Pre-Listing or Seller’s Inspection.
Why is it the right thing to do?
By Frank J. Delle Donne, Licensed Home Inspector
January 9, 2014
About the author. Frank J. Delle Donne is a NJ Licensed Home Inspector, owner and Senior Inspector at Regal Home Inspections, LLC. and a member of the New Jersey Association of Licensed Professional Home Inspectors (NJ-ALPHI) & the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI). Frank graduated from Pace University in New York City and he is a 30+ year veteran of the telecommunications industry. Frank founded Regal Home Inspections, LLC and is building it into the most professional, comprehensive and thorough inspection company in New Jersey leveraging his technical skills as well as his professional sales skills learned during over 3 decades of industrial sales. Regal Home Inspections, LLC can also test your house for radon having exceeded the NJ requirements to obtain a Radon Measurement Technician certification. Indoor Air Quality, Mold and Allergens are also tests we can provide for real estate transactions or for the self motivated, concerned homeowner. We can also facilitate testing of septic systems and oil tanks; tank integrity and soil tests below ground.
Introduction – Preparing to List Your Home
Most homeowners like their homes. They’ve probably lived in it for a number of years and, for whatever reason, are compelled to sell. Perhaps it’s to downsize or upgrade. Perhaps to relocate to a new area, move to a better school district, move back home or away from the in-laws. Whatever the reason, you have decided to sell your house. So what’s next? You contact a Realtor® or a number of agents. You compare recent sales in your area or, “comps”. You think about an asking price and perhaps a minimum price and think, “I won’t go below this price or that.”. You consider the balance on your mortgage, interest rates for a new mortgage and how much new home you can afford to buy. Your new commute, your new local taxes, and you should consider the condition of your house. There are lots of things, right?
Perhaps the last point is one that you should give some extra consideration to. Why? We all know that it’s the buyer’s market. A qualified buyer with a no-contingency purchase, good credit and ready to move in is what every seller is looking for and for that purchaser, there are probably numerous options for them in your area, in that school district, with an easier commute, etc.
So how do you attract the buyer to your house? Well, you could drop the price or initially set the price so low it sells in days. In my opinion, if you see a house that has a contract for sale within a few days of its listing the price was probably set too low.
Sprucing Up Your Home – Curb Appeal and Neutral Colors
I am no strange to these real estate sales TV shows. Whether it’s someone flipping a house or a team of experts showing someone how to prepare their home for sale, like them or not, they have a point. Homes with great curb appeal and those that present well inside will sell faster than a house that looks like it needs significant repairs and improvements.
I don’t think anyone disagrees that a new coat of paint in the rooms and halls, steam cleaning the rugs, lighting a few scented candles or baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies or an apple pie during the open house will help present the house well. Good work. Your plan to appeal to the senses seems to have worked. You get a contract and it goes into and out of attorney review and then the buyer schedules a home inspection. This is when the items in disrepair and other issues come to the surface quickly surpassing the positive benefit of the coats of paint and aroma of the pies and cookies. And you start thinking, is the deal going to go south?
Solution
While there are no guarantees in life except death and taxes, you can help minimize the potential for a last minute deal crash by having Regal Home Inspections, LLC perform a Pre-Listing or Seller’s Inspection. As you may have read in some of the other articles I have written, there are numerous problems that I find that a homeowner isn’t even aware that I will be looking for. The step on your front porch that measures 9 inches high, the downspout that dumps all the rain water off your roof next to your basement wall then the water enters your basement! Or the simple electrical outlet problem that becomes a highlighted safety item in my or any inspector’s report. Even something as simple as having (or not) the service records for your heating system and central air conditioner could result in price negotiations with the buyer at the last minute. This is particularly important if those appliances are more than 10 – 15 years old.
The solution is to get a Pre-Listing or Seller’s Inspection. Share that information with prospective buyers. Perhaps correct as many as possible. Show the buyer that you are diligent and thorough too. You can, “Sell with Pride” and you can help them, “Buy with Confidence” as we say here at Regal Home Inspections, LLC.
Even if you don’t lift a finger to correct any of the items a Pre Listing or Seller’s Inspection may identify, you can at least use that information in your Seller’s Disclosure and state that the asking price has been set with these inspection items in mind. Then when the buyer’s inspector finds the same issues, they are not a surprise to you or the buyer.
As we all know, if you get a buyer to agree to $X for your home and then the Inspector finds numerous safety and major defect items (items that a Pre-Listing or Seller’s Inspection would have found) the buyer is going to demand a reduction in price to fix those items. You will either lose the sale or reduce the price. This price concession can be for the water heater that’s perfectly fine but it’s 12 years old or the 100 am circuit breaker panel that many consider inferior for today’s living.
Summary
If the cost of a Pre Listing or Seller’s Inspection is $350 but it saves you $10,000 in last minute price concessions is it worth it? If the inspection costs $450 but it saves you $5000 in last minute negotiations with the buyer or having to hire a plumber or electrician at premium wages to fix a problem at the last minute to save the deal, is the $450 worth it?
Of course the Pre Listing or Seller’s Inspection is worth the cost.
I would appreciate your comments about this article. Please email your comments to frank07722@gmail.com