« Claremont Happily Goes To The Dogs… | Home | Nothing Really Happens In Claremont… »
Don’t Look And It WILL Hurt…
By Tisza Major-Posner | April 28, 2007
Whenever someone talks to me about selling their home, one of the first things I say, right after “Here’s my card”, is “Have you thought about getting a pre-listing home inspection?”. Now, you may think that I am jumping the gun just a bit here, by suggesting that a prospective seller might want spend the money to get a home inspection before they put their house on the market.
I think it makes perfect economic, strategic and emotional sense.
From the economic standpoint, a good thorough home inspection by a qualified inspector can save a seller ten’s of thousands of dollars potentially, by spotting things that a prospective buyer of that home may ask for credits to repair. Credits mean dollars lost to the seller. And just like anything else, what things cost to fix yourself, or even to pay someone else to fix for you, is usually a whole lot less than the discount someone will ask for.
Having a home inspection done will cost anywhere from $200 - $500, depending on the size of the home, some of it’s amenities (pool, spa, etc.) and the inspector’s skill or expertise.
From a strategic standpoint, since we are currently in what is known politely as a “Buyer’s Market”, there are a whole lot more homes available to choose from than there have been in the past few years. Anything that a seller can do to their home to make it stand out more to a prospective buyer is a good thing.
Advertising a home for sale that has already had a home inspection performed, and, if you are a really smart cookie, a termite inspection as well, sets your house above all those that have not. It also gives you, the seller, a head’s up on what you may want, and at the very least, need to do to your home before listing it to protect your final realized profit.
From an emotional standpoint, having inspections done before you place your home on the market, may help prevent some of the uncertainty and thus, the stress that occurs during the selling of a home.
Deals can, and do, fall apart every day because of “something revealed in the home inspection”. It doesn’t even have to be a big “something” to query a deal. Missing switch plate covers are a good example.
I know of a situation where missing switch plate covers almost cost a seller a $500,000 sale. They had taken off the plastic covers to paint the room and neglected to put them back. The home was listed, an offer was made and they entered escrow.
The home was inspected, the covers were found to be missing and the buyer’s read the report and panicked!
They decided that because the switch plates are missing, there must be something wrong with the electrical system in the place and that the home was a tinderbox waiting to ignite at a moments notice and wanted to back out of the whole deal. The only thing threatening to go up in smoke there was the sale of that home.
An extreme example to be sure, but one that illustrates my point. It is usually not the big, easy to spot things that derail a home sale, rather, it is the small, piddly, practically insignificant stuff that can send things careening off course at break-neck and sometimes fatal speeds.
The sale of a home, like a roller coaster ride will have bumps, twists and turns. Just make sure that you have your seatbelt tightly fastened and your hands and arms inside the ride at all times and you will come out at the other end unscathed.
So, be smart, get your pre-inspections done before you list, and give yourself advance notice of what could be coming down the pike.
Topics: Buying and Selling Tips |
Enjoy this post? Subscribe to my feed or get updates via e-mail
April 30th, 2007 at 8:47 am
This is a great idea and I have had recent success in getting listing clients to consider this.
However, there are home warranty companies that are offering free coverage to the seller when the home is listed. I would recommend that a seller first list with a Realtor, have the Realtor sign the seller up for the home warranty plan, and then hire the inspector for the report.
This way if the inspection points to a defect that is covered by the warranty, the cost for repair will be much lower AND the seller will have a receipt of the work that was done to offer the buyer as part of the disclosure.
April 30th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Tisza very sound advice. Take it from someone in a market where 1:51 homes are in some stage in the foreclosure process. I hear it all the time. “The buyers inspector found XXXX problem, and they want…” Todd makes a very valid point on the home warranty. Money spent for a pre-sale inspection is worth the peace of mind.
April 30th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Hi All,
Todd - Great suggestion. That is one that I will adopt and advocate and offer to my clients. This is why I love the blogosphere.
Gary - I am glad you found the article interesting and useful. Thank you for reading. Oh, and if you have any ideas for topics you would like to see me cover, or you would like to contribute yourselves, please get in touch.
Take care, help lots of people and have a wonderful day.
Tisza
May 1st, 2007 at 5:04 pm
I think it really gives the seller heads up on what might be an issue in a home inspection. Although I’ve seen 3 home inspections done on the same house within a 30 day period be as different as night an day.
November 23rd, 2007 at 7:45 am
Great tips. I didn’t know the home warranty people gave free inspections. Hope you all had a great holiday!