If you are selling a home, you’ll get the
highest price in the shortest time, if your home is in
top condition. And you want to find out about any hidden
problems before your house goes on the market. Almost
all sales contracts include the condition that the
contract is contingent upon completion of a satisfactory
inspection. This is known as the inspection contingency.
Buyers will insist on a professional home inspection
performed by an inspector they will hire. If the buyers’
inspector finds a problem, it can cause the buyer to get
cold feet and the deal can often fall through. At best,
surprise problems uncovered by the buyers’ inspector
will cause delays in closing, and usually you will have
to pay for repairs at the last minute, or take a lower
price on your home.
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It’s better to pay
for your own inspection before putting your home on
the market. Having a pre-listing inspection done
will make the whole sale process easier. Find out
about any hidden problems and get them corrected in
advance, on your own terms. Or present the items as
is and reflected in the purchase price. Otherwise,
you can count on the buyers’ inspector finding them,
at the worst possible time, causing delays, and
costing you more money. |
One of the key benefits of having the
inspection done early is that if there are any problems
discovered that need to be repaired, you can have the
repairs done on your own terms, on your own schedule.
When a problem isn’t found until the buyer has an
inspection performed, the deal you’ve worked so hard to
get done may fall apart unless you act quickly to get
the repairs done. Or you may have to take a lower price,
in order to keep the deal moving. In either case, you’ll
almost certainly have more headaches, and spend more
money, than if you’d known about the problem and had it
repaired before negotiations began. You could save
thousands by simply being able to shop around and get
competitive bids from contractors, rather than being
forced into paying for a rush job at the last minute.
Another area where you can save money is in having
flexibility to choose the materials used in repairs.
Sales contracts usually specify repairs must be made
using materials of comparable quality. By identifying
needed repairs early, you’ll have the option to save
money by using less expensive materials for the repairs.
You can also benefit from simply
offering certain items as is. Often, you can negotiate
with a buyer to accept items in the current condition by
stipulating that they are reflected in the purchase
price. But that same buyer may walk away from the deal
if the conditions come as a surprise, after an offer has
already been made. If the home is inspected before the
house goes on the market you will be aware of the
condition of the house before an offer is made. There
won’t be any surprises and the deal is far less likely
to fall apart. It takes a lot of effort to get a sales
agreement signed in the first place. If the inspection
turns up problems, the buyer will want to negotiate a
new deal and that second sales agreement is usually even
harder to get done than the first one.
By having a pre-listing inspection
done, you can identify problems early. Then either
correct them or present them as is, assuring that the
first offer you accept can move quickly and smoothly to
closing without delays or costly surprises. |