Adventures in Home Owning: The Benefits of a Pre-Listing Home Inspection
Dear Homeowner,
You know your home inside and out. After all, who found each of its nooks and crannies? Who can identify the brand of paint used in each room? Who knows just which floorboard to avoid when sneaking down for that late night snack? With this wealth of knowledge why, you may ask, should you spring for a pre-listing home inspection?
Well, for each part of your home that you know intimately, there are bound to be a few you’ve never thought of, or have conveniently chosen to ignore all together: the way the corner of the basement floods when there’s one too many days of rain in the spring, those hairline fractures in your foundation, and the gutters that haven’t been cleaned since before every household had a personal computer. These are just a few areas of your home that may have unknowingly fallen into disrepair, ones that could make the difference between a successful or a disappointing sell.
Like so much concerning home ownership, perhaps the biggest benefit to a pre-listing home inspection is peace of mind. Opting to have your home inspected before listing allows you to have an honest overview of its marketability. Perhaps your inherited home has weathered the storms of time exceptionally well, or perhaps your brand new house was built upon seriously unstable ground, compromising your home’s foundation. Without a pre-listing home inspection you will not be privy to this information until a prospective buyer orders their own. By this time it could be too late for your buyer, and back to the drawing board for you.
Another benefit of having a pre-listing home inspection is that it allows you to make potentially time consuming and expensive improvements on your own schedule and budget. If a home inspection is ordered before the home is listed and issues are discovered that you believe may detract from the value of the property, you have the opportunity to remedy them without the pressure of closing the deal for a potential buyer. This will allow you to take your time and budget yourself to make potentially large improvements without breaking the bank.
Armed with a better idea of what needs to be improved with your home, you will also be able to set an accurate sales price and therein hopefully avoid price haggling down the line. Having an understanding of your property’s strengths and weaknesses will allow you and your agent to list the house appropriately, and your advanced knowledge of any issues will help ensure that your ticket price is accurate and appropriate, even after a potential buyer conducts their own home inspection, guaranteeing a surprise-free experience for all involved.
Until next time, homeowner!