Guest Blog Post Written By: Jeffrey Brookfield Business Owner, AmeriSpec Home Inspection Service | http://www.HowHomeInspectorsHelp.com
Traditionally a home inspection is arranged by the buyer of a home and is oftentimes used to renegotiate the purchase price. Today, some 90% of all homes are inspected -- these inspections, in all likelihood, are costing sellers tens of thousands of dollars in loss of equity in their homes.
One Solution: a pre-listing home inspection arranged by the seller.
A pre-listing home inspection can be a very powerful tool for both the seller and the listing agent. The benefits include:
1. Protecting your equity — A traditional home inspection is a condition of sale for most buyers, and is completed after an offer has been accepted by the seller. Since most Agreements of Purchase and Sale have a short window of time to complete the transaction, buyers sometimes use the inspection findings to reduce the sales price. The seller often is faced with a decision to fix the problems or take a reduction on the selling price.
Unfortunately, sellers often are unable to get competitive bids due to the time constraints and are either forced into taking a single bid for the repair or renegotiating the price. Most buyers will have a tendency to over-exaggerate the true cost of repair by a factor of 5. In other words, if it would cost you $200 to repair windows, buyer will ask for a reduction of say, $1,000 from the selling price to cover the same repair. This can make the renegotiating process difficult.
2. Smoother transaction at closing - Without the renegotiations that often follow a traditional home inspection, the real estate transaction is smoother. Some Realtors who religiously use pre-listing home inspections say it saves an average of 15-20 hours of time per transaction.
3. More buyers — What better way to make a home stand out from others on the market, especially those on the same street. AmeriSpec can provide the homeseller with a sign that can be attached to the For Sale sign stating that the home has been inspected by an independent inspection company.
Once the pre-listing inspection is complete, your Realtor can also add a comment to your MLS listing, which most likely will also increase your traffic -— and increase the likelihood of selling your home. Research shows that pre-inspected homes sell an average of 15 days sooner than homes that aren't pre-inspected.
4. Seller peace of mind — Eliminate the stress, anxiety and frustration of rushing to complete repairs or renegotiate the sales price after a traditional home inspection. A pre-listing inspection identifies issues up front, and allows the seller to make repairs on her schedule and budget. Why risk losing a potential buyer?
But why should the seller pay for the home inspection?
In today’s real estate market, buyers pay for traditional home inspections to learn the condition of the home before they buy it. The market has been conditioned to believe that a home inspection should be paid by the buyer. However, when the seller pays for the inspection, they have more control over the transaction and save money in the end because of less price negotiations. The value produced by the pre-listing inspection in time and money saved can be over 5 times the cost of the pre-listing inspection, making it well worth the investment.
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For more information on pre-listing home inspections, contact:
Jeffrey Brookfield
AmeriSpec Home Inspection Service
Waterloo Region, Guelph, Halton Hills, Brampton, Caledon & Orangeville
1-800-794-5880
www.HowHomeInspectorsHelp.com
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