Sellers Home Inspection Inspection Opportunity
Have your house ready to sell in 2022! Boy-oh-boy! What a difference a couple of years make in the Real Estate industry. In 2020 and 2021, a homeowner could put a for sale sign in the yard and have multiple offers after the 1st weekend and probably sell for higher than asking price. In 2022, with a slowing economy (LGB), interest rates going up slightly (But still historically low) and a pandemic that doesn’t want to go away, this year it may be more difficult to sell and therefore, sellers may have to work a little harder to sell their home. Have you considered a “Seller’s Home Inspection”?
In my experience as a home inspector (With 3000 inspections completed) there’s nothing that can spoil a seller’s plan than an inspection that the buyers pay for (After Attorney review) that identifies issues that often times can be deal breakers. So you’ve spent a few weeks or a couple of months with your house on the market. You’ve had open houses. Endured 6 or more families re-visiting once or twice and you’ve considered an offer or two or three, accepted one offer and completed Attorney review. Now it’s time for the buyer’s inspector to come in and do an inspection. An issue, two or three arise from the inspection and all of a sudden that, “Done deal” is now in jeopardy! Why? Maybe there are issues that you’ve never noticed or ignored. Termite damage, a structural crack in the foundation, electrical issues, a worn, damaged or old roof, asbestos siding or Heaven forbid a microbial growth that may be mold or, which is all too common in NJ, radon.
Be aware:
- Homes built prior to approximately 1975 may have asbestos siding, floor tiles or insulation on pipes or heating ducts. The older the home the higher the potential that one or more of these exist.
- Homes built between approximately 1967 and 1974 may have aluminum, solid strand, branch circuit wiring. The home that my wife and I bought in 1991 was built in 1972. It had aluminum wiring. I spent the better part of 8 months to a year re-wiring the entire house. Every foot of working, aluminum, solid strand, branch circuit wiring was removed and replaced with copper wire.
- If you live in Monmouth or Middlesex Counties or north of I-287/I-78 you may have a potential for radon. In fact, every township, borough or city in NJ has the, “Potential” for radon and the NJ DEP classifies every township, borough or city as either, “Low Radon Potential”, “Moderate Radon Potential” or “HIGH Radon Potential”. In Monmouth and Middlesex Counties there are some, “HIGH Radon Potential” areas. To name a few – Holmdel, Colts Neck, Little Silver, Freehold Twp and Boro, Marlboro (Including Morganville) and North Brunswick and Piscataway in Middlesex. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer for non-smokers and 2nd behind cigarette smoking overall.
- Microbial growths, which may include mold, can be found in basements, interior room ceilings, in attics and we often see growths in vanities just to name a few. It’s important to note that looking for mold is outside the scope of the NJ Home Inspection Standards of Practice as detailed in the NJ Administrative Code that directs and guides the New Jersey home inspection industry.
But any of these items, for example (There are other items too), can end a home sale transaction faster than you can say “House for sale”.
Not only is it inconvenient for the seller, it may require the seller to lower the price and who knows how the market is when you’re back to square one!
In preparation for putting your home on the market you’ll probably clean it. De-clutter as they say to make it less your style and more neutral. Remove stuff, clear the basement and garage, etc. You may even paint inside, replace some old, worn carpeting, fix some dents and dings in the walls and finally, fix the dishwasher.
We urge you to consider hiring Regal Home Inspections, LLC, to conduct a Seller’s Home Inspection. We follow the same Standards of Practice as we do for the Buyer’s inspection but it’s giving you some insight as to what you may want to address before you put the house on the market or disclose to potential buyers so you’re not back to the negotiating table a week before you were hoping to close. By the way, once you pay for the Inspection Report, you own it! Put it out during open houses. Be up front with the few issues or items that might come up a month or two later when the seller’s inspector comes in. Identify those items that can terminate a deal or delay a closing like finding out that there’s a high radon reading.
In 2021 we at Regal Home Inspections, LLC performed about 10 seller’s inspections. One, just done in November 2021 is sanitized to remove the client’s name and the exact address but it shows some of the things that we can identify for the seller. Identified in a timeframe that allows them to address them (Fix) or disclose them in a Seller’s Disclosure document. For this home there were a number of items as you can see in the attached Property Inspection Report but, in my opinion, the most significant finding was a high radon reading. For radon testing, the, “Action Level” is 4.0 pico Curries per liter of air. “Pico Curries” are the measurement of radioactivity. For a home sale, a measurement at 4.0 or higher (The Action Level or above) requires mitigation. This particular home was high. Now a high radon level might scare a potential buyer away, particularly because most people don’t know or haven’t learned that it can be mitigated (Reduced) to a very low level (Often well below 4.0). But it could be a kiss-of-death for the sale of a home if identified at the last moment.
By hiring Regal Home Inspections, LLC and learning about all of these items, we can help prevent those items from being deal-breaking issues and help the sale go through.
In preparation for the 2022 Spring, home sale season, Regal Home Inspections, LLC is offering free radon tests when it’s part of a Seller’s home inspection. This offer is valid through June 20, 2022. Please be sure to say that you want the Spring Seller’s Inspection Special to get the radon test included for free.
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Other Services | Certified Home Inspector Monmouth County NJ
Regal Home Inspections, LLC is thermal imaging certified and offers Monmouth County NJ certified home inspections, condo inspections, estate inspections, and townhouse inspections.
It’s likely your mortgage company will require a wood-destroying insect inspection. Regal Home Inspections has the NJ DEP Core & 7B Pesticide Applicator license, so we can offer professional termite and wood-destroying insect inspections as well!
Call 908-902-2590 for your free quote or if you have any questions!
Frank J. Delle Donne, Inspector and co-owner of Regal Home Inspections, LLC, has passed the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI) class to perform Wind Loss Mitigation inspections. Wind loss mitigation inspections are done in an attempt to save money on your home insurance in hurricane zones. The class taken and passed is based on various Florida construction codes including Miami Dade’s codes but is an insurance industry process so the insurance company can determine if the home is less likely to sustain damage (Financial losses) in a high wind event like a hurricane.
