and eliminating your house. It's a great sales tool if your home checks out! And if your home needs repairs, then why not fix them on your terms and not the Buyers. After all, it is still your home.
I see references to
selling the home "AS IS." Why do I not want to sell it that way?
There's an old saying, "As is, never was a done deal." Some homes sell as is
because there are many defects or a major defect. Sometimes it was just sold
that way as the seller desired. The problem is that it creates suspicion of
defects or problems and can reduce the "lookers" down to a crawl. Buyers often
tell the home inspector when performing a home inspection on an "As is"
property, that if a major defect turns up, they are terminating the contract
because the seller said he wasn't fixing anything. A Buyers perception of what
is a major defect, could be as little as a $1,000 if the Buyer does not have the
resources or is afraid to purchase it thinking the problem might grow in cost to
repair. An "As is" listing is not the best way to sell your property.