When you decide to list your home for sale, you’ll begin preparing it for potential homebuyers. While it is easy to focus your attention on the cosmetic aspects of your home, the physical condition of the home is often more important.
When you order a pre-listing home inspection before listing your property, you will be well-informed and better able to prepare for the sales process.
What to Expect from a Pre-Listing Home Inspection
A pre-listing home inspection gives the seller a deeper understanding of the home’s true condition. This type of home inspection is similar in scope to the inspection that many buyers order, only you’ll have an advantage as the seller when you know about your home’s condition upfront.
1. Create a Thoughtful Pre-Listing Plan
Without a pre-listing home inspection, getting your home ready to sell will probably consist of mostly cosmetic improvements. Your home needs to have features comparable to other listings in the area, but it should also be free of major defects.
When you order a pre-listing inspection report, you’ll know of any problems and can either make repairs on your own or adjust your list price accordingly.
2. Manage Your Funds Wisely
Your pre-listing budget should be based on an accurate assessment of your property’s condition. Most sellers prepare their home for sale on a limited budget. They often deplete these funds before listing the home and end up with little room to accommodate buyer-requested repairs.
Buyers may negotiate for repairs to be completed within a certain timeline after reviewing their inspection report. This can be costly and add days or weeks to your closing date. When you know about serious defects upfront, you can manage your funds intelligently while preparing for repairs.
3. Avoid Stressful Negotiations
After reviewing their own inspection report, buyers often negotiate for improvements or repairs to be completed before closing. This additional level of negotiations adds stress and might result in time delays and extra expenses for the seller.
By understanding the condition of the property and making some repairs ahead of time, you can avoid this round of time-consuming negotiations.
4. Offer the Buyer Your Inspection Report Upfront
Your buyer will appreciate the opportunity to review an inspection report before he or she makes an offer on the home. They will likely order their own inspection too, but by providing your pre-listing report to the buyer first, you can prevent unpleasant surprises.
A seller is not required to order a pre-listing home inspection, however, it’s becoming more popular as property owners are learning about the benefits. If you want to enjoy these advantages during your sales experience, order a pre-listing home inspection.
Rhode Island Real Estate Inspections provides pre-listing home inspections and other services to Rhode Island. Contact us to book yours today.