In a previous post I encouraged sellers to have their homes inspected in preparation for a sale.
To drive the point home let me tell you about two sellers right here in Wasilla who just today found out about problems in their home that each wish they had known beforehand. In each case the buyer was having the home inspected as part of their due diligence period before they closed on the home.
In the first case, the inspector found a problem with the foundation. The buyer and seller were both in tears because it now seems obvious that the transaction will not close. The buyer made plans to move into the home by the end of February and the seller desperately needs to sell the home to move out of state with her family. Now it’s back to square one. If a pre-inspection had been completed the seller would have been able to disclose the problem and perhaps fix it before marketing, or built it into the deal to be repaired during escrow. It is such a large issue at this stage of the transaction that it is likely the transaction will not close.
In the second case, the seller purchased a home with an unfinished lower level. They completed the lower level to code as they understood the code. However the inspection that was completed today discovered that the smoke detectors in the lower level bedrooms are not hard wired. Code requires all smoke detectors in homes built after 1996 to have smoke detectors wired into the home electrical system with battery backup. It is now a huge problem to wire these into a finished ceiling. This would have been a much smaller problem with a pre-inspection. This transaction can still close but it will be a costly headache for the seller.
A pre-inspection will make you money as well as save you headaches. With an inspection completed and the major issues either fixed or planned to be fixed the seller can enter a transaction with confidence. In addition, a pre-inspected home can likely fetch a higher price than one with open questions. The buyer will feel much more comfortable with the home before writing an offer and will likely be willing to offer a price that more than offsets an inspection. In addition, since you have obviously been disclosing in good faith, they will be less likely to ask you to repair all the small details that turn up in their own inspection.
Call me at 907 232–7900 to find out more about pre-inspections.
