Surprises are supposed to be fun. But in the world of real estate a surprise can be a catastrophic deal breaker that leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. As a home owner you know your home inside and out and you’ve lived in it for this long without any problems, right? But let’s face it, not everyone is qualified to spot building code deficiencies. When was the last time you actually crawled up into the attic to inspect the integrity of your roof supports? Truth is, most of us don’t really pay attention to the minor details of our home until something needs to be fixed. And more often than not there may be minor deficiencies we don’t even know about that may matter to some people, and not matter to others.
Usually when a purchaser makes an offer on a home they are offering a price based on what they think they are getting at that time. They are assuming there are no major unknown issues with the house, usually based on the Property Condition Disclosure Statement made by the seller, which discloses any issues with the home that the owner is currently aware of. If a home inspection comes back with a bunch of issues this opens up negotiations for repairs and price adjustments or the purchaser may walk away from the deal. Usually at this point both parties have already agreed to on a purchase price and more often than not neither party wants to leave more money on the table. This is where things can get hairy and it’s usually up to the agent to find creative solutions.
One way to avoid these problems is to get a pre-inspection on your home. Getting your home pre-inspected gives you peace of mind that there will be no surprises down the line and it gives buyers confidence in what they’re buying. Not only that, but buyers are more open to offering more on a property if they know that they are buying a quality home with little to no issues. Another benefit is that, as a seller, you can use the home inspection to spot any deficiencies in the home before setting a list price. Now you have a more accurate pricing of your home and if there are no major problems with the home you can use the pre inspection as a marketing tool to let prospective buyers know just how great your home is.
Aside from all this, if nothing else, a pre-inspection can let you know which items should be addressed before hitting the market. Again, not everyone knows or can spot every deficiency in a home and it would be nice to have an unbiased third party take a look and let you know the items that should be addressed. And not every item needs to be addressed. Home inspections are notorious for pointing out every single thing about a home that doesn’t adhere to current building code. For example, I’ve seen home inspections state that the steps on the stairs were an inch too short or there were only two outlets in a bedroom instead of three. These things are probably not issues that need to be dealt with. It’s important to remember that a home inspection will compare your home with the current building code. If a home is 30 or 40 years old then it would have been built according to an older building code so most small things will be given a free pass unless it’s a safety issue or the home insurance provider has an issue with it.
As of the time of this writing a home inspection will run about $400 to $500 and it is usually paid by the purchaser during their home inspection period. A pre-listing home inspection would be paid by the seller but could save you time and money down the line. If you don’t mind coughing up a few hundred dollars to save you a few thousand dollars of headache down the road, I’d say that’s well worth the money.
