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Princeton Real Estate - Two Things For A Successful Sale

You are ready to celebrate – your marketing was successful and you found a buyer, negotiated a great price and have a contract of sale. Unfortunately, deals can unravel even after this point. To smoothly get to closing there are several issues to keep in mind. In this post I discuss House Inspection – an event that can often lead to a deal falling apart. What can be done to avoid such outcome?
The question often comes up, is it better for the seller to inspect the house prior to putting it on the market or wait for the buyer’s inspection. Let’s look at the two possibilities.

Seller’s Inspection
Is it helpful or not to do such inspection, since it can reveal potential problems? These problems most likely would have to be disclosed to prospective buyers, if a seller decides not to fix them. Some argue that such disclosure can detract prospective buyers form making an offer or cause them to offer a lower price. On the other hand, discovering the problems early in the process, reduces "surprises" down the line from the buyers' inspection and allows you - the seller to budget for repairs. Fixing the problems prior to putting the house on the market gives you a better chance to get to a successful close.

Buyer’s Inspection
Buying a home is a very emotional process. Home inspection in particular makes a lot of buyers very nervous. If the inspection reveals serious problems, buyers often doubt their decision to buy such house. They may want to get out of the contract or demand additional price concessions and it makes the process difficult for everyone involved. If the seller decides not to address the serious inspection problems and the sales contract is terminated, the seller would most likely have to disclose the inspection findings to the next buyer which brings us back to the original point.

The right answer
There may not be an answer that is right for all. When I work with my seller- clients I describe the risks and implications of both approaches. This information gives them the basis to make their decision.

You may be interested to read:

"Princeton Real Estate - Tow More Things For A Successful Sale" - other tips for keeping the deal together: contracts and disclosure.

If you are interested in a successful sale or purchase of your home, or need real estate advice, please call Faina Sechzer 609-553-4174

Posted by Faina Sechzer - Princeton, Montgomery, Hopewell, NJ Real Estate Expert on 08/30/2007 08:52 AM

Comments (10)

princeton nj real estate sellers

Post is included in group: Active Rain Newbies
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10 Comments on Princeton Real Estate - Two Things For A Successful Sale

Gotta love inspections!

08/30/2007 08:56 AM

by Dana Iler - Keller Williams of Grand Rapids (Keller Williams Realty)

If the seller is willing to repair all of the items that are discovered during a pre-listing inspection, you can't go wrong. The problems arise when they do not make repairs and try to cover up the problems. Yes, it is very possible and very likely that the buyers will have their own inspection and it might even turn up some additional issues.

As for a buyers inspection? Buyers would be fools not to have their own inspection, even if the seller have had one. Most of the time I will find something that was not discovered during the sellers inspection.

08/30/2007 08:58 AM

by Scott Patterson - Middle TN Home Inspector (Trace Home Inspections)

Nice post Faina. I'm a big believer in Seller inspections. It's gonna be found anyway, might as well offer Your inspection with work completed to the Buyer rather than have to "wait and see."

08/30/2007 09:03 AM

by Century 21 First Realty

Dana - I am not sure how much people love inspections. They are like a visit to a dentist, you may not like it, but it beats the alternative. Thanks for your comment.

08/30/2007 09:08 AM

by Faina Sechzer - Princeton, Montgomery, Hopewell, NJ Real Estate Expert (Henderson-Sotheby's International Realty)

Scott - Covering up is a big no-no. That's why I was planning to write about Disclosure in the follow-up post. I am with you on the buyers' inspection - I advise them to ALWAYS do it. Thanks for your comment.

08/30/2007 09:12 AM

by Faina Sechzer - Princeton, Montgomery, Hopewell, NJ Real Estate Expert (Henderson-Sotheby's International Realty)

Good post, Faina.

I believe in Pre-Listing (Seller) inspections. My reason is based on the experience a friend had when she bought her house. This was a case where the house she looked at needed quite a bit of work, especially a new roof. A friend of ours does roofing, so I sent him out for an estimate. Came in at $3k. She wanted the seller to take off $3k for the roof, plus what the interest would be over the life of the mortgage. In her mind, the cost of the new roof would be split up over the roofing cost and the 15 yr mortgage. It didn't occur to her that if she had the cost deducted from the price, the mortgage would be for $3k less, meaning less interest over 15 years. Took a while to make her see how that would work. Many buyers, especially new ones, don't really seem to understand the process.

Having the inspection report there for viewing at an open house will allow a buyer to see what the inspector found, allowing them to have a better handle on the home's condition, thereby making for an easier decision. It may also install confidence in the buyer's mind that the seller is being open about the condition, and has nothing to hide. It will also help in accurately filling out the disclosure statement. The buyer should still have their own inspector come through before they buy though.

08/30/2007 09:15 AM

by Kenneth Miller (Jordan Hill Home Services, LLC)

Kenneth,

thanks for writing about a "live" case. Trust me, my post was prompted by something that is happening as I write. I seems that both buyers and sellers are still "afraid" of the inspections. We need to continually educate them on the process. That's why we are payed the big bucks, right? lol

08/30/2007 10:13 AM

by Faina Sechzer - Princeton, Montgomery, Hopewell, NJ Real Estate Expert (Henderson-Sotheby's International Realty)

Faina,

I had a post not long ago about Knowledge is Power and made some of the same points you did about Seller inspections. Sellers should not be afraid of a pre-listing inspection. After all, they are paying for my services and they own the report. It does not have to be published. Usually it is offered to buyers, but if there are alot of things wrong, I offer to come back and reinspect at a reduced price when most of the work has been done. Most of the time the report is used either as a punch list of things done in preparation for the sale, or as a confirmation that the house has little wrong with it.

One of the most important things a pre-listing inspection does is show the good intentions of the seller. This is important to buyers at least on a subconscious level. When the seller is open and cooperative and honest about the property, the buyer feels more secure and at ease with their choice. On the other hand, sellers who have a "I'm doing the bare minimum" attitude, tend to evoke a suspicious response from buyers.

09/20/2007 01:13 PM

by Bill Duncan (Home Status Inspection Company, LLC)

Bill - I can't agree with you more. In New Jersey if the seller fills out a "Seller Disclosure" they may have to reveal some of the problems found in the pre-listing inspection. it scares the Sellers, but the bottom line is - disclosure is always best.

09/20/2007 02:00 PM

by Faina Sechzer - Princeton, Montgomery, Hopewell, NJ Real Estate Expert (Henderson-Sotheby's International Realty)

http://www.moveincertified.com/

Hope this helps.

09/20/2007 10:41 PM

by John McKenna (American Home Inspection)