When you’re very interested in buying a home, one of the first things you mark off from your checklist is getting a home inspection.
But what about getting an inspection before you sell your home?
First, it’s never a bad idea to ever get your home inspected, even when you don’t plan on selling or moving. Keeping your home safe is important.
But as far as getting a pre-sale home inspection, there are a few reasons why you should get your home inspected before you sell.
No surprises – You know the potential homebuyer will be getting a home inspection, and if anything needs fixing, it could be on you to fix it or the sale may fall through. Not only finding out from the buyer’s home inspector that something needs to be fixed gives you a big surprise, it could potentially make the selling process a little longer than you would like. Also, this allows you to adjust the selling price accordingly if you don’t want to get it fixed, or, if you do get the problem fixed, you might be able to ask more money for your home.
Clean house – When you or your real estate agent is showing the home, you can say this house was recently inspected and the repairs that were recommended were fixed, leaving the home walk-in ready. What a major selling point. No repairs and the owner can turn the key and not worry about repairs until down the road. This also increases the value of the home, making your pre-sale home inspection worth it.
Prevents potential extra costs – When selling your home, you want it to be as good as is it was when you bought it. So you take the time to fix the leaky faucet, snake the drains and even replace things that might not pass inspection. But how do you know what would pass before getting an inspection? This is where having a pre-sale inspection comes in. Before you have a contractor fix load-bearing beam, an inspector might be able to tell you there’s a problem with the foundation that’s causing the load-bearing beam to fail. Now you have to pay for two repairs to fix, when getting an presale inspection may have saved you money.
It’s better to be safe than sorry in just about everything in life. And when selling something as expensive as a home, it’s always good to double check to see what has to be done so you’re not surprised.