In this Article, I want to explain the value of a home owner/seller having a home inspection performed on their house.
If a Seller will get a Pre-Contract home inspection, it would eliminate many problems later on There is only one reason why home sellers do not get an inspection before they list their property… Money. They simply do not want to spend the money. The purpose of this article is to
demonstrate that a pre-listing will not cost money; it will save money. It even makes the seller money!
Consider the typical real estate transaction:
The house is on the market until someone makes an offer. The offer is made contingent on what the home inspector finds. The buyer may stipulate that if the cost of repairs is over a certain amount he will walk away from the deal. The home inspector's report comes in. He has been in the attic, the crawlspace,
on top of the house, all through the house, and what looks like a perfect house now has leaks, problems in the electrical panel, holes in duct work, etc. etc… This does not have to be. If the seller had gotten a home inspection before the offer came in, and took care of as many issues as possible and planned ahead for any others left unrepaired, they wouldn’t be facing these problems.
Consider:
1. The value of a typical home inspection is around $300 to $350. The typical monthly
mortgage payment is way more than that. If only one monthly payment is saved because
the hassle of fixing and negotiating newly discovered issues is eliminated or reduced, the
pre-listing inspection has saved the seller big bucks, and not only that, the home inspection
actually cost nothing!! Because way more than the value of the inspection has been saved.
2. Not only is money saved because of quicker closing times, pre-listing inspections actually
help bring in offers faster. Remember, if the house goes under contract faster then it will
probably close faster. Faster contracts = faster closings = less mortgage payments. If the prelisting
inspection can produce faster offers and contracts then it has saved the homeowner
even more money. Can this be? Yes. When a seller gets a pre-listing inspection, (and force
themselves to look at the inspection report and face the facts), they can go to work to clean up
the problems. Most problems that inspectors find are minor issues. (Buyers like to make
them major issues so they can negotiate the price down.) If the seller cleans up the
inspection issues and the inspector re-prints the report without the defects, and the agent
puts a copy of the home inspection for that clean house on the kitchen countertop, on the
MLS, and anywhere else, do you think a buyer will be more likely to make an offer on that
house vs. another one just like it that may be full of problems? Do you think they are more
likely to offer more money for a house that they know is in good condition? Absolutely.
And again, this means even MORE money in the sellers’ pocket.
3. A pre-listing inspection saves money another way. When the inevitable “after contract” inspection comes
in with the repair list, the buyer is going to negotiate the price down under threat of walking.
Panic is going to set in. And now it’s either “give away” or wait for another buyer and start the
process all over again. Giving in, costs. Waiting for another buyer means more monthly mortgage
payments. That costs. Either way, getting stuck in that position is costly for the seller.
4. There is yet another way pre-listing inspections save the seller money. If the seller can do minor
repairs themselves so that they are no longer issues, they will very likely save money over the
buyer’s negotiated cost of repairing such issues. The buyer will inflate the cost of those repairs to be
sure costs are covered and then some.
The seller can’t afford the home inspection? If the seller knew how much money they would save and
even gain as a result of the pre-listing inspection, they would pawn their luggage to get one!
Pre-listing inspections are good for everyone involved in the real estate transaction. It is the
stimulus package that works!
ARTICLE BY: EARL PAYNE
CAROLINA’S BEST HOME INSPECTIONS
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