Many sellers dread the inspection… They spend sleepless nights wondering what mysteries their potential buyers’ inspector might uncover. Will it affect the profit on the home? Will it cancel the sale all together?

Consider eliminating this worry with a pre-inspection. My sellers find comfort when they choose to perform the inspection before the listing or early in the listing process. It costs the seller the price of the inspection (which is usually paid for by the buyer) but the gains are numerous.

Remember, there are two ways for a buyer to get out of a contract: the inspection and the appraisal. Obviously, you’ll want to decrease the chances that your perspective buyer could cancel the contract on your home!

Let’s go over some of the many reasons to perform a pre-inspection.

Eliminate the unknown

By scheduling a pre-inspection you are solving the mysteries of your home. The inspection will reveal what the buyer’s own inspection would likely find. This buys you time to deal with any discoveries. This is also very helpful if you intend to leave your house vacant and move into another home before your sale is complete.

No second party involvement

It’s possible that the inspection will reveal a problem with your home. By using a reputable inspector for your pre-inspection, you will be able to identify these problems without a buyer involved. It won’t affect their asking price or involve any negotiation between the two parties. You will have the opportunity to either disclose this problem upfront, or fix the problem before a buyer is involved.

Pay fair market value for repairs

Performing a pre-inspection will allow you as the seller to shop around for a fair price for any needed repairs. In my experience, the credit a buyer will request for a repair is often five times higher than the actual cost of a needed repair. So, a $1,000 repair could lower their asking price by $5,000! Rather than losing valuable dollars on your home, you can get these repairs out of the way on your own terms. Last minute repairs — such as those done during the selling process — typically cost much higher than those done with more careful planning. You typically only have three days to deal with buyer inspection findings.

Streamline the Process

Your pre-inspection will eliminate some otherwise expected complications. As I said, you’ll have the opportunity to make full disclosure of any problems in your home, or fix them in advance. Also, you’ll be providing the detailed inspection information to potential sellers before anyone enters into a contract. Now, a buyer may still decide to perform an inspection, which will add onto the time of completing the sale. However, if you’ve used a reputable inspector, you can feel quite confident that no major surprises are going to be revealed delaying your sale further. In my experience, 7 out of 9 buyers accept the pre-inspection, and it saves an average of 15 days. Days mean dollars!

Marketability

Remember, you will have that detailed inspection in your hands while your home is on the market. Not only does it allow you to have full disclosure of a problem, but it also becomes a marketable part of your home listing. In this market, any little bit helps! Imagine being a buyer — It’s like having a crystal ball revealing what a post-contract inspection will disclose! Your buyers can read the detailed inspection and not have to worry about any mysteries. Setting aside any problems the home inspection might find, think of all the things that will get good marks. You’re then telling your potential buyers about the good roof, quality plumbing, lack of termite damage, or whatever the inspection finds. The positives can be as important as any negatives the inspection may reveal. You also may be saving the buyer money if they decide to accept your inspection without paying for their own.

Buyer Confidence

By completing and providing those pre-inspection details you are also telling your potential buyers that you care about the condition of your home, and about buyer satisfaction in that condition. A pre-inspection can say just as much as performing regular maintenance, a fresh coat of paint, or anything else that shows you want to show your home in its best light. This will give potential buyers confidence that you have shown the same attention to detail in every aspect of your home, and show that you are honest and upfront about your home’s details.

Repair Difficulty

Another reason to perform the pre-inspection may be that you suspect repair difficulty. Perhaps you have a very old home, you have reason to believe there might be a specific, complicated problem, or maybe some aspects of your home are out of your hands. For instance, if you live in a planned community, condo, or other setting in which you might have rules or obstacles, this pre-inspection allows you more time to deal with those obstacles. For example — perhaps you are selling a condo and you know any exterior problems will be the responsibility of the housing association. The pre-inspection can buy you more time to deal with the other parties involved.

Eliminate Stress!

This may be the most important reason. As a seller, you are already experiencing so much stress with your listing. Waiting for potential buyers to come through, preparing for last minute showings, the looming threat of a double mortgage payment, the rough housing market, and so on. Knowing what an inspection would reveal will eliminate a lot of stress involved with the sale of your home for all these reasons described above. And that may be priceless to you as a seller.

What is an Inspection?

A key to a pre-inspection is using an inspector that has a thorough, professional report. This report should have photos, circles and arrows, lots of suggestions, and be available online. The reports I use are easy to email to other agents, who can then email them to their clients. Giving these potential buyers the ability to surf through the report online and share it with their own advisors is very beneficial.

When my sellers perform pre-inspections, I recommend they call Mike Patton of AA Inspection. He is a certified inspector who works in Ohio and Kentucky, and provides the kinds of inspection reports I described.

Mike says, “A home inspection is an in-depth visual examination of the pysical structure and systems of a home. It is not an appraisal that tells you what the home is worth or a code compliance audit. [You should have a home] properly inspected before final purchase by an experienced and impartial inspector.

Here’s a list of categories an inspection will cover. The inspector will then outline what repairs he or she suggests within these categories.

General Comments
Exterior
Roof System
Structural System
Insulation and Ventilation
Electrical System
Heating and Cooling System(s)
Plumbing System
Interior
Kitchen Appliances, Built-In
Fireplaces and Solid Fuel Burning Appliances

View a sample pre-inspection here, courtesy of Mike Patton’s website

http://www.homegauge.com/report/689838/

Home inspections cost between $280-$500. It’s truly a small price to pay considering all these benefits outlined here.

Learn more about Mike Patton and AA Home Inspection by visiting his website.

Related...

• January 15, 2008 -- Mandatory Whole House Inspection
• September 6, 2007 -- Foreclosures: Good For Some, Not For Many
• August 12, 2007 -- Why People Are Afraid To Buy Your Home (FSBO’s)
• August 2, 2007 -- From Our Trusted Inspector: Water Heaters