Getting a Home Inspection before Putting Home on the Market
1. You find out what condition your home is in.
One of the biggest fears of most sellers is that when a buyer does get the home inspected, something will be discovered that kills the sale. This concern is undoubtedly justified. The home inspection is often the point where sales fall apart – leaving the seller to pick up the pieces.
However, as the seller, you do not have to wait for the buyer’s inspection. You can have your own done, and get ahead of any issues before ever listing the property for sale.
By having a home inspection before hitting the market, you will find out the exact condition of your home.
2. Pricing the home accurately is much easier.
Choosing an accurate price for your home is one of the most challenging parts of the home sales process. It takes experience and skill to find the sweet spot – too high, buyers will stay away, too low, and you miss out on money from the sale.
The best way to choose a price is to work with a Realtor experienced in your market, but even the best real estate agent will struggle with pricing if the state of the home is unclear. Having an inspection before your house goes on the market ensures that you have all the facts, which makes setting a price much easier.
3. Minimize stress.
Not knowing if there is something wrong with your home adds a lot of stress to the sales process. Selling your home is never easy, to begin with. Worrying that the sale will fall through because of something that turns up during an inspection adds a thick layer of anxiety to your life that will not go away until the sale closes.
Fortunately, you can wipe away that anxiety easily. You just have to get your own inspection before listing. Something may or may not need to be fixed. A pre-listing inspection will let you know either way.
By getting the inspection done, you can feel much more confident about the current condition of your home.
4. You can make repairs.
Most agents will tell you to make major repairs before you list your home. The buyer’s inspection will uncover significant defects, and you will be expected to repair them if you want to get full price for your home. The problem is that you will only have until closing to get the repairs done if you wait until the buyer’s inspection.
The limited time frame tends to put sellers on edge and leave them scrambling to get everything fixed in time. With a pre-listing inspection, you set your own schedule for repairs. There is no rush to list the property until you have made sure the home is in good shape.
You will be putting your home on the market with confidence you have corrected any large problems.
5. Less likelihood of negotiations.
Quite often buyers will use the home inspection as a point of asking for additional concessions. That is because they know that there will probably be one or more issues that will come up warranting reconsideration of the price. Negotiating home inspections is a common hurdle in the real estate process.
Not many people enjoy it and for some if can become extremely stressful. You will find this to be especially true if the buyer and seller do not see eye to eye; which is not unusual.
Quite often buyers ask for inspection repairs they should not because they do not get proper counseling from their buyer’s agent. There will be a long list of knit picking.
A pre-listing inspection helps you avoid the typical interactions that follow the buyer’s inspection. You are unlikely to learn anything new about your home from the inspection, and neither is the buyer because you have already had an inspection done.
Negotiations still may occur, but they will probably be minimal.
6. Help improve the buyer’s confidence.
Anytime you can hand a buyer an inspection report that details the present condition of a home; you are probably going to make them feel more confident about the purchase.
Buyers naturally are skeptical about a home’s condition until their home inspection is completed. For many folks purchasing a home will be the most money they will ever spend on a single purchase. Buyers will calculate what they can afford now combined with upkeep in the future.
If a buyer suspects that the house might have hidden problems, the offer he or she makes could reflect that. An inspection done before listing for sale can help eliminate much of the doubt about the home.
Knowing that a professional has already looked over the home carefully allows the buyer to make a confident offer.
7. Make your real estate agents job easier.
Real Estate agents are used to selling homes without pre-listing inspections. Of course, most would prefer it if sellers did get a pre-listing home inspection. Knowing the actual state of the home allows the Realtor to do a better job for the client.
The agent can price the home more accurately, can negotiate more confidently, and can attract buyers more easily because buyers like homes that have been inspected before listing. Ultimately, making the Realtor’s job easier brings financial benefits to the seller.
The home inspection is the most prominent hurdle to clear in a real estate transaction. Once that is done, most will breathe a sigh of relief.
At the end of the day, sharing valuable knowledge is the key to becoming a successful real estate agent. With demonstrated expertise, agents can:
· Position themselves as true professionals
· Take control of the selling process
· Provide a high level of service to clients
· Develop the courage and discipline to create a listing process that will sell homes faster and for more money.
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