A few days ago I was at a home inspection and the question came up about whether or not I recommend to my sellers to have their homes pre-inspected prior to listing it!  It led to quite an interesting conversation, so I thought this would be a great thing to post here.  So here are my thoughts about why I think it is better for sellers to have their home pre-inspected prior to listing it for sale:

• A home inspection can be a big selling feature for the buyer of your home!  In this market, where there is lots and lots of inventory and your home is competing with many homes in lots of different areas, anything you can do to make your home stand head and shoulders above the competition will help make your home more sellable!  
  
  
• A home inspection will offer your future buyer peace of mind!  Buyers are not only buying a home, but they like to know that the home they are buying won’t have any major surprises.  Today’s buyer should always have their own inspection, but knowing that the inspection should have relatively few items of concern will help your buyer feel comfortable with their decision to purchase your home!

• A home inspection will offer you, the seller, peace of mind!  It allows you, the seller, to not have a concern about what a buyer’s inspector may find!  If something is found during the buyer’s inspection that you weren’t aware of, it may be relatively minor in nature and easy to fix, or a buyer may not even ask for it to be repaired!

• A home inspection will allow you to fix all the major deficiencies that show up on your inspection report!  This means that you can be assured of not having a buyer walk away from your transaction because you may not have the money to fix the major deficiencies found on their inspection!

• A home inspection may allow you to hold firm to your asking price!  Many times buyers may see things that need to be taken care of (such as peeling paint, repointing of the masonry, dripping faucets, etc) and come up with a dollar amount that they think it will take to repair these things.  Usually, buyers will overestimate this in their mind.  Then when the inspection occurs they may then ask for these things to be repaired or a credit given at closing in lieu of these repairs.  Knowing that there is nothing major that a buyer could be mentally deducting from your asking price will allow you a better chance of getting your asking price!

• A home inspection may allow you to offer all types of financing!  With some types of financing (VA, FHA, VHDA or grant programs), the appraisals may note repairs that need to be completed!  Appraisals in this real estate market are getting more and more stringent, and not having to worry about repairs on an appraisal will help open up more buyers for your home and eliminate any concerns about losing them due to repair issues on an appraisal.

• A home inspection will allow you to disclose the true condition of your home!  Although Virginia is a buyer beware and the disclosure that is given to buyers doesn’t really disclose much, the law still requires that a seller must disclose any known defects about the house.  If a buyer closes & then discovers a defect, it is up to the buyer to prove that the seller knew about the defect.  If you know what is wrong with the house & the seller chooses to fix these items before closing, then there are no defects and letting the buyer know that all repairs have been done by showing receipts gives the buyer peace of mind about the house!

I have always suggested this to my sellers during the listing appointment.  Many have chosen not to do this, but I do think that with the continued sluggishness of the real estate market, anything a seller can do to put themselves head and shoulders about their competition (which includes foreclosures & short sales) will help them sell their homes faster!  I’d love to hear what you think about this!