There’s a stumbling block that appears in many home sales. And the stumbling block can be avoided with a proactive approach. What is this stumbling block? It’s the home inspection that the buyer has performed.
Let’s face it – you live in the house. And like most of us, there may be small things that need repair that you just don’t notice. It may be a window that opens but doesn’t stay open. You may have termites and you don’t know it. So what if the kitchen faucet drips, or the hot water heater overflow pipe is not up to code?
But these, and many other things, can create an issue when the buyer does the inspections. And then you need to run around like crazy to get these issues taken care of.
So how do you get in front of these issues?
We suggest to all of our sellers that they get a pre-sale home inspection. You hire the same type of inspector that the buyer does, and have a similar inspection done. Then you look at the deficiency list (and it’s a rare home that doesn’t have one) and decide which issues you need to take care of. And you get it done before the buyer has their inspection.
We can recommend home inspectors that will usually charge less than $500 for this service. Many consider it money well spent to get in front of any issues. Also, many sellers will make the report available to serious prospective buyers, along with a report of what and how the issues were resolved.