When listing your home for sale, one of the things you’ll have to consider is whether or not you get a home inspection done. A home inspection that’s done by a seller to accompany the listing is called a pre-inspection. While not mandatory when selling your home, it’s a good idea for a few different reasons. If you’re thinking of selling your home, here’s why you should consider getting a pre-inspection done.

Address Any Concerns

In an ideal world, the pre-inspection is completed with no concerns found. However, if anything is found it gives you an opportunity to address those concerns before you list. It’s a good idea to get the work done, and provide receipts to show prospective buyers, providing full transparency. This makes it easier for potential buyers to say yes, and feel safer, to offering on your home knowing that a detailed check has been done and any required work has been handled. Homebuyers (especially first-time home buyers) can get spooked easily by minor concerns or repairs. You can also choose not to get the noted work done, but it will still be present in the inspection. The risk here is you may receive a lower offer to account for the expected work.

Accurately Price Your Home

The pre-inspection will help you accurately price your home. If your home needs a new $8,000 roof and you choose to not do the work before selling, you need to account for that when listing. It’s never fun when you have a potential buyer educate you about your house during a negotiation – and that may cost you money.

Get that Firm Offer

Having a pre-inspection increases your chances of getting a firm offer. If there’s no inspection available with the listing, a buyer is most likely going to put an inspection condition in with their offer to protect themselves. This means you’re going to have to wait a few days for the inspection to be completed, and the buyers find it satisfactory before the offer can go firm. If the buyers find any issues with the home, they may go back to you to renegotiate or even back out of the deal. A pre-inspection will help avoid that and get you that firm offer right off the bat.  

Saves the Buyer the Cost of an Inspection

The cost of home inspections starts at around $300, depending on the size, age, and type of property. Having a pre-inspection done saves potential buyers from the time and cost of getting an inspection done themselves and makes it easier for them to say yes to offering on your home.  

Protects the Seller

Under TRESA, the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, sellers are obligated to disclose if they’re aware of any latent defects in their home. A latent defect is something that would make the home unfit for habitation and is not easily found or discoverable. A pre-inspection will help uncover latent defects and protect you from being liable by making potential buyers aware of the concern. It’s important to note that some latent defects may not be discoverable in an inspection, but that does not mean you will be liable if one is discovered after closing. You’ll have an opportunity to formally declare that you were not aware of any latent defects in your home prior to listing for sale.

The benefits of getting a pre-inspection done far outweigh the cons. I hope that this post has helped show you why it’s such an important step that you don’t want to miss when listing your home for sale. Thinking about listing your home for sale, or just have a question about home inspections? Reach out, I’d be happy to help.

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