Who will find this tip helpful?
1. Realtors with listings in a "down" market.
2. Realtors in a market that typically slows down in the winter.
3. Realtors willing to invest in their business and in their clients.
The tip: Upon taking a listing or-- if you have an existing listing-- upon making a relevant price change-- pay for your seller's property inspection.
Okay, so it's not an original idea, but ideas don't have to be orignal in order to be effective. I recently paid for a home inspection for one of my listings. This investment resulted in an accepted offer last week, with the selling agent telling me that the reason her buyer chose my listing over hundreds of others qualifying to meet her needs was the completed inspection. It set us apart from the competition.
Now that we're moving forward with this transaction, my sellers and I have peace of mind that the inspection period is going to be a breeze. The buyers agent says she and her client feel the same way we do. No "mystery" inspection reports, with the buyer's requests up in the air. No high-stakes drama... "Will the buyer make ridiculous requests?" (One set of buyers-- with help from their inspector-- requested that all the windows, except one, in the home be replaced. That's another story....:-)) Parties on both sides of this transaction are loving how smoothly things are progressing.
The buyer's agent says the completed inspection has moved up the closing by five business days! That's something to smile about.
Good candidates for doing a pre-listing/pre-offer inspection:
1. The property should be priced right, obviously! (This goes without saying....)
2. The sellers have put a lot of effort into getting their property looking good-- great curb appeal, fresh paint, new carpet, groomed landscaping, etc.
3. The sellers have either already referred you, or they would refer you, because they appreciate your service and know you are working diligently to sell their property in a tough market.
It really helps if you like your sellers, which is no problem for me in this case. Another plus: there's no chance I'll be asked to reduce my commission. We presented a very strong listing to the market, giving us a strong case for our asking price; the pre-inspection strengthened our position in negotiating a contract too.
Over all, I say paying for a pre-listing inspection is a win/win scenario.
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