The real estate process is one that is fraught with pitfalls. The buyer or seller may get cold feet. Another buyer may swoop in with a better offer. The finances may sink the deal. Or, as often happens, the inspection may come back with some unforeseen problems that sink a deal or cost the seller an arm and a leg.
One strategy for avoiding the latter scenario is to have your home inspected even before you put it on the market. Yes, it will be some upfront expense that you won't be able to roll into closing costs, but it could help you avoid a sticky situation down the road.
On the plus side, an inspection will allow you to make sure your home is in the best possible condition before you list it - which means you can get the best possible price. It also means the buyer's inspection, which will have to happen after an offer, can't catch you off guard or seek to take advantage of you with fabricated problems.
On the downside, however, once you know about something and it's listed in a report, you are obligated to disclose the problem before you sell the house. This is annoying with small problems that you don't have time to fix, or with big problems you had no idea about - or budget to fix.
A pre-inspection gives you, the seller, a heads-up if there are problems that a potential buyer will likely want repaired. Once you know what's wrong, you can have those issues fixed before you list. The cleaner and more problem-free you can make your home, the faster it's likely to sell.
On the other hand, let's say you don't have a pre-inspection. During the process, the buyer's inspector discovers problems you didn't know about. You can be sure the buyer will try to negotiate a lower price, which will cost you money and can delay the sale. The buyer might even cancel the contract.
All that being said, the home inspection you do may not always be the same as the home inspection the buyer's inspector reveals. The pre-inspection may miss something. It's not always 100% accurate.
A pre-inspection still is a good idea to know of issues that may come up and being able to take care of those items before listing the property.
No comments:
Post a Comment