Almost all buyers are told about the importance of conducting a home inspection before buying a home but there are many good reasons for sellers to consider hiring a home inspection to be done on their own home before selling. The cost of conducting a proactive home inspection is typically in the $250-400 range (depending on the size of home). This cost is something many home sellers try to avoid but when one considers the benefits it is often money well spent. Typically this would be done in what we call our “pre-MLS” stage which is after we sign a listing agreement which leads into our professional staging consultation and professional photo shoot.
Benefits of a Seller Pre-Inspection
- Marketing – For those clients that have conducted a seller home inspection, we are able to proactively communicate that to potential buyers. The fact that a seller has already completed an inspection and is willing to share the results with buyers is a strong selling point and shows them that the seller is not afraid to lay out the condition of their home.
- Proactively Improve Condition – The condition of how a home “shows” is a primary factor in setting a price and getting an offer. One of the reasons we hire a professional staging consultation with our listings is to make sure we do everything possible to make a home look its very best since so many buyers want a “move-in ready” home that elicits an emotional connection. That said, staging helps from a decorating standpoint but buyers are also looking at the physical condition of a home and a home pre-inspection can help a seller know where they should spend time before going on the market to get their home to show in its best light. This may include things like replacing missing siding, addressing mechanical issues or problems that might arise from an FHA appraisal like missing GFI outlets or gas shut off valves. These items will probably come up as issues during a buyer inspection so why not get them addressed before selling to make the home show better and be able to market the fact that these issues have already been handled.
- Saving Buyers Money Helps Negotiations – Many times, if a buyer is willing to use the same inspector used by the seller, that home inspector won’t charge them nearly as much. The inspector will just arrange to meet the buyers at the home to go over the inspection they already conducted and point out their findings. While saving a buyer money is not a primary concern of a seller, it can help with negotiations when the actions of the seller have reduced the buyers costs to purchase the home. Plus, if the buyer does use your inspector in this way you are guaranteed not to have any new issues identified.
- Protection During Buyer Inspection – Negotiating on the Purchase Agreement terms is a stressful time and it oftentimes gets worse once the buyers make additional demands after their inspection is completed. A seller just made concessions during the negotiations and is often not real happy to hear that a buyer is now making additional demands as a result of the inspection. By doing a home inspection before going on the market (and addressing its results) a seller should have already eliminated many potential “asks” by a buyer. In addition, the inspection can actually help to give reasons why a seller will not agree to additional concessions by showing that their inspection counters what a buyer inspector may be trying to make an issue out of.
- Peace Of Mind – Finally, by doing a preemptive home inspection it gives home sellers peace of mind about the condition of their home and that there should be no major issues to worry about through the buyer inspection process. Just yesterday I had a seller agree to the sale of their home that said they wish they’d done the pre inspection just so they wouldn’t be nervous about waiting 3 days to hear back about the buyer inspection results.
Price and condition are the 2 major factors that determine getting a home sold. Home sellers can’t do much to address market conditions that affect average home prices but they can proactively do a lot to improve the physical condition of their home and doing a home inspection before selling is one of the primary ways to do that.
