Property Sellers and Pre-Inspection Reports

As a FSBO seller, the key to successfully moving your property and saving money on real estate agent commissions is knowledge. The more you know, the smoother you sales effort will be. One area where this is particularly important is home inspections.

A home inspection is exactly what it sounds like. A certified home inspector will be asked and paid by the buyer to come give your property the once over. Items that are covered include things such as water damage, termites, foundations, roofs, and parts of the home that are not in compliance with the local building codes. For a seller, a home inspection is the time to tap your foot nervously while you wait for the report. The report, of course, becomes the foundation for the buyer to demand that you spend money on repairs to fix the problems. This can be particularly problematic if one or more of the repairs requires significant expenditures, to wit, a lot of money.

Importantly, the home inspection need not be a cause for concern. You can take a definitive step to remove all of the stress. Yes, you can get a pre-inspection.

A pre-inspection report on your property is the same thing as a home inspection undertaken by a buyer once the deal is in escrow. The only difference is you order the inspection before putting the property on the market. Why would you do this? As mentioned above, knowledge is the key. By having an inspection of your home before putting it on the market, you will know if there are any major problems. If there are, you can deal with them in a relaxed manner instead of during the heat of 30 or 60 day escrow when time is of the essence.

A few people will tell you that getting a pre-inspection of your property is a bad move. They argue that it is a waste of money to make repairs to problems that a home inspector retained by a buyer might miss. While this sounds logical at first, it simply is not in this day and age. In the current real estate market, nearly all home inspectors are competent. Yes, they may miss small items from time to time, but it is a rare day when they will miss some major problem on the property.

At the end of the day, selling your property on your own can save you a bundle in commissions. A pre-inspection of your home is one way to simplify the process.