Why Get a Home Inspection if I'm the Seller?

If you're selling a home, you'll 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. Buyers will obtain a professional home inspection performed by an inspector of their choice. If the buyer's inspector finds a problem, the buyer can get cold feet and the deal can often fall through. At best, surprise problems uncovered by the buyer's inspector can cause delays in closing, and usually you, the seller, will have to pay for repairs at the last minute, or take a lower price on your home.

As a seller, having an inspection performed before you put your house on the market will make the entire sale's process smoother and easier. One of the key benefits of having the inspection done early, is the opportunity to  have repairs done on your own terms, on your own schedule and with the chance to obtain several estimates. When a problem isn't found until the buyer has an inspection performed, the deal you've worked on so hard 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'll almost certainly have more stress and spend more money than if you'd known about the problem in advance and had it repaired before listing. You could save thousands of dollars by simply being able to shop around and get competitive bids from contractors.  For example, you can find deals on replacing air conditioners in the winter that you won't find in the spring. And that leaking pipe can be repaired without paying overtime or weekend premium rates.

You can also benefit by simply offering the home "as is" and noting that the asking price reflects the fact that the guest shower hasn't been used in the last year because of a cracked shower pan.  However, an interested buyer may walk away from the deal if that condition comes as a surprise after an offer has been made.

By having a pre-listing inspection done, you can identify problems early.  You can either correct them or present them as is, thus insuring that the first offer you accept can move quickly and smoothly to closing without delays or costly surprises.