Selling a piece of property takes a lot of planning. You need to clean up inside and out and make other improvements to prepare the home for sale. Homeowners should consider getting a home inspection well before they ever put the house on the market. Doing this could save you time, money, and frustration down the road. Here are the top five benefits of a pre-listing home inspection.
1. Save Time with a Pre-Listing Inspection
Once you find a buyer and go into the contract, you’ll be faced with deadlines. If the buyer asks for some repairs to be made and you agree to do them, you will have to rush to get them completed before the closing date.
One of the benefits of a pre-listing home inspection is the flexibility to make repairs on your own schedule. The report will point out any areas that need attention. Because you are not dealing with a buyer, you can take the time to evaluate the report and decide how to move forward.
2. Deal With Repairs Efficiently
One benefit of a pre-listing home inspection includes learning about any repairs or issues that need to be addressed. Now that you have a detailed report, you can take the time to get bids from contractors. If possible, try to get three bids on the work. Make sure to check the contractor’s online reviews and get all prices in writing.
When you wait until you’re under contract, you might not have the time to get enough bids, or you might be forced to choose the proposal that gets the work completed quickly but at a higher price. With a pre-listing inspection, you might opt to do the work yourself and at your own pace before putting your home on the market.
3. Transparency
Once you list the home, you can let the potential buyers know you have already had a home inspection. From a buyer’s standpoint, they will see that you have prepared for the sale and are disclosing all of the details in a professional report. This benefit of a pre-listing home inspection is that it can help develop trust between you and the buyer before they even preview the home. Sharing the report shows that you are upfront and what you know, they know.
4. Better Pricing
Another benefit of a pre-listing home inspection is a more accurate list price because you have information on the true condition of the home. Without the inspection report, the price range you get from your real estate agent could change drastically once in escrow because of unknown conditions.
Because you have the report and bids for any repairs, you can decide to sell the home without completing repairs and instead make a price adjustment. You can also choose to make the repairs and ask for the full market value of your home, or you could land somewhere in the middle. You may choose to do some of the things yourself and leave the rest as-is.
5. Benefits of a Pre-listing Home Inspection: Fewer Negotiations and a Quicker Closing
Sometimes negotiations can drag out a deal as buyers and sellers think about their options. If the buyer has the report in hand while they are writing up their offer, they can address any of their concerns at that time. A cleaner contract that already deals with both parties’ wishes upfront often leads to a faster closing.
HG Home Inspection provides home inspection services to Houston and the surrounding areas. Contact us to schedule an inspection if you are selling your house.