The Skinny on Real Estate

Get a pre-inspection.

What on earth is a “pre-inspection” you ask? It’s the same as the professional inspection buyers get before closing on your home, but you the seller are paying someone to do it for you, before you list your home or before your home goes under contract (depending on what stage of the game you’re in right now).

This is actually another somewhat controversial tip because again, some believe that buyers will wonder what is wrong with your home that you would bother to do a pre-inspection.

I happen to believe that it shows you’re serious enough about getting your home sold you were willing to pay for a pre-inspection, so you could fix any issues beforehand, that the professional inspector may have raised.

I will say however that even if you the seller do have a pre-inspection performed before listing the house, and then you have any issues taken care of, along with the documentation to prove that you fixed all of the things that needed fixing, I (as a buyer’s agent) would still recommend that the buyers have their own separate inspection performed as well. However, the fact you have a report from a professional inspector still makes your house more attractive than the one that didn’t.

In addition to that I tell sellers that a pre-inspection can buy peace of mind, knowing that you either have no major issues at stake in your house OR that you fixed those things before a buyer’s inspector can find them and surprise you with them, as you nervously await your closing day.

photo credit: Iain Farrell