Originally posted on https://www.cvhi.ca/blog/selling-your-home-heres-why-you-should-pay-for-a-house-inspection-as-the-seller/

 

Most people assume that the buyer pays for a home inspection, but it can benefit the seller to do so. Here’s why the seller should pay for a house inspection.

Here’s Why You Should Pay For A House Inspection As The Seller. Selling a home takes a lot of work, money, and time. In short, it’s definitely not a lot of fun.

Naturally, then, sellers are looking for any way they can to make the process easier, cheaper, and/or faster. But trust us when we say that failing to get a house inspection prior to listing is not a corner you should cut.

The truth is, that spending a little money for a seller home inspection now can save you thousands more in the long run. It also spares you months of otherwise wasted time and effort.

How does it do all this? Keep reading to find out.

It Shows How Honest You Are

You may be a very honest person. But to your buyers, you’re just someone who’s trying to make a sale.

Any smart buyer won’t trust a seller right off the bat. That’s why they get an inspection before they buy. And if that inspection finds a problem you didn’t know about, it looks like you’re hiding something.

Even if you honestly weren’t aware of the issue, it still looks dishonest to your buyer. Then, that buyer may distrust you enough to leave and never come back. Even worse, this may very well have been a buyer who would otherwise have purchased your home.

Not only that but afterward, you’re left to spend even more time and money fixing any issues brought up in the inspection. And you’ll need to update your house listing with this information as well.

What a waste of time! You can avoid these issues if you get the inspection before listing. This way, you can fix or disclose all issues that come up before your buyers are unpleasantly surprised by them.

Save Time

Naturally, solving the issues above will put money back into your wallet and time back into your, uh, continuum. And not just a little time either—you’ll get back several months of wasted time by avoiding these issues.

Think of how much time is lost in the above scenario. You may not even get any house viewings for a month. It could be up to another month before an interested buyer gets an inspector to look at your house.

If there’s a problem, it may ward off all interested buyers. Then you spend another half a month fixing the issues, just to start over at square one. Now it could be another two months before another buyer brings an inspector over.

Since this problem happens so late into the process, it could add over 3 months to your selling time.

Save Money

Now let’s talk about the money you’ll save. You’ve heard it said, “Time is money.” And when it comes to selling your home it’s true.

Usually, people who are selling their home need it sold by a certain time. Typically, they’re selling because they can’t afford the house or because they have to move to a different location. Either way, they’ll be in trouble if they don’t sell fast enough.

Those who can’t afford their home could face foreclosure. And those who need to move will be making payments on their new home and their old home at the same time. In both of these cases, the seller will be forced to drastically cut the asking price to sell their home in time.

Besides this, being on the market too long automatically devalues your home. If your house stays on the market for a long time without selling, buyers assume there’s something wrong with it. You have a better chance of selling higher when the listing is new.

Make More Money

Furthermore, there’s also a positive scenario to consider when getting a pre-listing inspection. Maybe, when you get the inspection, you find out there aren’t any troublesome issues to fix. Maybe your house is perfect.

If so, the high marks you get on the inspection could translate into selling points. That is to say, the inspection may go so well that you can reasonably raise the asking price of your home by thousands of dollars. A provably well-maintained home should sell for much higher than a poorly-maintained property with comparable features.

Even if your home isn’t perfect, getting the inspection ahead of time is the best way to determine the accurate value of your home.

Plus, having an inspection on record is a great reassurance to your buyers. It’s a selling point in and of itself.

Save Even More Time

This puts you in a really good position for negotiating with buyers. By pricing your house accurately and having the inspection record to prove it, there is little room for your buyers to argue on any point.

This is especially true when they see it for themselves. That is, when they get their own inspection of your property, they’ll find out everything you said about it is true.

This will cut a huge chunk of time out of negotiations. All the buyer has left to say is whether or not they decide to buy. And that will be easy, too.

The house they’re interested in is found to be exactly as advertised. What reason would they have to object?

Put The Hammer Down

Here’s another way a pre-listing inspection saves you time and effort. Besides the inspection, it’s common for sellers to invest in various efforts to improve property value before the sale.

They may repair self-diagnosed issues, boost curb appeal, and add desirable features to their house through various projects. They may also be wasting their time.

Most sellers aren’t expert plumbers, electricians, and landscapers. To be totally honest, you may not be the most qualified to diagnose household problems, or repair them, or add a koi pond or skylight.

Maybe that leak in your roof is actually a busted pipe. Maybe the clogged drain isn’t a clogged drain but a septic issue.

You may be fixing problems totally wrong, or fixing problems that aren’t problems at all. Before you go crazy with DIY home improvements, it’s best you get an expert opinion from a qualified home inspector.

Reap These Benefits of a Pre-Listing House Inspection

Getting a pre-listing inspection solves many common home-selling problems. It gets you a better deal on your home and cuts down your overall selling time.

For an easier, faster, profit-maximizing sale, get a house inspection before you list.

Want more home inspection tips? Read 6 Surprising Things That Fail a Home Inspection.