Raleigh Home Sellers Save Hundreds on Inspection Repairs
August 7th, 2007 Categories: Real Estate Tips, Selling a Home
Savvy Raleigh home sellers are being introduced to a profitable new way to approach the home inspection process. For the past couple of years I have been suggesting pre-listing home inspections. When done right, this technique is turning out to be a profitable investment for home sellers in a number of ways. Let’s take a look at how this works.
The first step is to hire a local Raleigh home inspector to inspect and report on the condition of your home before it is listed. That’s right, before it’s listed. Does this seem backwards, or at least out of order? You may be asking, if the buyer will have my home inspected anyway, why should I bother? The only reason you should bother is to net more money from the sale of your home. And if you do this right, that’s exactly what can happen.
With the inspection completed and the report in hand, get competitive quotes on the repairs, from highly recommended contractors, and go with the best value. This one thing alone can save you hundreds over the traditional method of getting hit with a repair for something you were totally unaware of and, in a state of total panic, getting a quote from someone you picked from the yellow pages. When you are carefully selecting the contractor and deciding the extent and method of repairs, without a buyer and their agent breathing down your neck as the clock ticks away, you will pay less every time. Much less.
Saving money on the actual repairs is really only the tip of the iceberg. A smart real estate agent will take the inspection report, along with the repair receipts, and make them available to serious home buyers. Adding the pre-listing inspection to the list of advertised features of your home contributes to the overall value proposition you are trying to create. Add a home warranty to this marketing technique and you have a powerful and compelling draw for buyers.
When the pre-listing inspection and warranty are advertised, three amazing things happen.
First, and most important, there is less negotiating the price to begin with. One of the reasons buyers offer less than the listed price is they are afraid something might be wrong with the house. Removing buyer fear and anxiety beats the competition and gets you more money every time. If they are considering several homes and yours is the only one that has already been inspected, this could easily tip the scales in your favor.
Second, the buyer just might decide to forget about having their own inspection done. This is huge because if they get an inspector who has a habit of making a big deal out of cosmetic issues that are not required to be repaired under the terms of the contract, this can create an uneasiness with the buyer and could cause them to start looking for other ways to terminate the contract. Every time my sellers have had a pre-listing inspection we got full price and the buyer waived their right to an inspection. I also sold every one of these Raleigh homes in less than 3 weeks! And the buyer got a home that was in good condition. That’s win-win!
Lastly, the whole negotiation process and attitudes throughout closing are much more cordial and relaxed. There is a real sense of trust and mutual respect from the very beginning. Basically, once the contract is negotiated everyone is just waiting for the lending and appraisal contingencies to be removed and closing to occur. It’s hard to assign a dollar figure to this one, but I can promise you that you will not miss the stress one bit.
[...] I’ve written about this before. Having a home inspected, preferably before it is listed for sale, has lots of great benefits. Homes for sale with the inspection report and any repair receipts made available to serious buyers can have a tremendous positive impact on the price, the days on market, and the whole atmosphere of the negotiations. Putting the cards on the table in such a way creates an environment of trust between seller and buyer. [...]
Bob - Having an inspection before the listing is just a smart business decision. Negotiations tend to be more positive. When the seller waits until after an accepted contract, the buyer has a chance to pick the place apart, based on an inspection. –Paula
Hi Paula,
I think it is good for both parties. The seller gets to have some control over the repair process and since they know what the impact of repairs are, they can make intelligent decisions about offers and prices.
On the other hand, the buyer is getting a home in better repair with any issues fully disclosed in the inspection report. I will always have any home I’m personally selling inspected before it is listed.