(see more subjects on my blogs and web at http://www.stonehollow.com/) Steve Gladstone President of Stonehollow Home Inspections and 2004 National ASHI President.
Isn't time you got rid of the surprises found when you finally get a real offer on your listings.
Brokers who have their act together, are looking with much more interest at the positive results that come with having the home pre-inspected, before putting it on the market.
Here is the secret they have learned.
First... a preinspected home (one that is inspected by a thorough professional inspector) will have any deficiencies found and these can be listed both in the disclosure and in the inspection report.
Second... the owner of the home can then choose to:
fix the deficiencies
or not fix, but get quotes and disclose them
or just disclose the items.
The benefit is obvious. In almost every instance once you get an offer, there will be a home inspection contingency. A potential buyer is great but you really don't want that offer to be so fragile that it vaporizes when deficiencies are found.
The home inspector will probably find that bad roof or wet basement. Whatever he or she finds You will have to deal with it.
Now the buyer will want to negotiate for a repair based on quess-timates that may be more like wild ass guesses, figuring for the difficulty of finding a contractor, and the hassle of hiring one who will do the job properly. Most buyers rarely have a clue what the repair will cost and they work off worst case scenarios.
The $7,000 roof becomes a $10,000 negotiation. Who looses? Both the home seller and the Realtor.
For a $350-550 home inspection, my recommendation would have been to install a new 25 year roof on the home, and place the warranty on the dining room table. Then trumpet it in the listing, and add 8 grand to the selling price. After all IT HAS A BRAND NEW ROOF !
Let's do the math... approx $400 for the inspection and 7 grand for the roof... so you raise the sales price to 8 grand... now who wins? Both the seller and the Realtor.
And the buyer feels good they are getting a home with a new roof.
Buyers want to know the home is not the money pit. Mostly they want to impress their parents and in-laws.
It's not always the price so much as the deal. Here's a way they can justify spending more, and they really are getting more without the hassle.
And you don't have to watch your commission get whittled away.
Sure the home seller has to make some decisions about investing in their home. They got cocky when the market was hot. No one had to market their home when back-up buyers were waving checks...but time has changed, and staging is becoming the smart way to sell.
Finally sellers are being told to invest in the marketing of the home and to get their crap out of sight to spark some fantasy and desirability about their home.
I have sellers who refuse to get the yard cleaned up, empty closets and get the move moving before the house is shown. Their home will take the longest to sell.
Other sellers that are willing to invest in their homes end up making even more money, as the house sells faster and for more money with less hassle.
The prelisting inspection can be the best investment your seller can make. So why are you dragging your feet?
More in part 2 tomorrow...
Your Home Inspector in CT, Steve Gladstone. Stonehollow Home Inspection (Our 24 th year)
Copyright Steve Gladstone Stonehollow, Inc 2007
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