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Why Get a Home Inspection
No home is perfect, anything from minor maintenance to major structural damage can be found. New homes are not exempt, they could have flaws with the plumbing, electrical system, or the heating and cooling system just to name a few. A home inspector is vital for both the seller and the buyer to hire.
For the Buyer
An inspection is very important in the purchase of a home in order to uncover issues a home may have that are invisible to the untrained eye. Even if the inspection finds more problems than you’re comfortable with and you move on to a different home to start the process all over again, it’s money well spent.
An inspection will give you the opportunity to ask the seller to make the repairs before you buy, or the option back out of the contract, but be sure to ask for the “inspection contingency” when you begin to enter negotiations with the seller. This allows you to set a limit on the cost of repairs to the home. If the inspector estimates that repairs will cost more than the limit, the contract is voided. It is a good way to protect yourself from ending up with a home that requires repairs that you are unable or unwilling to pay for.
For the Seller
It is important to be aware of any issues your home may have prior to putting it on the market. Getting a pre-listing home inspection will ensure that you are aware of any problems and can take care of them on your terms – or present them as-is and adjust your selling price proportionally. The alternative leaves you open to costly surprises and delays, and even potential deal-breakers once you’ve entered negotiations with the buyer.
If you are selling a home, you will get the highest price in the shortest time, if your home is in top condition. Almost all sales contracts include the condition that the contract is contingent upon completion of a satisfactory inspection. This is known as the "inspection contingency." Most buyers will insist on a professional home inspection performed by an inspector of their choice. If the buyer's inspector finds a problem, it could cause the buyer to get cold feet and the deal to fall through. At best, surprise problems uncovered by the buyer's inspector will cause delays in closing, and usually you will have to pay for repairs at the last minute, or take a lower price on your home.
It is a wise choice to pay for your own inspection before putting your home on the market. Having a pre-listing inspection done will make the whole sale process easier. Present any items as is and reflected in the purchase price. Otherwise, you can count on the buyer's inspector to find them, at the worst possible time causing delays and costing you more money.
One of the key benefits of having the inspection done early, is that if there are any problems discovered that need to be repaired, you can have the repairs done on your schedule. If you chose to no have a pre market inspection and a problem is found when the buyer has an inspection performed, the deal you have worked so hard to get done may fall apart unless you act quickly to get the repairs done, or you may have to take a lower price in order to keep the deal moving. In either case, you will almost certainly have more headaches and spend more money than if you knew about the problem and had it repaired before negotiations began.
You could save thousands by simply being able to shop around and get competitive bids from contractors, rather than being forced into paying for a rush job at the last minute. Moreover, you can save money by having the flexibility to choose the materials used in repairs. Many sales contracts will specify repairs must be made using materials of comparable quality. By identifying needed repairs early, you will have the option to save money by using less expensive materials for the repairs.
Another option is the offer certain items as is. More often than not, you can negotiate with a buyer to accept items in their current condition by stipulating that they are reflected in the purchase price when that same buyer may have walked away from the deal if the conditions came as a surprise after an offer had been made. If the home is inspected before the it goes on the market you will be aware of its condition before an offer is made, thus giving you more leverage.
By having a pre-listing inspection done, you can identify problems early. Then either correct them or present them as is, assuring that the first offer you accept can move quickly and smoothly to closing without delays or costly surprises. It takes a lot of effort to get a sales agreement signed in the first place and if the home buyer's inspection reveals problems the buyer will want to negotiate a new deal and that second sales agreement is usually even harder to get done than the first one.
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