JAN PATRICK

The Home Inspection is an inevitable part of the sale of a property. Sellers frequently feel wary of the process as the Buyers’ inspection is always conducted one or two weeks after negotiations for the sale of the home have been completed. As a result, Sellers can feel somewhat fearful that a Buyer will use the results of the inspection to take unfair advantage of the Seller.

There is a way for Sellers to avoid such an outcome!  By completing the Home Inspection prior to the marketing of the home, the following benefits will be achieved:

• Buyers will perceive greater value for a home being marketed with the completion of a Home Inspection.

Sellers can ultimately net a higher price for the sale of their property.

• When Buyers complete the Home Inspection after the contract is submitted and the negotiations are completed, it is not uncommon to see Buyers panic when certain defects unknown to the Sellers are revealed, causing the Buyers to experience the dreaded “Buyers’ Remorse”.

By completing a pre-marketing Home Inspection, Sellers can address unknown defects in advance. Sellers are spared the anxiety of dealing with Buyers who might otherwise catastrophize such defects.

• Buyers remain focused on the positive reasons they purchased the property, not on how much money they can renegotiate with the Sellers as a result of needed repairs.

Sellers can save money by correcting defects before or during the marketing of the home avoiding the possibility of having to succumb to excessive and inflated demands of Buyers after the original contract has been negotiated.

Keep in mind that, as there are no perfect people, there are no perfect houses. We all have our blemishes. It is very likely that the inspector will identify areas of concern requiring general maintenance or minor repair even in the best of properties.

In counseling our clients, we recommend that they be present for the home inspection to observe the inspector’s findings first hand. By being present, Sellers have the ability to question the inspector immediately to determine the seriousness of a required repair and to ascertain the relative cost of the repair as well. Clarifying concerns as the inspection is being conducted will ensure a less stressful and more successful inspection process.

At the completion of the inspection, the inspector will issue a written report with notations regarding specific areas of concern. In assisting our clients, we help them to determine which specific defects should be repaired, which defects are minor or merely cosmetic, and which defects will need to be disclosed on the Seller’s Disclosure. Documentation of the repairs completed by licensed contractors should be retained and subsequently provided to the future Buyer of the property.

Although the process may seem daunting, by completing the home inspection prior to marketing the property, Sellers can actually reduce unnecessary stress, eliminate overpaying for repairs, increase perceived value for the property, and in some cases actually preserve a sale that otherwise may have fallen through.

We invite you to contact our office if you have additional questions related to the Home Inspection process.

Jan Patrick, Realtor

Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate